Signs of a Porn or Sex Addiction Relapse

When a client who is trying to avoid a sex addiction relapse has had a slip I can often tell before they say anything about it.

At first I wasn’t sure what it was that I was seeing; whether it was just intuition or whether they were actually doing something different.  And with some clients I could tell right away and with others I couldn’t.  So what was the difference?

Signs of a relapse

When I see clients who have had a slip since the last time I saw them I can sometimes spot the following signs:

A difference of style.  The addict who is coming in laden with the knowledge that he has had a slip will likely be thinking about the fact that they have to discuss it with me.  This often results in their seeming to be superficially jocular or casual.  They seem to be tap dancing, probably because they feel embarrassed or ashamed about having let themselves and me down.

A difference in cognition.  To a greater or lesser extent, a sex addict who has had a slip or a relapse will be suffering from the aftereffects of their drug.  In order to go into the slip in the first place, the addict will have had to let go of part of their rational thinking, the part that has to do with weighing consequences, and thinking logically about the decision they are about to make.  This suspension of higher order thinking, being in the “bubble” as it is called, may have residual effects on their apparent ability to think clearly and communicate clearly.

Lack of focus.  The addict who has had a slip may seem scattered in the aftermath.  They are not completely able to integrate what they know they have done to endanger their recovery and part of them doesn’t want to think about it or about anything else.  They may deflect or divert the conversation and go off on tangents.  They may even be questioning their interest in recovery, their need to change or the appropriateness of the program.

When are these signs missing?

Why is it sometimes easier for me as a therapist to spot a client who has relapsed than it might be for other people in their life, even their partner?  And when are they able to fool me as well?

I think the answer has to do with the level of commitment to recovery that the addict has achieved.  Most of my clients are trying to be honest with me.  When they have something to say that they would previously have lied through their teeth about, they have an automatic high level of cognitive dissonance about it which causes some visible distress symptoms.

Likewise when the addict is still somewhat on the fence about whether and how much of their sexual acting out they really want to give up, then they will be better able to lie to themselves and therefore their deception will be more impenetrable.

It follows that the more someone has become committed to recovery the more difficult it will be for them to conceal the truth from someone they are close to.  When an addict has not really given up the need for secrecy as a way of life, they will more readily adopt a false persona that may be hard to see through.

An addict who has lied to his wife for years and then gotten into recovery may be better able to slip into old deceitful habits with her than with a new person such as a therapist.  The addict may have been doing well in recovery so far but when it comes to intimate relationships, recovery is more than just avoiding sex  addiction relapse. Relationship recovery and the building of honesty and trust is a long term process that involves revamping the entire basis of the relationship.

Find Dr. Hatch on Facebook at Sex Addictions Counseling or Twitter @SAResource

Is Sex Addiction Treatment Anti Sex?

Those who think that sex addiction treatment is anti-sex are not paying attention.  Some people who say they are “sex positive” claim that sex addiction therapists shame or judge their clients for their sexual behavior.  They go on to conclude that we are “sex negative” and wish to limit people’s sexual choices.

This is a big topic but I want to try to clarify some points about sex addiction treatment and its underlying assumptions.

Sex addiction is largely a self-defined problem

Sex addiction treatment does not label people as having a problem with their sexual behavior.  Rather we try to help people make that determination for themselves.  We do not assume that they are having too much sex or that their unusual sexual activities are unhealthy.

The idea the sex addiction therapists want everybody to have “missionary position” sex with an opposite sex partner in a committed relationship is a complete misrepresentation.  I had a client who got aroused by being choked during sex.  This is unorthodox, maybe even dangerous, and I don’t go out of my way to recommend it, but it wasn’t a problem for her because I thought there was something wrong with it.  Rather she herself decided it was a problem in her life.

How people decide sexual behavior is a problem

The criteria for whether or not someone has a sexual addiction or problem sexual behavior rely on the person’s own report of what is going on in their life.  Among these criteria are the ideas that the behavior has negative consequences in the person’s life.  These include such things as the following.

  • The pattern of sexual behavior is such that it gets in the way of their having or maintaining a kind of relationship that they want.  Often a spouse or partner insists that their behavior is out of control and intolerable.  And often the prospect of losing a loved one makes it clear to the client that they want to change their sexual behavior.  Other times the person’s sexual behavior prevents their being able to establish an intimate relationship with anyone.
  • The behavior causes them significant problems in their life such as getting fired for using pornography at work, getting hurt or arrested due to behaviors like indecent exposure, spending their paycheck on strip clubs and prostitutes or bringing sexually transmitted diseases home to their family.
  • Sometimes the consequences of the behavior have to do with internal discomfort, the feeling “I don’t want to be like this the rest of my life.”  In this case the negative consequence is the fact that the person can no longer ignore the extent to which their sexual compulsiveness or sexual preoccupation goes against their own value system.  I have heard people say “I don’t want to be that old guy sitting home alone watching internet porn for hours” or “I don’t want to keep spending all my time looking into neighbors’ windows hoping to see someone nude.”

In other words, sex addiction therapists don’t go out looking for addicts and trying to convince people that they have a problem.  This just doesn’t happen.  Addicts come to us in pain, often in crisis.

What happens in sex addiction treatment?

An initial period in which the addict abstains from all sex provides a way for the addict’s head to clear; it is not intended as a way of life.  Much as it is impossible to do counseling with someone who is high on drugs or alcohol, it is also hard to deal with a sex addict who is high on his/her drug of choice.  Sex addiction treatment proceeds to:

  • Help the addict define and understand the behavior that is of concern
  • Help the addict understand the origins of the behavior i.e. what drives it and its roots in early life experiences
  • Understand the role of other addictions such as drugs, alcohol, gambling or work as they interact with or support the sexual behavior.
  • Help the addict see that he/she is not alone; connecting with other addicts reduces shame and allows for an honest an open dialogue.

When we do sex addiction treatment in this way we are helping clients develop their own definition of sexual recovery and giving them the tools to get there.

Find Dr. Hatch on Facebook at Sex Addictions Counseling or Twitter @SAResource

Do Happily Married Men Go to Prostitutes?

I’ll go out on a limb and say that a married man who visits prostitutes repeatedly is probably not the happiest kid in the sandbox.  Although the wives of such men may feel the behavior reflects on their desirability, my experience tells me that such a pattern of behavior doesn’t have anything to do with the wife’s attractiveness.  It says something about the man who, most often loves and feels committed to his partner.

Paying for sex on a regular basis is not the norm, even for single men.  And it can be a sexually addictive behavior, in which case it has to do with the man’s emotional problems including his problems dealing with relationships.

Who are these men who pay for sex?

An article published earlier this year called What Kind of Men go to Prostitutes?  reviewed some of the recent research and survey data on men who visit prostitutes.  The studies indicate that between 1 and 3 percent of men in the U.S. have gone to a prostitute in any given year and about 14 % of men have paid for sex at some point in their lives.

The studies also indicate that men who hire prostitutes are only slightly more likely to be single than married.  And furthermore they do not appear to differ much from the general population of men.  The men’s reasons for having hired prostitutes were seen as predictable: wanting more sex, being unhappily married, being insecure about dating, wanting the excitement of risk, and wanting power and control.

An outcome study of men who attended a “John School”, a criminal diversion program for men who are arrested for paying for sex, reported that:

“Johns report a variety of reasons for why they purchase sex including the feeling that buying sex is an addiction. Interviews with “Johns” revealed that 83 percent of participants identified buying sex as an addiction (my italics) (Durchslag & Goswami, 2008).  Additionally, research suggests that men who participate in the commercial sex industry often view women as commodities and feel a sense of entitlement to sex. Interviews revealed that men who did not have a regular sexual partner also legitimized purchasing sex (Monto, 2000).”

The Johns as a group also consisted of married and single men.  Were all the married men paying for sex because they were unhappily married?  This is unlikely, because Johns as a group are characterized as unhappier than other men.  And besides, if they have problems with sexual behavior this could account for their unhappy marriage as much as the other way around.

Unfortunately there is not enough known about the demographics of the John population or the prevalence of psychological problems.  These are still very much being debated.

Paying for sex and sex addiction

I feel on firmer ground talking about the kinds of relationship dynamics that are commonly seen in men who show up for sex addiction treatment where paying for sex is one of their compulsive behaviors.

As with sex addicts in general, men who visit prostitutes most often have other sexually addictive behaviors.  These can include compulsive porn use, cybersex, strip clubs, and sometimes offending behaviors like exhibitionism and others.  Going to prostitutes is thus part of an pattern of sexually addictive acting out behaviors.

The fantasy element in sexually addictive behavior

Whatever the specific behavior, sexual acting out is always largely a fantasy.  It takes place outside of the person’s “real life” and it functions as a drug.  While engaging in the sexually addictive behavior, the addict escapes whatever is painful and achieves a totally gratifying experience on his own terms.  This implies that the man has issues that he cannot resolve, or issues he would rather escape than allow his adult self to face head-on.

The avoidance of intimacy in sexually addictive behavior

Paying for sex is exactly the same as any other sexually compulsive behavior in that it is part of a pattern of intimacy avoidance.  What is the addict escaping from when he is avoiding intimacy with a partner?  It is not that the prostitute has so much more to offer than the spouse.

The sex addict experiences intimate bonds as frightening and overwhelming.  Being with a prostitute is safe, limited and controlled interaction.  The addict can relax and feel safe from the dangers of getting hurt, abandoned, rejected or feeling inadequate.   The sex addict feels unlovable and insecure and meets his needs for sexual abandon in a contrived, compartmentalized way.

Sex addicts feel bad about their addictive behavior afterward but they continue to do it.  If a man who is not an addict visits a prostitute he may feel many things but he will not be driven to repeat the experience.

Find Dr. Hatch on Facebook at Sex Addictions Counseling or Twitter @SAResource

Relapses and Slips in Porn and Sex Addiction

It is accepted among those of us who work with porn and sex addiction that there will be relapses or “slips” at some point in the first year or so of recovery.  Internet pornography in particular is notoriously hard to quit.

Sex addiction is  clever and devious.  It wants to find a way to come out and play.  So even when the addict is totally abstinent from his or her “bottom line” behaviors (behaviors that the addict has identified as the ones that need to be out of bounds) the addict may engage in other watered down kinds of behavior to get a “hit.”  For example, the addict who wants to quit internet pornography may find himself watching movies that have a significant amount of sexual content or looking at YouTube or Facebook videos that are suggestive or outright sexual.

But in early recovery addicts are likely to repeat even their bottom line sexually addictive behavior at some point.  So when is this something to be concerned about? When should it be called a slip and when should it be seen as an out-and-out relapse?

When is it just a slip?

What is counted as a slip is doing the addictive behavior (e.g. going to a strip club, watching porn, engaging in cybersex, having a sexual hook-up with a stranger, or getting together with an old affair partner).  It is not doing the things that lead up to the bottom line behavior but it is actually doing something that is what you have decided not to do any more.  (Slips will usually count as sexual acting out and will mean changing your sobriety date.)  What I believe makes it a “slip” rather than a relapse is:

  • You perform the sexually addictive behavior without planning to.  You did not enter the situation consciously intending to do the behavior.  It “just happened” and you may feel a certain shock at finding yourself in the situation.
  • You do the behavior only once.  You realize immediately what you have done and you get out of the situation before you do it again.  You turn off the computer, you hang up the phone, you get rid of the person’s contact information etc.
  • You talk about it with someone like a sponsor, counselor or recovery partner and you describe it in your regular 12-step meeting right away.  You do not attempt to hide it or minimize it.
  • You figure out what you need to learn from the slip. This means that you use the slip to gain a better understanding of the circumstances that can lead up to you slipping.  Do you have to plan your day or evening more carefully? Should you be more aware of slippery situations like business trips?  You will need to anticipate known stressors or other things that constitute your “relapse scenario” as it is called.
  • You may change your recovery plan in response to the slip.  You might decide to put additional behaviors, people or activities, such as browsing singles ads, into your list of bottom line behaviors so that you see them as relevant to your staying abstinent.   You may also consider whether other addictions such as alcohol or drug use have played a role in your slip and consider addressing them more strenuously.  And you may want to consult with a doctor if appropriate when you believe you may have psychological issues or need medication to stay emotionally stable enough.

Avoiding Relapse

If you respond to the incident of sexual acting out in the way described above you will have gone a long way to avoiding a full on relapse in which you continue the acting out behavior.  Often people have a slip and decide that it is a relapse.  They therefore feel “What the heck! I’ve already blown it; I might as well go all the way.”  This is using the slip as an excuse to keep acting out.  But the fact is a slip does not mean that you have blown your program.  It is an opportunity to make your program better and to learn about yourself.  If you use it.

Find Dr. Hatch on Facebook at Sex Addictions Counseling or Twitter @SAResource

Why Sex Addicts Blame Their Partners

For most sex addicts, blaming a spouse or partner for a pattern of sexual acting out behavior is a predictable part of the denial process .  Even when they are devoted in many ways to their spouse and family, addicts may still feel that their behavior is caused by something in their situation.

Like all denial mechanisms, this is partly a matter of wanting to avoid feelings of shame about the behavior, as well as wanting to explain it away.  This “shame dumping” as it is sometimes called can be conscious or unconscious, overt or covert.  It is like saying “I’m really a good guy; I only do what I do because of such-and such.”

Your own problems and addictions are usually hard to spot and/or admit to.  But it is always easier to see what’s wrong with someone else or what’s wrong with your life.

Feeling abandoned by a partner with the birth of a child

It is very common for an underlying sex addiction in men to really begin to take hold following the birth of a child.  The problems with the addict’s intimacy avoidance, their addiction proneness, or their lack of emotional maturity were most likely there before.  Often they were masked by the newness of the relationship.

The birth of a child takes the mother away to some extent and puts the emphasis on someone other than the addict.  The addict may flee the new demands and seek to escape into acting out.  In this case the addict may feel unconsciously that they have been rejected or abandoned by his wife and thus feel justified in acting out behaviors like going to strip clubs, prostitutes or sexual massage parlors.

Self sacrifice and overwork

Self sacrifice and devotion to their partner may paradoxically be a setup for the addict to begin to feel like indulging the urge for a separate secret life of acting out.  Many sex addicts are prone to work too hard and try to be the hero for their spouse or partner.

Later they come to resent it and feel that they are owed something.  Instead of being able to practice the intimacy skills of stating their needs with their spouse and letting go of being the hero, they take refuge in a very self indulgent secret life which they feel they deserve.  You will sometimes hear addicts in recovery say “I had to shoot my white horse.”

Sexual dissatisfaction

Sex addicts often feel that their sexual acting out whether in porn use, serial affairs, or any other sexual behavior is a direct reaction to something that is missing in their marriage.  They may say that the problem is that they “want more sex than my wife” and their reasoning is that if that is the case then they are justified in going outside the marriage or relationship to get sex.  After all it’s his/her fault.  If their partner were meeting their needs then they wouldn’t have to seek sex elsewhere.   But in reality it’s apples and oranges.  What the addict wants is an addictive high, a dopamine rush that is the result of a secret sexual behavior.  This is not just a case of needing more sex.  And it is certainly not the partner’s fault.

Lack of investment in the relationship

Most sex addicts who have partners and who are active in their addictive behaviors are lacking in the ability to be fully invested in their relationship.  Even if they love their partner very much, they have chosen a relationship and a way of relating to a partner that sets the stage for the compartmentalization and deception that go along with sex addiction.  They often feel that they didn’t really want to get married or commit to the partner in the first place.

All too often sex addicts have no idea what a good devoted primary relationship should look like and they are unable to bond effectively.  They expect little of the relationship and of their partner and so are free to put their eggs in several baskets.  They may think consciously that their partner is just too busy with work or that their partner will be likely to betray them anyway.  But it is not their partner who can’t make the bond happen it is them.  Their addiction (and intimacy dysfunction) is not an effect, it’s a cause.

Being Sexually Triggered vs. Sexually Aroused

Maybe you have heard recovering sex addicts talk about being “triggered” and wondered how it differs from just being aroused or turned on by some stimulus or other. Being triggered is a common term used in sex addiction recovery. It means something different from simply feeling aroused by something or someone.

A triggering experience can be seeing, hearing or doing something that is a precursor to the addict’s sexual acting out behavior. There are sexual images and sexual stimuli to be seen everywhere but certain kinds of perceptions will be more likely to be associated with a particular person’s preferred sexual behavior.

What triggers do

A trigger sets the stage for a sequence of behavior moving toward acting out. An addict whose preferred sexual scenario involves power and exploiting someone weaker, such as that of rescuing a helpless female may be triggered by seeing an attractive woman who is in a difficult situation.

Sex addicts are not always fully aware of why an experience is triggering. It may seem to be unrelated to their sexual acting out behavior and still make them want to go out and do that behavior. An addict who typically finds sexual partners for anonymous sex through the internet may begin to feel an urge to relapse into that behavior when simply looking at Craig’s List ads for someone to play bridge with. The mere fact of online descriptions or photos of people may be enough. In this case the addict is on thin ice, often not realizing it.

The triggering experience need not be sexual and in fact often it is not. For someone who is compulsive with prostitutes or sexual massage parlors, certain parts of town or certain streets may cause the beginning of a chain reaction known as the addict’s “ritual.” An addict who is an exhibitionist or a voyeur will likely become triggered in any situation in which being seen or seeing others undressed is a possibility, such as finding him or herself in a locker room or changing room with little privacy.

In contrast to ordinary arousal, being triggered may involve the beginning of delusional thinking. The addict sees something and either consciously or unconsciously it touches off an association with the addictive behavior on whatever level. At this point, sexual acting out begins to seem more like a viable option even though the addict wants to avoid it like the plague when he has his wits about him.

Identifying “triggery” feelings as useful information

Although addicts may slip into ritual or delusional thinking without realizing it, there are often ways to catch yourself and not move toward a slip or relapse.

  • Feeling triggered can involve a sudden feeling of hyper-arousal, a dopaminergic “burst”, which is different from normal sexual arousal or attraction. It is more sudden and intense and is thus more compelling. To an addict in good recovery it is a warning. Sometimes the triggering involves the blurring of boundaries with other intense feelings like fear or anger which in turn bring on sexually addictive urges.
  • Another way that the addict may identify a trigger is through noticing and examining their own thought processes. Addicts in recovery get progressively better at seeing the ways in which their thinking can go awry. Even though you may not think there was any triggering event, you may still notice that your mind has for some reason begun to distort reality.
  • You may find yourself feeling that there is no harm in doing a particular behavior or you may begin to look for little ways to get a sexual hit.  At this point the addict can get a handle on things by going back and looking at what may have been a triggering experience.
  • Since the sex addict is locked into a pretty set pattern of sexual acting out behavior, it is sometimes the case that the experience of feeling triggered is one of sudden familiarity.  The excitement, the intrigue, whatever it is, feels like where the addict belongs. This is another kind of signal.  In normal arousal there is always some sense of not knowing where it is going.

But remember, they are your triggers and you must manage them. It is never someone else’s fault if you get triggered! Most recovering addicts get very good at identifying what are triggers for them ahead of time and avoiding them. This takes time and experience and is part of what happens in treatment and 12-step work.

Find Dr. Hatch on Facebook at Sex Addictions Counseling or Twitter @SAResource

Porn Addiction in Film: “Don Jon” Gets Intimacy Disorder Right

The new film “Don Jon” starring and written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (and hopefully its planned sequel “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For”) have the potential to do more to combat the epidemic of sexist porn and sex addiction than all the “feminist porn” movies, books and women’s studies classes put together.  The film is so well done and so entertaining that you might not notice that it is a feminist film or that it deals with intimacy disorder.

In the title role Gordon-Levitt plays a shallow young man whose life is anchored by strong ties to his family, church and male friends.   He is not a sleaze or a loser, he likes to keep his apartment sparkling clean, and he’s a nice guy with a lot of charm and innocent warmth.  It’s just that he inhabits a social world in which the sexual objectification of women and the search for sexual hook-ups are the norm.  He is also a hope-to-die porn addict, which he confesses to his Catholic priest every Sunday but which he fails to identify as a real problem.  He has no idea what intimacy is let alone intimacy disorder.

The story is one of a man whose consciousness is raised through meeting and connecting with Esther (played by Julianne Moore), a totally present and very spiritual survivor of great personal tragedy.  The theme of the film is stated toward the end: that intimacy is losing yourself in someone else not losing yourself in fantasy.

A lot of the film is taken up with the funny and poignant attempt at a relationship with Barbara, a woman he lusts after but who withholds sex.  Scarlett Johansson gives an amazing performance as Barbara, the sexy, gum-cracking, love addict who wants to mold a relationship to match her fairy tale fantasy of the great love.  As this relationship develops we see that both Jon and Barbara are totally intimacy disordered.  Neither one really knows how to get to know another person or how to move forward in a genuine courtship.

In the Julianne Moore character, Jon finds an ancient goddess archetype,  who approaches him in a night class which he is taking to please Barbara (i.e. to get in her pants).  In case there is any doubt that religion and spirituality are not necessarily the same thing.  Jon goes  to church every Sunday with his family and confesses his “sins” of pornography/masturbation and sex out of wedlock with hilarious honesty (“35 times in the last week”) and while he performs all the resulting Hail Mary’s and Our Father’s diligently, he never evolves one inch until he meets his de facto spiritual guide.

Gordon-Levitt, unlike the character he plays in the film, has feminist consciousness in his DNA.  He is the son of non-observant Jewish progressives.  His father was at one time the news director for KPFK and his mother ran for U.S. congress in the 70’s in the Peace and Freedom Party.  Gordon Levitt is quoted as saying:

“My mom brought me up to be a feminist.  She was active in the movement in the 60s and 70s.  The Hollywood movie industry has come a long way since its past.  It certainly has a bad history of sexism, but it ain’t all the way yet.”

Is Masturbation OK in Recovery From Sexually Addictive Behaviors?

Masturbation  can present a problem for people with sexually addictive behaviors.

I would not encourage anyone to see masturbation as inherently bad or a problem, and yet there are some people who would see any sexual activity outside of marital sex, even masturbation as wrong.  If you hold such a view on religious or other  grounds, then you may see masturbation as wrong no matter what.

But since I do not hold such a view I distinguish between those situations in which masturbation is harmless and those in which it can complicate things for someone attempting to recover from sex addiction.

When is masturbation counter-productive?

In the early months (or maybe years) of recovery I believe it is a good idea for sex addicts to abstain from masturbation, regardless of whether compulsive masturbation is one of their sexually addictive behaviors or not.  Here are some situations where Masturbation can reinforce addictive patterns.

  • Masturbation can itself be a compulsion, meaning that it is being used to excess and as a drug.  For some sex addicts masturbation is their primary sexually addictive behavior.  Often it is done in conjunction with porn use but sometimes it is done using fantasy alone.  Compulsive masturbation often starts early in life and continues into adulthood.  The addict will often develop a pattern of masturbating numerous times per day.  In order to be free of this compulsion and lead a more normal sex and relationship life in recovery, the addict will need to “kick” the habit and allow their brain chemistry to return to normal functioning.  This means total abstinence for a period of time during treatment and recovery.
  • Masturbation can be part of a pattern of other sexually addictive behaviors.  Masturbation often accompanies other sexually addictive behaviors built around fantasy such as compulsive cybersex, sexual chat,  voyeurism, and exhibitionism.  The masturbation may be done at the time of the other behavior or it may be done later using the stimulus of the memory of the event.  In this case the behavior of masturbating is tied to whatever pattern of addictive acting out behavior exists and provides the sexual gratification for which the other behavior is the stimulus.  At least initially, the addict cannot quit one behavior without quitting both.
  • Masturbation in early recovery can prevent the process of withdrawal and lead to relapse.  Since the addict’s “arousal template” as it is called, is one of addictive sexual acting out of one type or another, it is likely that any form of sexual stimulation, at least in the beginning of recovery, can lead back to cravings and urges for the addict’s preferred sexually addictive behaviors.  Even if the addict has never masturbated compulsively, masturbating in recovery can bring on cravings for other behaviors, behaviors like anonymous sex, prostitutes, etc.   I takes a long time in treatment for the unhealthy urges and fantasies to subside or at least be less powerful.  Instead of allowing the addictive pattern to weaken, masturbation may be like taking small amounts of the drug, thus prolonging the process of withdrawal.

When is masturbation a useful part of recovery?

After a sex addict has established a period of abstinence from all sexually addictive behaviors, it is possible that masturbation can be engaged in in a normal way that does not threaten their sexual sobriety.  This is very much a subjective and individual decision to be arrived at by the addict and their sponsor or counselor.

  • Masturbation can become a more healthy activity that is not a compulsion and is not tied to another sexually addictive behavior.   It may be that the addict will find it a useful way to explore and check in with the fantasies that have driven their addiction and the memories or traumatic events that have shaped their sexuality in the past.
  • Sometimes addicts can actively change the content of their masturbation fantasies to experiment with different and healthier mental stimuli.  Some addicts masturbate while thinking about their spouse or partner.
  • Or addicts may simply be able to enjoy occasional masturbation as a positive, private experience that is different from their relational sex but is not part of a compulsion or an addictive pattern.

But many times masturbation loses it’s charm for sex addicts once they have given up their sexually addictive behaviors and no longer crave the hyper-arousal that their addictive fantasies provided.

 

When Love Addicts Fall for Sex Addicts

As a therapist I have noticed that partners of sex addicts frequently have characteristics of love addicts.  This is not always the case of course.

Partners of sex addicts may be innocent bystanders.  But I think there are some reasons to suggest an affinity between love addicts and sex addicts.

There are underlying similarities between sex addicts and love addicts in terms of brain chemistry, intimacy issues, abandonment fear and co-dependentence.  Both tend to have early childhood trauma and attachment issues.

However, I think it is the separate, distinct characteristics of each that attract them to each other.

Here are my thoughts on how this pairing might come about and what function  it might serve for the addict and the partner

The allure of the sex addict

What sex addicts do is to behave in certain predictable ways that turn out to be an engraved invitation for the love addict.

  • Superficial intensity

Love addicts have the fantasy of being desired and rescued.  As Pia Mellody puts it

“When these individuals get old enough, they begin to form a fantasy in their head of somebody rescuing them from being so alone, of making them matter. The fantasy usually takes the form of being rescued by – it is like Cinderella — a knight in shining armor or a wonder woman, who will take care of them and help them come out of their dilemma of being too alone and worthless and not knowing what to do.”

Sex addicts are themselves very insecure and narcissistic.  They want to be seen as the hero even if it is a façade.  The love addict would like to be permanently swept away.  But intensity is not the same as intimacy; it is a fantasy that cannot be sustained.

  • Dishonesty

Sex addicts can appear to offer unconditional love and acceptance because they lack the ability to be who they really are in a relationship.  The sex addict is often comfortable with saying what the love addict wants to hear since he or she is invested in a whole other, secret sexual life.

This works for the love addict who needs to feel completed in a relationship.  The love addict does not see through the sex addict’s perfect love but merely projects their own fantasy onto it.  They feel safe.

  • Seductiveness

Sex addicts are seductive.  They can manipulate the love addict into feeling that they are perfect, the fairy princess.   The love addict needs to feel perfect in order to feel safe.  If I am perfect you will never leave me.

  • Lack of intention or commitment

Sex addicts substitute the intensity, superficiality and seductiveness for any real investment in the relationship or in the future.  Lacking intimacy skills they don’t confront the partner about anything, don’t negotiate, and often avoid talking about their needs and wants altogether.

The love addict cannot tolerate the requirements of real intimacy either such as being open to confrontation, being willing to admit to being imperfect or wrong, or allowing the addict to be imperfect.  Since the sex addict lacks the ability to be real and work on a relationship, the basic unavailability of the sex addict a good fit. 

As Patrick Carnes has said:

“Love addicts consciously want intimacy, but can’t tolerate healthy closeness, so they must unconsciously choose a partner who cannot be intimate in a healthy way.”

The love addict partner is unconsciously drawn toward a relationship in which there is intense romanticism (at first) but which cannot lead to a stable grown-up relationship.  In the long run, the love addict will be subjected to disappointment, deception and episodes of abandonment by the person they love.  Yet they will often continue to be “hooked” on the fantasy.

Intimacy and Secrets: Why Sex Addicts Won’t Tell All

Telling a partner their sexual secrets is the last thing that most sex addicts want to do.  Yet it is considered a vital part of sex addiction recovery for the addict and not just for the partner or spouse.

Disclosing everything about the addict’s secret life is important in finding or maintaining intimacy and yet it seldom happens all at once. Despite the fact that sex addiction therapists and sex addiction support groups stress honesty and coming clean with your spouse or partner, addicts fear it like the plague.  (For additional information about the process of disclosure and planned disclosure in therapy see my post “Partners Need to Know the Secrets and Lies of Sex Addiction”.)

Trickling or staggered disclosure

It is normal for sex addicts to want to hold back as much about their addiction as they think they can get away with.  So initially, they are likely to disclose only the minimum they think they need to.  As treatment progresses and the partner or spouse gets more involved, additional sexual behaviors or additional details about the sexual activities may come out or be discovered.  Staggered disclosure is considered by therapists to be the norm (see Corley and Schneider, Disclosing Secrets, 2002).

The resistance to revealing everything

There are a number of reasons why addicts find it so hard to just tell it all; some have to do with overt manipulation and some are more psychological.

  • Wanting to contain the problem and avoid the risk of turmoil or divorce.  Disclosure does cause turmoil but it does not necessarily cause divorce.  Addicts are often justifiably afraid that honesty may result in a break-up.  They have in effect made a bargain: they are giving up the possibility for real intimacy in their relationship in order to maintain the relationship.  This is probably a long-standing bargain so it is hard to see it as such.  It is based on the addict’s insecurity, abandonment fear and negative core beliefs about him/her self.
  • Wanting to “protect” the partner or spouse.  Yes, disclosure is hurtful to spouses and partners of the addict.  But here again the addict is making a trade off: they are saying in effect ‘Hurting my partner by keeping sexual secrets and sacrificing a closer bond is better than hurting my partner by telling the truth.’  Better for who?   In most cases the wish to protect the partner is a rationalization
  • Thinking that certain facts don’t count.  Addicts in early recovery may not really understand the many ways, large and small, that they have acted out their sexual compulsivity.  It is typical in recovery for addicts to add things to the list of sexually addictive behaviors as they gain greater self awareness.  A porn addict may not be thinking that his sporadic affairs were part of an “addiction.”  Another addict may not immediately realize that coming on to a friend’s wife at a party was related to his addiction to extramarital hook-ups.
  • Wanting to be able to continue the undisclosed behavior.  This is not necessarily a conscious wish to be devious.  It may be that the addict stays in denial about a particular behavior, believing it to be innocent or irrelevant because of an unconscious motivation to cling to the behavior and a fear of having to give it up.  Such is the compulsive and deluded nature of addictive behavior.

Honesty, remorse and empathy

Addicts hold the core belief that they are unworthy of love.  They avoid intimacy by losing themselves in their addictive behavior which not only serves to “medicate” anxiety, depression and other negative emotions but also serves to avoid the risk of rejection by an intimate partner.

As addicts recover, they gradually let go of long-standing feelings of shame, fear and inadequacy.  They are more willing to risk real intimacy and let go of their sexual fantasy life.  As they gain a stronger sense of self they become more courageous as well as more genuinely remorseful and empathic.

Honesty with oneself and one’s partner is considered to be an indication of progress in recovery. It is evidence of a new-found ability to connect.  It is both a cause and effect of the healing process.  The addict demonstrates a new more integrated self by being honest with himself and others—even when it’s scary.

In this sense the growing ability to tell our secrets is part of the process of trauma and addiction recovery.  It doesn’t happen all at once.

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