Webcam Porn Sex Addiction: Getting Out of the Internet Rut

Jared was only 10 the first time someone showed him pornography on the Internet, and while this may seem young, it was only one year before the average age most children in the US see porn for the first time.

By 12, Jared was using his family’s shared computer to regularly view pornography; it was a simple matter of clearing the computer’s cache and history. By 16, Jared had his own smartphone and laptop and had graduated from the standard porn films and amateur sites to something known in the industry as webcam girls. On these sites, Jared could watch a live video feed of any one of thousands of women across the world, and instantaneously chat with her via instant messaging. She might remove her clothing for him and proceed to do anything else he requested. Jared could see the woman through her video feed, but she couldn’t see him; she only had his words – and his money.

Women, Substance Abuse and Sex With Many Partners

What are the effects in terms of abusing drugs or alcohol when someone has several sex partners? Research remains unclear, but a new study is challenging some old assumptions.

A study involving more than 1,000 participants in New Zealand looked at patterns between mental illness, substance abuse and sex with several partners. Conclusions indicate that the connections between mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse and frequent sexual pairings seem to flow in a linear way – which challenges existing assumptions that one may cause the other. 

Symptoms of Sexual Addiction Include Feeling Numb Toward Partner or Spouse

Fixated, compulsive, obsessed with thoughts about sex and finding the next partner – these can be described as hallmarks of sex addiction. There are also surprising symptoms associated with sex addiction, a progressive addiction believed to affect more than 12 million adults in the U.S.

Because of negative associations with sexual addiction, many may live in secret with serious, chronic symptoms for years – destroying families, careers and lives.

Symptoms of sexual addiction may include:

• Inability to control or resist urges to engage in sex, even in public and inappropriate places despite consequences.
• Obsessive, consuming thoughts about sex that the person cannot stop, and sometimes reflect bizarre and unwanted sexual experiences.
• Feelings of escape or avoidance of negative emotions associated with having sex, similar to how a person living with alcohol addiction would relieve stress through drinking.
• Repeated strong desire to seek out the next sexual encounter, either with multiple partners, strangers or even paid sexual services.

While these symptoms are increasingly becoming more widely known as the condition achieves higher levels of formal diagnosis and recognition, there are other symptoms of sexual addiction that may be less known.

Lesser-known symptoms of sexual addiction:

• A loss of desire for sex with a partner or spouse. The person may feel “numb” or detached from typical sexual situations. This is also accompanied by a lack of pleasure or joy in the act of sex.
• Sexual performance problems. Over time, changes occur at the brain level related to pleasure centers and sexual performance when sexual addiction is present, leading many to develop sexual performance problems.
• Increase in other obsessive behaviors, such as compulsive gambling, drinking or eating. These disorders may occur simultaneously with sexual addiction – especially as the feelings of stress, shame and guilt of the sexual addiction grows stronger.
• Compulsive masturbation, which can occur in public or inappropriate places.

While symptoms of sexual addiction may vary, the condition can last for years if untreated. Professional help is required to identify the triggers and prepare a lasting plan for recovery.

Summertime’s Sex Addiction Bonanza

Summer is here, and for sex and love addicts this presents heightened challenges. For starters, people wear a lot less clothing when it’s hot out. Halter tops, short-shorts, bikinis, Speedos, thongs, and tight T-shirts are de rigueur for a lot of individuals – and that alone can trigger a sex addict’s cycle. Plus, there are lots more parties in the summer than most other times of year. This means more socializing and more alcohol, and consequently lowered inhibitions and more opportunities to act out. Plus there’s family stuff to deal with – vacations, ballgames, recitals, lawn maintenance, BBQs, and all sorts of other potentially stressful stuff. 

‘Don Jon’ Shows Numbing, Distancing Effect of Porn

A recent movie about porn addiction is capturing national headlines, but not for the sheer nature of the complex addiction itself. Rather, critics are talking about how the movie “Don Jon” portrays the nature of addiction as a force that separates individuals from genuine emotional connections.

Written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who also held the starring role in Don Jon, the movie is noted for its parallels in story to the numbing effect of pornography addiction in a person’s real-life. Repeated, emotionless sexual scenes are shown during the first parts of the movie, including online porn and sex with multiple partners, allowing viewers to catch a glimpse about how porn addiction really is less about the sex and more about the escape or numbing-out factor it provides.

Symptoms of Sexual Masochism Disorder

Sexual masochism disorder is a psychiatric condition that centers on the need to receive physical or psychological pain from another person in order to experience sexual gratification. The United States’ most prominent mental health organization, called the American Psychiatric Association (APA), includes the condition within a larger group of sex-based disorders called paraphilic disorders. Not everyone who engages in sexual masochism has sexual masochism disorder. Before qualifying for a diagnosis, affected individuals must meet the guidelines for the disorder set forth in the APA’s reference text on mental illness, known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

People with Bipolar Disorder Show Sex Addiction Traits

Bipolar disorder and sex addiction – experts are learning more about the connections and symptoms of these two complex disorders. The connections and crossovers may be more prevalent than currently believed.

Commonly referred to as “hypersexuality,” many individuals with bipolar disorder may see a crossover diagnosis of sex addiction, and vice versa. A recent article suggests that as many as one-fourth to more than three-fourths of individuals with bipolar disorder may also have sexual addiction, or symptoms of hypersexual behavior.

Does Fetish Behavior = Sex Addiction?

A fetish is an object, behavior, or body part whose real or fantasized presence is part of a person’s sexual gratification. In other words, fetishes are recurrent and intensely arousing sexual fantasies, urges, and behaviors that incorporate specific roles and/or physical objects. These objects and roles are incorporated into a person’s sexual life because they are a compelling and sometimes even primary source of arousal. Most fetishes are playful and harmless, though some are pathological, dangerous, and even illegal.

Sexual Addiction and the Upper Class: One Woman’s Story

Julianne was a debutante from Alabama. She’d attended Ole Miss where she’d met her husband-to-be, as everyone knew she would. No one in her family really expected her to do anything with her English degree. Imagining Julianne as a teacher or a publisher or, for that matter, a writer, was a joke to them. No, she would do as all the women in her family going back generations had done – she would be beautiful. She might champion literacy and join the country club, certainly she’d join the Junior League. She might occasionally volunteer. Her future husband was to become a lawyer and a well-respected one, and likely a politician; he had his own family legacy to live up to after all. Julianne would play the dutiful wife. She’d make appearances in designer suits and gowns and she’d always time her hair and nail appointments correctly. She’d be masterful at entertaining guests.