On Thursday, Sotho Meyer engaged in an inciteful conversation with psychologist Jon Pedrosa on sex addiction.
With 9 June marked as International Sex Day, Kaya 959 held various conversations on bedroom activities but when it comes to the act of sexual intercourse, what is normal and what can be defined as sex addiction?
Defining sex addiction
Much like any addiction, sex addiction can be defined as an obsessive-compulsive disorder. It’s a constant fixation to find relief, with or without one’s partner.
Sex addiction can have a considerable negative on a person’s life, impacting on one’s physical and mental health, relationships and way of life.
It becomes a problem when a person becomes so obsessed with finding their “next fix” that often leads to impaired judgement and imposing this behaviour on another.
“In order to find a release from the anxiety that builds, one has to engage in the behaviour to put the anxiety at bay,” Jon Pedrosa explains.
Also read: Free you O: Why some women don’t orgasm
What is normal and what is considered compulsive behaviour?
Where sexual intercourse was once an act engaged in only for reproduction, views on sex have shifted greatly and people now associate sex with pleasure.
What’s normal is that you have a healthy sexual appetite and view sex as an act of pleasure you enjoy. While some think sexual addiction means engaging in sex with multiple partners, this is not a clear definition of the term.
With people open to engaging in sex with multiple partners, especially in modern dating, the lines are blurry on this factor.
When the urge to have sex at all means takes over, however, this can be an indication of addiction, it’s the need to always chase that feeling of pleasure that poses a problem.
Fundamentally sex addiction stems from something deeper that’s happening internally and there are phases as Jon Pedrosa details. Fantasy becoming the idealisation of the sexual preoccupation that defines this insatiable need for sex.
It’s ideally a ritualisation in sexual behaviour that takes over one’s life and it can impact a person’s mental health causing depression.
Here’s a list of celebrities who have a history of sex addiction:
- Michael Douglas
- Amy Winehouse
- David Duchovny
- Colin Farrell
- Charlie Sheen
- Lindsay Lohan
- Russell Brand
- Tiger Woods
- Kanye West
- Eric Benet
Also read: Watch: SABC anchors take on the Jessica Challenge