Homosexual obsessive-compulsive disorder – commonly referred to by the acronym HOCD – causes significant distress for thousands of people every single day. The primary obsession involves the fear of being gay (or even bisexual). HOCD is also used to refer to any obsession about sexual orientation, but for the sake of this article series, the primary focus will be the fear of being gay.
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.
People with sex addiction often describe the same types of feelings – hopelessness, trapped, angry, frustrated and depressed. In contrast to stereotypes or movie portrayals of sex addiction, the condition is anything but funny or pleasurable. For the nearly 16 million Americans believed to have sex addiction, it’s a life-destructive problem that’s progressive in nature and difficult to talk about. It also occurs with rising frequency among both genders.
We don’t have sufficient data on the precise number of female sex addicts seeking treatment for hypersexuality or pornography addiction, but the number of women falling into this group is believed to be growing. As more is learned about female sex addiction and the needs of female addicts seeking treatment, more women are coming forward.
Like alcohol or drugs, people with sex addiction find it impossible to manage their impulses and cravings for sexual activity despite the consequences. Among the list of consequences for sex addiction – such as loss of career, finances, and family life – many people with this complex condition describe an extreme sense of isolation and separation from close relationships.
In a figure that’s surprising to many, one of the nation’s leading experts on sexual addiction – Robert Weiss, director of the Sexual Recovery Institute in Los Angeles – said up to 12 percent of individuals who need help working through sexual addiction are women. However, many more are believed to have the complex and destructive conditions, but are hesitant to look for professional help.
Because of the differences between shame and guilt (who I am versus what I did), people respond to each emotion differently.
Guilt, because it emphasizes what someone did wrong, tends to elicit more constructive responses, particularly responses that seek to mend the damage done. Guilt is tied to beliefs about what is wrong, moral and immoral. When we violate one of these moral guidelines, it causes us to feel guilty over our actions and seek to fix what we have done. As a result, guilt is an important tool in maintaining standards of right and wrong in individuals and society as a whole. As such, guilt can often be used as a tool to overcome conflict.
