Sexual desires are a perfectly normal and healthy part of life. When it comes to sex addiction however, these urges become all-consuming and the resulting actions are often incredibly destructive.
How do you know what’s ‘normal’ sexual behavior and when there may be a more serious issue at play, however? Below we discuss the most common symptoms of sex addiction.
Signs of sex addiction
While there is no single action or behavior that will definitively establish that you’re struggling with sexual addiction, the symptoms generally fall under the following criteria.
Symptom 1 – You’re experiencing overwhelming thoughts
You may find yourself experiencing overwhelming or persistent sexual thoughts and urges. These will more than likely start to affect your everyday life. You may, for example, find it difficult to concentrate at work or spend a lot of time thinking about how you would carry out your fantasies.
Symptom 2 – You don’t get pleasure from your behaviors
Most people engage in sexual activities because they’re in a healthy relationship or because they’re single and having fun. Those suffering from sex addiction typically find themselves acting on their urges because they feel compelled to do so. Contrary to popular belief, it’s highly unlikely that you’re getting any joy or satisfaction from your activities and you actually feel worse about yourself afterward.
Symptom 3 – You can’t control your urges
A very serious sex addiction sign is an inability to control your behavior even though it’s having a devastating impact on your life. You may be cheating on your partner, putting yourself into dangerous situations, suffering financial loss and experiencing mental health issues. Despite all this, you still continue to engage in sexual activities irrespective of the negative repercussions.
Symptom 4 – Your behaviors are escalating
As with any addiction, our body and mind build up a tolerance to the very thing we’re hooked on. The first time you had an alcoholic drink, for example, chances are that you got drunk on very little alcohol. The more we drink over the years, however, the more tolerant we become to it and the more we can handle. This is why alcoholics can often get through a significant amount of alcohol in one day and can still appear relatively sober.
In order to achieve the same feeling you did at the beginning of your addiction, you’ll more than likely find your actions escalate. You may, for example, start having unprotected sex, sleeping with strangers, having sex in public places, participating in cybersex, looking at hardcore pornography, using prostitutes or carrying out other illegal acts.
Symptom 5 – Your mental health is suffering
An addiction to sex can also have profound psychological effects such as creating feelings of shame, inadequacy and emotional distress. Naturally, this will have a big impact on your mental health which could trigger anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and depression.
The physical symptoms of sex addiction
While the signs and side effects of sexual addiction are mostly emotional, there are also some physical symptoms including:
• Unwanted pregnancy
• Sexually transmitted infections
• Venereal diseases
• Sexual dysfunction
• You may suffer injuries as a result of carrying out risky sexual behaviors
If you’re worried that you or a loved one is suffering from sex addiction, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Toronto Trauma and Addiction Counselling and we can discuss the many different treatment options with you. You can also complete an online anonymous Sexual Addiction Screening Test (SAST-R) here.
