Sexual Obsession
This view of mine is based on five years of studying the subject of sexual obsession.
Its a personal story...so I share it with you all for consideration.
Its not a something I am proud of.
First of all, an addiction is a behaviour that escalates over the years, that is a secret we keep from family and friends, and it is something that "harms" others.
Alcoholism, work addiction, over eating, sex, narcotics, shopping....these are addictive issues in the world.
They have existed for 1,000s of years ( they are in the bible ) and will exist in the future as well.
If you want you can do some reading on this subject. Patrick Carnes wrote a book in 1988 on this subject. Its called "Out of the Shadows". I urge anyone to read it.
He also wrote another book called "Facing the Shadow". It has exercises for the mind and behaviour to learn to stop obsessive thinking and compulsive behaviour.
Now why do I know this stuff ?
Well I suffer from this illness.
Its called an illness because its largely an area of activity that takes place in the mind. Eg, mental illness.
Some people think of it as a spiritual illness. They may be right.
Now for the last 5 years I have been going to a 12 Step Program to help men and women with obsessive thinking about sex and compulsive sexual behaviour
There are at least three programs that deal with this: SA, SAA and SLAA.
They were each formed in the 1970s by men who got sober in AA , only to discover they had another obsessive compulsive behaviour - lust ( thinking part , and sex ( masterbation, sex workers, affairs,etc ).
I go to a 12 Step Program called SA.
Have been to SLAA and SAA meetings , however SA works best for me.
Was it easy to stop the obsessive thinking and compulsive behaviour ?
No.
Why ? Well I went through withdrawal. You see an addict goes through withdrawal.
There are other sources to deal with this issue as well.
You might try visiting the web site
www.recoverynation.com
Many men and women find that site helpful.
I will leave this comment there. What I wish to share with you is that it is possible to change. I have...and its something that have changed my life for the better.
Take care Be well.
