sexual addiction
Compulsive intimacy disorder
Sexual addiction refers to compulsive sexual behavior that a person feels unable to control despite negative consequences—damaged relationships, lost jobs, health risks.
The term is contested: some clinicians consider it a genuine addiction comparable to substance dependence, while others view it as a medicalization of high libido or moral failing.
He entered treatment for sexual addiction after his marriage fell apart.
Also called hypersexuality or compulsive sexual behavior.
Compulsive female libido disorder
- erotomaniaDelusion of being loved
- hypersexualityCompulsive erotic excess
- insatiabilityInability to feel satisfied
- overindulgenceExcessive consumption or enjoyment
debauchery · licentiousness · profligacy · intemperance · dissipation · unmanageability · bingeing · out of control
Frequent casual sexual encounters
- hypersexualityCompulsive erotic excess
- infidelityDisloyalty to a partner
- risk-takingAccepting possible harm
- impulsivityActing without considering consequences
cheating · multiple partners · voyeurism · exhibitionism · solicitation · cybersex · sexting · affairs
Powerful urge to have
- urgeStrong inner drive
- obsessionPersistent, intrusive preoccupation
- fixationPersistent mental attachment
- preoccupationAbsorbing mental focus
impulse · dependency · drive · longing · desire · lust · hunger · neediness
Regaining what was lost
- therapyCurative mental treatment
- counselingProfessional guidance for problems
- psychotherapyTreatment through guided conversation
- rehabilitationRecovery from injury/addiction
12-step programs · support groups · cognitive-behavioral therapy · abstinence · relapse prevention · sponsor · sobriety · accountability partner
Painful awareness of failure
- guiltMoral self-reproach
- isolationComplete separation from others
- divorceLegal end of matrimony
- STIsSexually transmitted infections
job loss · financial ruin · legal trouble · depression · anxiety · self-loathing · distrust · betrayal trauma
nymphomania
Compulsive female libido disorder
- erotomaniaDelusion of being loved
- hypersexualityCompulsive erotic excess
- insatiabilityInability to feel satisfied
overindulgence · debauchery · licentiousness · profligacy · intemperance · dissipation · unmanageability · bingeing · out of control
promiscuity
Frequent casual sexual encounters
- hypersexualityCompulsive erotic excess
- infidelityDisloyalty to a partner
- risk-takingAccepting possible harm
impulsivity · cheating · multiple partners · voyeurism · exhibitionism · solicitation · cybersex · sexting · affairs · one-night stands
craving
Powerful urge to have
- urgeStrong inner drive
- obsessionPersistent, intrusive preoccupation
- fixationPersistent mental attachment
preoccupation · impulse · dependency · drive · longing · desire · lust · hunger · neediness · temptation
recovery
Regaining what was lost
- therapyCurative mental treatment
- counselingProfessional guidance for problems
- psychotherapyTreatment through guided conversation
rehabilitation · 12-step programs · support groups · cognitive-behavioral therapy · abstinence · relapse prevention · sponsor · sobriety · accountability partner · inpatient
shame
Painful awareness of failure
STIs · job loss · financial ruin · legal trouble · depression · anxiety · self-loathing · distrust · betrayal trauma · family dysfunction
- reproductive healthpregnancy, infertility, childbirth, male infertility, fertility rates
- sexual disorderserectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, vaginismus, low libido, impotence
- sexual sinsfornication, adultery, lust, lechery, lewdness
sexual addictionasexuality
Lack of sexual attraction
celibacy · abstinence · low libido · chastity · frigidity
sexual addictiontemperance
Habitual moderation in behavior
continence · self-control · celibacy · sexual restraint · abstinence
sexual, addiction, addict, sexually, sexuality, sexualize, sexualized, asexual, bisexual