Recovering From Sexual Addiction

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Most sex addicts live in denial of their addiction, and treating an addiction is dependent on the person accepting and admitting that he or she has a problem. In many cases, it takes a significant event—such as the loss of a job, the break-up of a marriage, an arrest, or health crisis—to force the addict to admit to his or her problem.

Addictive sexual behavior is addressed through behavioral symptom management, which consists primarily of relapse prevention and other cognitive-behavioral therapy techniques. Meanwhile, the addictive process is addressed primarily through psychotherapy, therapeutic groups and the use of psychiatric medications.. Relapse prevention strategies help individuals who use sexual behavior addictively to recognize factors and situations that are associated with an increased risk of acting out sexually, to cope more effectively with sexual urges, to recover rapidly from episodes of symptomatic behavior and to use such "slips" as opportunities to learn about how their recovery plans can be improved.

Treatment of sexual addiction, then, focuses on controlling the addictive behavior and helping the person develop a healthy sexuality. Treatment includes education about healthy sexuality, individual counseling, and marital and/or family therapy. Support groups and 12-step recovery programs for people with sexual addictions (i.e., Sex Addicts Anonymous) also are available. In some cases, medicines used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder might be used to curb the compulsive nature of the sex addiction. These medicines include fluoxetine (Prozac) and dopipramine (Anafranil).

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Reviewed: 03/2006