Addictive Sexual Disorder and Treatment

Sexual addiction is a condition characterized by compulsive engagement in sexual activities, particularly sexual intercourse, despite the known negative imports of doing so (Schaefer, & Ahlers, 2017). Addictive sexual disorders affect individuals, couples, and families, which ominously affect affiliations among couples and the family at large. Even though it is regularly ignored, early engrossment in treatment of an individual is a successful component in treatment of the addict. This paper consist of two sections, the first section depicts an individual suffering from sexual addiction while the second section provides a theoretical conceptualization addressing the issue presented in the first section. 

First Section

In one of her treating sessions, Hayden (2018) explains the story of a 50-year-old man – Steve – who has struggled with sexual addiction over a long period. Steve is a virile yet a subtle individual with sexual compulsivity around fetishistic sex. He has had frequent masturbation since he was 17-years-old, which has matured to his current age. In his mid-twenties, Steve was unremittingly acting out his masturbatory fantasies, from which he was unable to focus on anything else if he skipped a day. He even started spending a great deal of his time on the internet looking for fetishistic images to which he would masturbate. What’s more, when Steve would begin having sexual relationships with a woman, he would lose sexual interest on his partner making the relationship to stumble and ultimately fall. 

When relationships never worked, he started using telephone sex services that led him to having made-up relationships with his workers. He started overspending his salaries and even ran his credit cards up their limits. This made him to get behind in both rental and power issues that got him broke and socially out-of-the-way. It was under these circumstances that he learnt his obsession with sex was tarnishing his life, even though he was powerless to change the behavior. Additionally, he felt an increased level of aberration that he required to achieve sexual satisfaction as he discovered that pornography and phone sex no longer excited him. He also mentioned the root of his sexual problem, which initiated when his mother introduced him to pornographic materials when she was guilty that he had no father to talk to him about sex.

Second Section

In this section, a hypothetical conceptualization methodology to addressing the case facing Steve and many others undergoing the same is presented. From the situation demonstrated, a sexually obsessive person shows certain behavioral characteristics such as multiple affairs, consistent use of pornography, phone or computer sex, and even unexpected decreases in efficiency, a perception backed by Love, Moore, and Stanish (2016). In therapy, potential triggers and danger precincts that may expedite these addictive behavior can be identified and a plan to avoid them be established. Furthermore, psychoanalysis sessions such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be helpful in both identification of a negative thought and modification of the same to stop or reduce unsolicited thoughts (Rohsenow & Pinkston-Camp, 2016). In the case of Steve, CBT would help him to discuss about his childhood memories of introduction to pornographic materials, and help him initiate a method of restraining the urge. 

In addition to therapy, culpability circles and support groups – in which a small group of individuals helps each other to stick to recovery goals and abstinence values – can also momentously assist in treatment of sex addiction. This is effective in convalescing from sexual addiction, especially where an addict is assigned a patron (probably a recovered addict) who is always available to talk to. Additionally, antidepressant medications and mood stabilizers such as SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are also effective in reducing urges related to addiction especially with sex (Leppink & Grant, 2016). This helps to reduce the urge for sexual desires and eventually causes it to cease.

In conclusion, it is prominent that sexual addiction is a condition affecting a considerable number of people in a society. Furthermore, it may lead to co-occurring addictive behaviors such as drug addiction, alcoholism, and gambling – making it require treatment like any other form of addiction. As presented in the case of Steve, most people who suffer from sex addiction do not know they do so, and find it hard to talk about them. Nonetheless, several ways of stabilizing and getting rid of the issue, such as group therapy and administration of SSRI, are helpful in curbing the same. Therefore, it is advisable that people suffering from symptoms such as the ones indicated above seek medical help in order to avoid sexual addictions and compulsiveness.

References

Hayden, D. (2018). A case study of one sex addict’s recovery. Retrieved from http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/a-case-study-of-one-sex-addicts-recovery on 30 April 2018.

Leppink, E. W., & Grant, J. E. (2016). Behavioral and pharmacological treatment of compulsive sexual behavior/Problematic hypersexuality. Current Addiction Reports, 3(4), 406-413.

Love, H. A., Moore, R. M., & Stanish, N. A. (2016). Emotionally focused therapy for couples recovering from sexual addiction. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 31(2), 176-189.

Rohsenow, D. J., & Pinkston-Camp, M. M. (2016). Cognitive-behavioral approaches. In The Oxford handbook of substance use and substance use disorders.

Schaefer, G. A., & Ahlers, C. J. (2017). Sexual addiction and paraphilias. In Routledge International Handbook of Sexual Addiction (pp. 111-121). Routledge.