Causes
Studies have revealed that the majority of sex addicts (87%) come from severely dysfunctional families with at least one other family member suffering from some form of addiction.
Inconsistent or insufficient parental nurturing as a child inflicts a sense of parental betrayal. The child soon learns that intimacy brings pain and learns to withdraw emotionally. Sex, to these individuals, ushers in a sense of security and eventually leads to addiction.
Some of the other causes of sex addiction are -
- Early sexualization or early initiation to sex by sights, sounds or touch(es)
- Childhood abuse is a key contributor to adult sex addiction. Research reveals that as a child 71% of sex addicts have been physically abused, 83% have been sexually abused, 97% have been emotionally. Some children are less impacted by abuse primarily due to their inherent personality and also due to adequate adult support.
- Stress causes some people to use sex as a mode of escape.
- There are reports of a propensity for people with other forms of addiction such as alcoholism, gambling or drugs to gradually become addicted to sex as well.
- Sexual Addiction can sometimes be due to other Psychiatric Disorders such as Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Narcissistic personality disorder, and Bipolar disoder.
- In some cases, neurological disorders such as epilepsy, head injury and dementia can lead to sex addiction
- Sexual addiction can be a result of biochemical imbalance in the brain.
- Some drugs such as apomorphine and dopamine are found to lead to hyper sexuality.
