What Are the Different Types of Therapy for Sex Addiction?

Sexual addiction is a mental illness that can be effectively treated, but it is not a 100% cure. Sex addiction. Sexual addiction is usually defined as "the desire to seek sex at all costs." According to research by medical experts in the United States, 5% of people in the United States suffer from "sex addiction." And the number continues to increase. In extreme cases, people may also suffer from "persistent impulsivity." Patients with sexual addiction often need to change their sexual partners constantly to satisfy themselves, but after a short period of happiness, they have endless troubles.

Sexual addiction

Sexual addiction is a mental illness that can destroy personal careers, relationships, and trigger a health crisis, but psychiatrists have been reluctant to treat it as a real problem. Now US research teams have set a benchmark for defining "abnormal hypersexuality." Think of it as a new mental illness.

The benchmark states that symptoms of "abnormal hypersexuality" include recurring sexual fantasies, sexual impulses, and sexual behaviors that last for six months or more, and are not caused by drug abuse or other medical practices. And those who may be diagnosed with the disease must show that sexual activity is a pattern in response to unpleasant mental states, such as depression or repeated use of sex as a way to relieve stress.

Researchers point out that patients with hypersexuality have excessive masturbation, use of pornographic media, online sex, calling prostitutes, or having sex with multiple people they do nt know. The research team tested and interviewed 207 patients across the United States and found that they were In the past year, there were an average of 15 sexual partners, 17% lost at least one job, 39% ended a relationship, 28% contracted a sexually transmitted disease, and 78% had a disorder of healthy sex. ^[1]

Sexual Addiction Summary

It is not rare for celebrities to get this disease. For example, the movie emperor Michael Douglas was once such patients, and he is an example of a successful cure. Of course, there are failures when there are successes, such as actor Charlie Sheen, who has not yet been cured.

Sexual addiction differences between men and women

Men are more likely to develop sexual addiction.

First, it may be related to the physiological structure of men and women. Because organ structures are inherently abrupt, men are more susceptible to impulse caused by external stimuli. Although women also have impulses due to stimulation, women can calm down impulses through self-repression. Male impulses need to be resolved through vent-like behaviors, otherwise it is difficult to calm down.

Second, many men tend to separate the experience of body and mind, while women often view sex as an ally of love and marriage, and the three are inseparable.

Third, from the early teens, most women began to have a hazy and romantic longing for love, and they tirelessly pursued spiritual and spiritual harmony rather than purely physical experience. And in the same period, men's understanding of love has not yet risen to the spiritual level like girls, but only stays on the desire and fantasy of the opposite sex body. They are unable to curb their growing desire and desire a true sexual experienceadolescent rebellious consciousness may arise in the gap between these two conflicting feelings. Women tend to live in groups, using the results of collective thinking as indicators of behavior; men prefer to be independent. So men are far less enthusiastic and engaged in interpersonal relationships than women. Sexually addicted people may be unable to trust others, fear and establish close relationships with anyone, so using sex as a tool for numb feelings, killing time or avoiding loneliness leads to repeated intimacy without emotional involvement. behavior.

Sexual addiction psychological factors

Cold, life on both sides

Generally speaking, age × 0.9 can calculate the frequency of normal sexual life of couples of different ages. For example, 20 × 0.9 = 18, that is to say, the frequency of sexual life in 10 days is 8 times for the age group of 20 to 30 years; 30 × 0.9 = 27, 30 to 40 years of age, 20 days of sex life The frequency is 7 times, and so on. Of course, it cannot be generalized. If too frequent sexual life has affected your life, you should consider whether there are problems.

The frequency and duration of sexual intercourse are not diagnostic indicators of sexual addiction, as some couples can adapt to high-frequency sexual intercourse. Patients can only be considered ill when they are unable to hold back due to high sexual tension, resulting in a series of changes in emotional behavior or sexual objects.

Unlike other addictions, people with sexual addiction generally only need 15 minutes to become fully addicted. At the same time, patients may also suffer from long-term psychological trauma, easy to worry, and do not know how to properly resolve sexual stress. Some of the patients with sexual addiction have clinical manifestations of sexual addiction because of hypersexuality caused by endocrine diseases. Others are caused by psychological factors and are related to the family and social environment.

In terms of age, sexual addiction mostly occurs in men between 30 and 40 years of age. Sexual addiction is a mental illness. In addition to being easy to hide secrets and forcing yourself to live a double-sided life, you will often feel very ashamed of your behavior. Rare persistent impulse. However, some patients, like drug addicts, gamblers, and alcoholics, misunderstand abnormal sexual behavior as proof of male ability and vitality, and indulge their sexual addiction.

Sexual Addiction Treatment

Strengthen treatment and improve oneself

Sex is one of the basic needs of people, but it is not a source of all happiness. Simply pursuing sex will not produce a good feeling, but it will easily cause prostatitis, genital damage, urinary system infection, etc., and it will easily cause some psychological Illness, such as anxiety and anxiety, brings trouble to life. And because the partner's tolerance reaches a certain level, it will focus on the outbreak, so it is not conducive to harmonious husband and wife life. In the long run, it may also affect learning and work.

For people with sex addiction, sex addiction is the same as smoking and drinking, but it is more difficult to quit-alcohol and tobacco are physical and chemical problems, but sex addiction is psychological. No one can be expected to talk to a psychotherapist for an hour or two, and never return when they return home. No matter which type of addiction will more or less form psychological and physical dependence, and suddenly breaking this fixed behavior pattern, the addict may not be able to bear it. The roots of sexual addiction are too deep, there are too many potential psychological causes, and to cure them, we cannot hope that they will be successful in the battle. Decompression in a healthy way, such as aerobic exercise such as running, gymnastics, can make your mood smooth, keep your spirits up, qi, blood, and obedience. For sex addicts, avoid kidney and aphrodisiac products, alcohol and spicy food. Don't be obsessed with sexual activity, especially prevent dependence. A specific treatment schedule can be formulated, gradually reducing the number, and extending the interval time until the sexual addiction is eliminated. People with Internet sex obsession should also quit Internet addiction at the same time, otherwise the effect will be difficult to consolidate.

When necessary, it can be used with sedatives or anxiolytics to eliminate psychological stress factors and tension, fear and anxiety, and control masturbation. For male sexual addiction, a larger dose of estrogen can be given, but it is easy to cause male breast development. In recent years, cycloprogesterone, contraceptive pills containing estrogen and progesterone have been used. For female sex addiction, large doses of progesterone can be given, and reserpine also has a certain effect.

Sexual addiction prevention

Preventing sexual addiction should start from adolescence, including receiving scientific sex education and purifying the audiovisual world. The danger of negligent addiction must not be. Adolescent children are not very self-control, and psychological and physical factors will produce sexual curiosity. If they contact some obscene things, they will have a psychological impact and they may become deeply addicted to sex.