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When sex becomes an addiction

By Elizabeth Landau
CNN
"Californication" star David Duchovny made headlines for voluntarily
entering rehab last week. But it wasn't for drugs or alcohol. It was
for another dependency, one that affects millions of Americans but is
seldom discussed: sex addiction.
https://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/09/05/sex.addiction/index.html
excerpt....
Where does it come from?
About 80 percent of sex
addiction cases have sexual abuse or emotional trauma in their
backgrounds, said Doug Weiss, therapist and executive director of the
Heart to Heart Counseling Center. Schwartz also noted that huge numbers
of people coming forward as sex addicts have been abused, assaulted or
raped.
"When you have abuse in your background, you're less
likely to trust people, [and] you're more likely to turn to something
like sex addiction as a manifestation," Schwartz said.
Feelings
of neglect as a child -- whether from divorced parents or parents who
both worked and didn't spend a lot of time with their kids -- may also
lead to sex addiction, Schwartz said.
Research into the
neuroscience of sex addiction has not been conclusive, the Mayo Clinic
said. Naturally occurring chemicals in the brain such as dopamine and
serotonin do contribute to sexual functioning, but it's not clear how
they are related to sex addiction. McDaniel said these two chemicals
are lower in the brains of children who have suffered abuse, which may
explain why some of them use their own bodies -- or, in other cases,
food -- to increase dopamine and serotonin levels.
A lot of
teenagers develop their sexuality with pornography, and then find that
relational sex isn't as satisfying, Weiss said. Porn gives them a "very
strong chemical hit," and alters ways of thinking about sex, somewhat
like the classic "ring the bell, feed the dog" stimulus-response
mechanism. Addicts thus learn to become sexually attached to objects,
and have trouble getting the same kind of satisfaction from sex in a
relationship, he said.

For many people, especially women, sex
addiction occurs in tandem with another problem such as an eating
disorder, drug or alcohol addiction, McDaniel said.
continues..
 

• Story Highlights



• Expert: Sex addicts often don't enjoy sex, but use it to numb painful feelings
  


• More sex addicts are seeking help in connection with Internet porn, cybersex
  


• Abuse or emotional trauma often figure into the backgrounds of sex addicts
  


• Treatment is long-term and may include clinic, psychotherapy, 12-step program