Addiction to anything is a terrible problem to have. It clouds your judgment and takes over your emotions. Addictions will render you unable to control your actions and push you to do things, even if they have negative outcomes. It will make you do anything to get to what you’re addicted to, whether it be an object, a substance, or an act.
People with hypersexuality usually get brushed off as perverts. But that is not always the case. Hypersexuality, while not a clinical condition, is still a huge problem. The disorder affects an estimated 10-20 million people in the United States. It negatively affects a person’s physical and mental wellness. Some develop eating disorders, compulsive lying, and depression.
Men are mostly the ones who get affected by hypersexuality. And they find it especially difficult to accept and often find themselves in denial. While it’s normal to feel ashamed of your addictions, it’s not something you should hide or deal with by yourself. Sometimes, you might not even know that you have an addiction. All it takes is intervention to realize that you do.
You can seek addiction therapy once you learn about your addiction to lovemaking. Quickly finding your way back to a healthy relationship with others should be your top priority.
How Do You Acquire It?
There are a lot of theories on how people become addicted to lovemaking. Some suggest that it’s a consequence of other types of disorders and addictions. For people diagnosed with bipolar disorder, hypersexuality can become a valid symptom. Some even have manic bipolar episodes that involve lovemaking. Others say that it might stem from deep-seated traumatic experiences.
Some people might treat intimacy as a coping mechanism for past traumas, making their relationship with lovemaking less than ideal. It makes them dependent on it whenever anything bothers them.
The Signs & Symptoms
Intercourse addiction isn’t an established clinical condition because medical professionals are still unconvinced that it has the merits to be considered one. Therefore, there isn’t an established set of guidelines or diagnostic criteria to classify individuals. However, common characteristics can help identify it. Watch out for the following:
- Intimacy becomes a priority to a person to the point where they detach themselves from any other activity.
- Yearning for intimacy even when alone. And when a person participates in excessive self-pleasure, phone intimacy, voyeurism, and online play.
- The urge for intimacy becomes an escape from trauma and stress or to cope with negative emotions.
- A person willingly pursues intimate activities even in risky and inappropriate situations.
- Someone pursues intercourse with multiple people, even when in a relationship or outside of marriage, and disregards their partner’s feelings.
These are just some symptoms of hypersexuality. You can’t just claim a person is an addict because of how strange or extreme they prefer their activities. Anyone who can’t control their physical urges can be an addict. It’s in losing control of yourself that you can say that you feel it.
Addiction can harm a person’s health and wellness, and unsurprisingly so. Hypersexuality is commonly linked to low self-esteem and depression. While lovemaking can provide temporary happiness, relief, and satisfaction, too much of it has detrimental effects on a person’s psychological health in the long run.
Acknowledgment and treatment
If you know someone’s an addict or realize that you are one yourself, seek professional help as soon as possible. You can visit your local psychologist or request a session with a psychiatrist. Doing both is ideal. What’s important is that you learn the root cause of your addiction to physical intimacy, allowing you to get the proper treatment for your specific situation.
Depending on where your addiction stems from, treatments can vary from one case to another. Since there aren’t any official guidelines on hypersexuality treatments, medical professionals can only reference its symptoms to other similar clinical disorders.
Your treatment plan might include medication if your symptoms share similarities with anxiety or mood swings. Therapy and rehabilitation can also become part of your recovery. As long as you are honest with your addiction, professionals will help you reach the perfect treatment plan for your situation.
If you or someone you know is suffering from such a terrible addiction, get help immediately. If left untreated, it can ruin a person’s career, relationships, and dreams, basically their whole life. Addicts should get on a medically advised treatment plan right away and regain control of their lives so that they can live freely and not become imprisoned by their addictions.
