Читать книгу Always Turned On - Jennifer Schneider - Страница 11

For the most part, the criteria for sexual addiction are similar to any other addiction, including substance addictions:

1.Ongoing obsession/preoccupation with the drug/behavior of choice

2.Loss of control over use (inability to stop)

3.Continuation despite directly related negative life consequences

Today most people have some sense of what it might be like to have an addiction to alcohol or drugs, as they’ve either experienced it themselves or seen it in a friend or family member (or at least on TV). However, many folks have difficulty wrapping their heads around the concept of a behavioral addiction. This is especially true when the activity is a natural and even necessary part of life, as is the case with eating and being sexual.

The main difference between healthy sex (or healthy eating) and addictive sex (or addictive eating) is that addicts engage in the behavior compulsively as a way to “emotionally numb out” and “escape,” and they continue to do so even as their clearly out-of-control behavior is creating significant problems in their lives—relationship issues, trouble at work or in school, declining physical and/or emotional health, financial turmoil, loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities, legal issues, family problems, and more. In essence, if a person is compulsively and persistently using sexual fantasy, sexual content, and sexual activity as a means of self-soothing or dissociating from stressful emotions or underlying psychological conditions (early-life trauma, depression/anxiety, attachment deficits, social deficits, or low self-esteem), that person is most likely a sex addict.