

Underlying thoughts and feelings can be addressed, to see if you can meet these needs in a healthier way. Can sex addiction or hypersexuality be treated?Ĭounselling or sex therapy can help you to understand why you are seeking out sex from a place of compulsion rather than as a natural part of life. This can get people stuck in a pattern or needing more, to keep refilling the short-term pleasure that sex can bring. Sex addiction can also serve as a way to avoid or be removed from other unpleasant realities – like a mini vacation. These feelings of pleasure can be rewarding, even when long-term impacts occur, as the effects of pleasure are immediately occurring.

In addition to the physical sensations, sex also stimulates the pleasure centers of the brain, which can make sex feel addictive. What causes hypersexuality or sex addiction? Harm to others may include things such as the emotional and medical harm that can come from lying and infidelity, exploitation, manipulation, etc. Harm to self can include things like excessive spending, missing work or school, damaging relationships, harm to physical safety, or other types of self-sabotage. In all cases, things take on an addictive quality when they are pursued in an obsessive, inflexible way, that causes harm to oneself or others. People can feel addicted to things like pornography, masturbation, fantasies, voyeurism/exhibitionism, sadistic/masochistic behaviour, or prostitution.

Obsessive thoughts or fantasies about sex Age, gender, and whether or not your child has or is undergoing puberty can also heavily alter sexualized behaviors.Excessing thinking, planning, or engaging in sexual activity.What are the symptoms of sexual addiction or hypersexuality? Sex addiction or hypersexuality is when someone feels compelled to engage in sexual activity such as pornography, masturbation, or sex with a partner, even when it is disrupting their life or leading to negative consequences.
