Thousands of people suffer through the trauma of sexual addiction.
Most struggle in secret. You may be lost in a swirl of confusing and often overwhelming feelings from anger and rage to shame and despair. But you are not alone.
We live in a hypersexual culture. This has contributed to a crisis of healthy sexual expression in our society.
In his book, A Hypersexual Society: Sexual Discourse, Erotica, and Pornography in America Today, researcher Kenneth Kammeyer, has observed that from a social perspective hypersexuality has two essential characteristics.
- There is an overwhelming abundance of sexual images, narratives, and representations at all levels of society.
- This abundance of simulated sexuality undermines healthy sexual expression.
The problem is not that sex is bad. The problem is that in a hypersexual society people lose sight of healthy sexual expression. This undermines relationships with people who are closest to you.
Healthy sexuality embraces the simple truth that we are sexual beings. Sexual intimacy benefits us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It enriches our lives and contributes to our general well-being. Healthy sexual expression communicates — in a most powerful way – personal connection.
Trust is fundamental to any form of communication. How much more so in the sexual moment shared between two people.
When a spouse or partner pursues artificial, simulated, or anonymous sex, trust collapses. Physical, emotional, and spiritual communication fails. An experience of affirmation and security suddenly becomes an experience of rejection. Self-doubt replaces confidence in relationship.
We live in a time when the opportunity for sexual addiction to take root abounds. Healthy sexual expression has become a challenge for everyone.
In our hypersexual society sexual discourse, erotica, and pornography are present in almost all aspects of the society.
How do you figure out a way to maintain your personal health and to build a healthy relationship when you are surrounded by such distortions of human sexuality every day.
The truth is you are not alone.
People in your neighborhood, in your church, and in your workplace are struggling with the same challenge of having to find a way to be healthy in our hypersexual society.
If you or your partner has fallen into the trap of sexual addiction, there is help. Healthy intimacy can be restored again.
Image by: Sergio Fabara Muñoz