Most sex addicts get little satisfaction from their sexual activities and usually do not form emotional bonds with partners. Sex addiction most often results in guilt, shame and a lack of behavior control despite the negative financial, health, social, or emotional consequences. Sexual addicts are unable to form close friendships. They exhibit feelings of shame and unworthiness that may make them unable to be involved with and real intimacy in their lives.
Many sex addicts suffer from intense loneliness and develop a sense of loss of self-esteem. It is typical that sex addicts report feelings of guilt or shame along with strong feelings of isolation and loneliness. Most sex addicts feel extreme hopelessness or despair. Ninety percent of them feel they are acting against their own personal values and beliefs and most of them are emotionally exhausted. It is no surprise that nearly all exhibit fear for their own futures.
Sex addiction can involve a wide variety of specific behaviors and is often present along with drug and alcohol addiction. It can also be related to psychological disorders. Many sex addicts admit there was a progressive progress to their disease. It started with masturbation and pornography and progressed to increasingly dangerous behaviors.
The end result of all sex addiction is a person’s powerlessness over a compulsive behavior. The result is their lives becoming unmanageable. The addict may wish to stop but life is out of control and the tremendous societal shame makes them unable to change. The unmanageability of the addicts’ life can be seen in the consequences suffered by the loss of real love relationships, problems at work, legal trouble, financial trouble, and loss of interest in all things not directly connected to sex.
Effects of Sex Addiction –
* Masturbation
* Excessive use of pornography
* Multiple affairs
* Multiple partners
* Unsafe sex practices
* Use of prostitutes
* Exhibitionism
* Voyeurism
* Sexually transmitted diseases
* Jail
