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Sex Addiction

People who become involved in excessive sexual activity or who have a constant preoccupation with sex may have a sex addiction. Addicted individuals make getting sex or sexual stimulation the center of their lives, at the cost of relationships, career, or health. As with any addiction, sex addiction becomes a problem when it interferes with important areas of life. Sex addicts may be in total denial that they have a problem, even if addiction is ruining their lives.

Risk Factors

Sex addicts usually lead lives filled with shame and secrecy. The shame comes from inability to control a harmful behavior. The secrecy is necessary to hide the behavior in the interest of staying out of trouble.

Warning Signs

A person who has a sex addiction may:

Engage in sexual activities that involve taking risks the person would not consider under other circumstances
Conceal sexual behavior from family and close friends
Increase the frequency of sexual activities to more intense levels in order to achieve previous levels of excitement and relief

Sex addiction follows a progression. Problems increase, and the person maintains the addiction by denial and other defenses. For more information, see www.sexaddictsanonymous.org.

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