Sexual compulsivity is the following of sexual impulses experienced by a patient. These impulses can come without warning and can be quite different from person to person. One of the common attributes that is found across the majority of sex addicts is the inability to control these urges, thus leading to dangerous and unproductive sexual encounters. In addition, the obsession with sex is often responsible for financial and social problems. These addictions can exist alone or in conjunction with other addictions, such as gambling, overeating, drugs, and alcohol. To be defined as an addiction, most experts state that the patient must realize that the obsessive sexual activity is damaging and continue to engage in these behaviors regardless of this fact.
Sexual compulsive behavior is the primary component of an addiction to sex. While experts often disagree about the presence of a distinction between sexual addiction and other manifestations of obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, it is agreed that certain persons experience bouts of hypersexuality that may be manifested by increased sexual compulsive behavior. The connection between sexual addiction and compulsivity may be described as being similar to the relationship between compulsivity and gambling addictions. Both feature a persistent need to engage in a specific activity and this perceived need constantly dominates a patient’s thoughts. In the case of a compulsive sexual disorder, the patients will often have symptoms that are manifestations of their thoughts. Some of these symptoms are as follows: chronic masturbation, extramarital affairs, a tendency towards one-night stands, frequent pornography use, unprotected sex, cybersex, consorting with prostitutes, excessive exhibitionism, a reliance on internet or personal ad dating, voyeurism, stalking, and sexual harassment in inappropriate situations.
In response to the increasing presence of patients with a compulsive sexual disorder, the National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity was created to address the many issues that deal with addiction to sexual activity. This organization has since changed names and is now known as The Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health, or SASH. The goal of this group is to raise awareness of the problem and help sex addicts with recovery options. One such option that is endorsed by SASH is a program called Sexaholics Anonymous. Built on the same platform as many other twelve-step recovery programs, Sexaholics Anonymous attempts to give an addict control over the addiction by addressing the underlying problems that have created the increased sexual proclivity. The first step is for the patient to realize that their current preoccupation with sex is causing problems in other aspects of their life. Further steps examine the cause of the addiction and how best to gain control. For the overwhelming majority of sex addicts (97%), the damaging activity is a direct result of abuse as a child, either physical, emotional, or sexual. Sexaholics Anonymous teaches these addicts how to effectively deal with the psychological problems that occur from child use and how to prevent a person from directing these problems towards sex as a solution. Sexual compulsivity is definitely on the rise across the world and now more than ever effective treatments are needed to help correct the problem.