Tag: sex addiction

The issue around pornography’s influence on sexuality has never been more important to address than it is today, simply because pornography has never been more integrated and relevant in our culture.

Our purpose here is not to assess it from a moral perspective but to ask, "What are porn’s practical implications for relationships?" First of all, we must acknowledge the main reason for using porn—to increase pleasurable sexual stimulation and intensity.  And the fact is, few products deliver on what they promise the way porn does.

After decades studying human behavior, I had a revelation that has since colored my perception of infidelity: Almost everything that happens to an addict happens to someone who has an affair.

  Think about drug and alcohol abuse for a moment: Not only does the syndrome result in abuse of substances, but it includes hiding behaviors from others, lying about activities, investing time and money seeking a chemical high, and changing just about every aspect of one’s life. Moreover, most of these individuals have wished to break away from their substances of abuse, but doing so has proved very difficult. Doesn’t that sound an awful lot like what happens when someone has an affair?

There are two camps when it comes to sex addiction: those who believe it’s a real affliction and those who don’t.

I’m in the "don’t" camp. Sexual addiction is, in my opinion, an easy and convenient label for a very complicated problem. As it stands, there is a lack of empirical evidence and scientific agreement on whether such a condition exists.

The trick to what makes up a sex addiction is defining what are "normal" sexual pursuits. An exercise in subjectivity, as every person has their own comfort level and preference: