The National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity has defined sexual addiction as “engaging in persistent and escalating patterns of sexual behavior acted out despite increasing negative consequences to self and others.” Sexual addiction is best described as a progressive intimacy disorder characterized by compulsive sexual thoughts and acts. Like all addictions, its negative impact on the addict and on family members increases as the disorder progresses. Over time, the addict usually has to intensify the addictive behavior to achieve the same results.
People readily accept alcohol as an addiction – it’s a substance taken into the body with a physical and chemical reaction. All of us are familiar with altering our moods, yet some of the ways we alter our moods that we believe will make us feel better in the end make it far worse than we began. A cycle spins out of control and we get caught feeling like we can never escape.
The first major study of sexual addiction was published by Patrick Carnes in 1991. In Carnes’ survey, 97% responded that their sexual activity led to loss of self-esteem. Other reported emotional costs were strong feelings of guilt or shame, 96%; strong feelings of isolation and loneliness, 94%; feelings of extreme hopelessness or despair, 91%; acting against personal values and beliefs, 90%; feeling like two people, 88%; emotional exhaustion, 83%; strong fears about own future, 82%; and emotional instability, 78%.
Does any of this sound like you? Loss of self – esteem? Guilt, shame, isolation, loneliness, hopeless, double minded, fearful…etc, etc…
There really actually is hope for recovery, grace in failures, and a place where freedom can be found. Start here… Talk about it… X3pure