Dr. Alverston Bailey, Contributor 
Sex is one of life's most enjoyable and satisfying experience. However, the pleasure hormones released during sex can cause addiction and is a source of great psychosocial turmoil. This week, we will explore the phenomenon of sexual addiction and map a strategy for overcoming it.
The National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity has defined sexual addiction as 'engaging in persistent and escalating patterns of sexual behaviour acted out, despite increasing negative consequences (financial, health, social and emotional) to yourself and others'.
Those people addicted to sex get a sense of euphoria from it that seems to go beyond that reported by most people. The sexual experiences are not about intimacy. The addict uses sexual activity to seek pleasure, avoid unpleasant feelings, or respond to outside stressors at the workplace or at home.
A person with a sex addiction gains little satisfaction from the sexual activity and forms no emotional bond with his or her sex partners resulting in feelings of guilt and shame.
According to Dr. Patrick Carnes, a psychologist and researcher, who was instrumental in the initial identification and treatment of sexual addiction as a condition, the core beliefs of the addict are:
❒ "I am basically a bad, unworthy person."
❒ "No one would love me as I am."
❒ "My needs are never going to be met if I have to depend on others."
❒ "Sex is my most important need."These beliefs drive the addict along this destructive course.
How common is sexual addiction?
Dr. Patrick Carnes, after a 10-year research, estimated that about eight per cent of the total population of men and three per cent of women are sexually addicted. This same male to female ratio is found among those recovering from alcohol addiction.
What are signs?
You may have a sex addiction problem if you identify with three or more of the following criteria:
❒ Compulsive masturbation (self-stimulation)
❒ Obsessive dating through personal advertisement
❒ Frequently engaging in more sex and with more partners than intended
❒ Being preoccupied with or persistently craving sex; wanting to cut down and unsuccessfully attempting to limit sexual activity
❒ Thinking of sex to the detriment of other activities, or continually engaging in excessive sexual practices despite a desire to stop
❒ Spending considerable time in activities related to sex, such as cruising for partners or spending hours online visiting pornographic websites
❒ Neglecting obligations such as work, school or family in pursuit of sex
❒ Continually engaging in sexual behaviour despite negative consequences, such as broken relationships or potential health risks
❒ Escalating scope or frequency of sexual activity to achieve the desired effect, such as more frequent visits to prostitutes or more sex partners
❒ Feeling irritable, anxious and restless when unable to engage in the desired behaviour
❒ Sex addicts tend to organise their world around sex in the same way that cocaine addicts organise theirs around cocaine. Their goal in interacting with people and in social situations is getting pleasure. They are compulsive, continue these activities despite consequences, and display obsession (completely engrossed with sexual thoughts and fantasies).
What are the consequences?
The adverse consequences of sexual addiction include:
❒ Social: Addicts become lost in sexual preoccupation, which results in emotional distance from loved ones. Loss of friendship and family relationships may result.
❒ Emotional: Anxiety or extreme stress are common in sex addicts who live with constant fear of discovery.
❒ Physical: Some of the diseases which may occur due to sexual addiction are genital injury, cervical cancer, HIV/AIDS, herpes, genital warts and other sexually transmitted diseases.
❒ Legal: Many types of sexual addiction result in violation of the law, such as sexual harassment, obscene phone calls, exhibitionism, voyeurism, prostitution, rape, incest, child molestation, and other illegal activities.
❒ Financial/occupational: Indebtedness may arise directly from the cost of prostitutes, cybersex, phone sex and multiple affairs.
What causes sexual addiction?
Those afflicted become addicted to the neuro-chemical changes that take place in the body during sexual behaviour. Sex causes the release of 1-phenylethylamine (an amphetamine like chemical), dopamine and nor epinephrine these cause a feeling of exhilaration, excessive energy and feelings of excitement.
Sexual addiction usually begins in adolescence or childhood. It has been found that 60 per cent of sexual addicts were abused by someone in their childhood (Book, 1997), 97 per cent complain of emotional abuse, 83 per cent of sexual abuse, and 71 per cent of physical abuse.
The child may have grown up in a hostile, chaotic or neglectful home, or the family may have been normal, but the child grew up emotionally starved for love because affection was rarely expressed. Gradually, sex becomes a replacement act, to turn to in times of need, to escape boredom, to sleep at night, etc.
How is sexual addiction treated?
Most sex addicts live in denial of their addiction, and treating an addiction is dependent on the person accepting and admitting that he or she has a problem. In many cases, it takes a significant event - such as the loss of a job, the break-up of a marriage, an arrest, or health crisis - to force the addict to admit to his or her problem.
Treatment of sexual addiction focuses on controlling the addictive behaviour and helping the person develop a healthy sexuality. Treatment includes education about healthy sexuality, individual counselling, and marital and/or family therapy.
Support groups and 12-step recovery programmes for people with sexual addictions (i.e., Sex Addicts Anonymous) are essential to help the addict accept and manage the addiction.
In some cases, medications used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder may be used to curb the compulsive nature of the sex addiction.
Dr. Alverston Bailey is a medical doctor and immediate past president of the Medical Association of Jamaica. Send comments and questions to: editorial@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223
