Role of Sexual Abuse and Rape on Female Sex Addiction

Sex addiction is real and today very many people are enslaved to its chains, rummaging through life looking for all and every viable point of egress from this monster but to no avail. The reality however is that of all those who are already victims the fight against it is just as fierce as any other against other known addictions. it is quite unfortunate that the dangers of sex addiction or the very existence of this phenomenon is still overlooked, this is probably because most the people affected by sex addiction are women who are not ready to expose themselves as sex addicts and look for help; the society can be blamed for this, women have been associated with all the wrong reasons, called derogatory names in relation to their sexuality so it no surprise that most of them will endure all the problems that come with sex addiction in silence. It is quite unfortunate that most of the people who are sex addicts do not even know that they are suffering from sex addiction. There are various causes of sex addiction but sexual abuse and rape have been linked to sex addiction as causative agents.

sex addiction

Though overlooked, sex addiction is a real problem that has been here to stay and will continue to cause nightmares to many people. Statistics has it that between 10% and 17% of people aged between 20- 35 years struggle with sex addiction. The frequency of sex addiction is said to be at 3% generally. Past sexual misgivings of a person may lead to sexual addiction, therapists, healers and doctors have all noted the clear correlation between sexual abuse and sex addiction. If a person got raped at a younger age, the incident will make him incapable of differentiating between healthy sexual relationship and unhealthy sexual relationship. as opposed to what many people think sexual addicts are not engaged in the act for the sake of pleasure they can get from, therapists have taught that these addicts do not even enjoy sex but use it to help numb their painful feelings that may stem from past experiences. Though the major causes of sexual abuse are sexual abuse and rape, the availability of free porn sites on the internet has fueled sex addiction. many people are able to log into these porn sites and watch the videos which further corrupts minds into believing that compulsive sexual behaviors are in fact a ‘virtue’ to be highly upheld. These videos depict sex as an act that is not borne out of love and care but rather out of compulsion.

Sex addicts may exhibit the following symptoms

Sexual thoughts that is obsessive.
having multiple sexual partners
prioritizing sexual intercourse even at the expense of the daily work
inability to stop or control the behaviors
linking sex to pain, most addicts believe sex have to be endured
having intercourse with prostitutes and minors
Quest for dominance and control in sexual encounters
feeling remorse or guilt after sex

Sexual abuse and rape are leading causes of sexual addiction.

When a child is raped, the emotional baggage will continue to haunt her for a long time into her adult hood. This trauma often leaves the mind craving for something to make up for the emptiness and feelings of bitterness that follows when a person has been sexually abused. To self-medicate most victims will turn to sex as a therapy and this compulsive sexual behavior will become a part of her life. According to Doug Weiss, a therapist and executive director of the Heart to Heart Counseling Center, 80 percent of sex addicts have been sexually abused in the past and the emotional baggage still haunts them. These vies are also echoed by Mark Schwartz, psychologist and former director of the Masters and Johnson Institute in St. Louis, Missouri. He has observed that many people coming forward as sex addicts have been abused assaulted or raped. Dr. Schwartz opines that when a person has been raped or put through any other act of a sexual abuse in the past, she will fail to trust in other people and become more susceptible to turn to sex addiction as a manifestation. however he points out that this failure to trust people readily that makes people predisposed to sex addiction has also been shown by individuals who were neglected by parents mostly as a result of divorce or when the parents were engrossed in their professions and failed to spend time with the children.

sex addiction

It has been known that imbalances in the naturally occurring chemicals in the brain like the serotonin and dopamine can contribute to sexual problems but the relationship between these hormones and sex addiction have not been established. This according to Mayo Clinic may be because the research into the neuroscience of sex addiction has not been conclusive for the links to be drawn and established. However it has been found that these chemicals are lower in children who were sexually abused in the past and so they have to use their own bodies and sometimes food to help them boost their levels of these crucial hormones especially serotonin.

today very many people are suffering from sex addiction, the biggest problem that comes with sex addiction is that many addicts are not ready to accept what happened in the past and live in the present, most of them feel that they are to be blamed for what happened to them and hence not willing to open up and seek help. Here at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center we have enlisted sex addiction as a real threat that can only be treated through integrative medicine. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) is an expert at this. Call her on (843) 213-1480 for help.