Is sex addictive?

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Paul_theApostle

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Can sex or masturbation become addictive?

I know people get addicted to drugs or alcohol or gambling ,but we can do without these things and God didnt create these things for us or within us.

But we all have sexual desires within us and God created us with this pleasure.

Can the pleasure of sex/orgasm become addictive and take over our lives like drugs ,alcohol or gambling can?
 
Yes, these can become addictive. Even in marriage, “just moderation” should be exercised.
 
Paul_theApostle said:
Can sex or masturbation become addictive?

I know people get addicted to drugs or alcohol or gambling ,but we can do without these things and God didnt create these things for us or within us.

But we all have sexual desires within us and God created us with this pleasure.

Can the pleasure of sex/orgasm become addictive and take over our lives like drugs ,alcohol or gambling can?
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I do not think so. As in drugs you get moe and more and more till overdose and die. in sex you can have XXX orgasm a day.
For me, sex imbalance is life imbalance. If your life is imbalanced, may be your sex life may be imbalanced.
I would not warry about masturbation. I would worry about the causes: are you depressed? do you enjoy life? have you prson relationships rewording? have you got a twin-soul? do you pray enough? do you go to mass, confession and communion? do you do things for your brothers and sistrs? do you have a girfriend?
If you do this and still masturbate, forget about it. It happens. Maybe you will need to mature.
Do ggod things , pray to the Lord and helpp others and forget anout masturnation. If it happens, it happens. Asf forgiveness tot the Lord and go ahead, telling Him you love HIm.
 
Paul_theApostle said:
Can sex or masturbation become addictive?

I know people get addicted to drugs or alcohol or gambling ,but we can do without these things and God didnt create these things for us or within us.

But we all have sexual desires within us and God created us with this pleasure.

Can the pleasure of sex/orgasm become addictive and take over our lives like drugs ,alcohol or gambling can?
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Yes, sex once outside of the bounds of marriage can definitely be addictive
 
see wikipedia here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addiction

According to that entry, sex can be addictive, but they frame addiction in terms of negative consequences (see the entry).

I think the behavior crosses the line into addiction when there is a preoccupation with it. I would say it is pathological for an adult when it goes outside the moral guidelines of the Church, which includes the teaching of the Bible. There’s a lot of detail involved, that is omitted here.
 
Ok

maybe im just trying to ask whether the pleasure and orgasm experience can become addictive

if one frequently has orgasm(s) can the pleasure become addictive?

like the more one takes a drug the more addicted or dependant they become to it?

is it that the more one has orgasm ,the more one will desire and long for it(addiction)?
 
Pfaffenhoffen said:
I do not think so. As in drugs you get moe and more and more till overdose and die. in sex you can have XXX orgasm a day.
For me, sex imbalance is life imbalance. If your life is imbalanced, may be your sex life may be imbalanced.
I would not warry about masturbation. I would worry about the causes: are you depressed? do you enjoy life? have you prson relationships rewording? have you got a twin-soul? do you pray enough? do you go to mass, confession and communion? do you do things for your brothers and sistrs? do you have a girfriend?
If you do this and still masturbate, forget about it. It happens. Maybe you will need to mature.
Do ggod things , pray to the Lord and helpp others and forget anout masturnation. If it happens, it happens. Asf forgiveness tot the Lord and go ahead, telling Him you love HIm.
Click to expand...
If we take this approach to sin…how do I say this charitably…well, let’s just say this sounds like an excuse. Go ahead and sin, don’t worry about it, just ask for forgiveness.

Be holy as the Lord is holy. Doesn’t sound like “don’t worry about it” fits.

Sex and masturbabion can be an addiction. Addictions are not managed by forgetting about them or ignoring them. Addictions do not go away on their own.

Agreed, sex between a married couple needs to be balanced, but an addiction to sex throws off that balance.
Paul_theApostle said:
Ok

maybe im just trying to ask whether the pleasure and orgasm experience can become addictive

if one frequently has orgasm(s) can the pleasure become addictive?

Absolutely.
like the more one takes a drug the more addicted or dependant they become to it?

Yes.
is it that the more one has orgasm ,the more one will desire and long for it(addiction)?

In one who is addicted to it, yes.
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There are groups out there like Sexaholics Anonymous. Even to the non-religious, that is a pretty clear indication that such an addiction is not only possible but that it affects many people.

Any pleasure can be addictive whether it is the pleasure from drinking, smoking, gambling or sex.
 
It can be, but I think people use the word “addiction” as a barrier to self-control and responsibility. I speak from personal experience with addiction~not to sex, but chemicals.

Too many people think that “I have no self-control” means “I’m addicted”. Totally not true. A real sex addict would live like a drug addict-they’d have no money, live off loved ones, and spend all their time looking for sex/self gratification. I’ve seen people claim to be addicted to sex even though they hold down jobs, have families, lots of money, etc. Well, that’s a pretty functional addict. No druggie I’ve ever known has lived like that.
 
Everything can become an addiction depending on the person’s addictive nature to certian things or actions. It doesn’t have to be a drug that’s taken.

We are quite capable of producing our own “highs”. Shopping, sex, drugs, music, hobby of collecting things, sports, gambling. The list goes on to pretty much anything you do that brings you some form of pleasure. In general the more we do or take something, the more addictive it can become. However the nature to that addiction can be influenced by our genetic makeup, or past events that affect our minds such as being abused.
This is why temperence is a very good virtue to live by.
 
Newbie2 said:
If we take this approach to sin…how do I say this charitably…well, let’s just say this sounds like an excuse. Go ahead and sin, don’t worry about it, just ask for forgiveness.

Be holy as the Lord is holy. Doesn’t sound like “don’t worry about it” fits.

Sex and masturbabion can be an addiction. Addictions are not managed by forgetting about them or ignoring them. Addictions do not go away on their own.

Agreed, sex between a married couple needs to be balanced, but an addiction to sex throws off that balance.
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You seem to be very assertive with what you say.
So you have the solution for the problem of the OP, please state, let’s wait 2 months and see if, according to the OP, and following your adives, the problem is solved.
Please, read what I wrote. I did not say what you say I said.
Where did I say: “Go ahead and sin”? It is very easy your position. first, you invent something that I did not say, then you fight agains that ghost.
Please, the first thing in a good Christian is to listen to others.
I did not say this:
Agreed, sex between a married couple needs to be balanced, but an addiction to sex throws off that balance.
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I did not say that sex betweena married couple needs to be balanced. My idea is that everybody’s sex lives should be according to God’s law. Yo say
but an addiction to sex throws off that balance.
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and I do not agree. It is reghtly the opposite. It is the person who is out of balance that provokes the sex life being out of balance. Sex is a part of life. If a person is completely out of balance he may start drinking and have a irregular sex life which are the effects and not the causes.
 
Rascalking said:
It can be, but I think people use the word “addiction” as a barrier to self-control and responsibility. I speak from personal experience with addiction~not to sex, but chemicals.

Too many people think that “I have no self-control” means “I’m addicted”. Totally not true. A real sex addict would live like a drug addict-they’d have no money, live off loved ones, and spend all their time looking for sex/self gratification. I’ve seen people claim to be addicted to sex even though they hold down jobs, have families, lots of money, etc. Well, that’s a pretty functional addict. No druggie I’ve ever known has lived like that.
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Good point. We certainly don’t want to overuse the word “addiction” as a way to absolve ourselves from any responsibility for our actions.

Would you say there could be degrees of addiction? Do you think there could be such a thing as “mild” addiction where someone possesses enough self-control to function relatively normally, but they still spend all their free time thinking about this one thing? Or would you call it something else? I guess as an example, I can think of a few people I have known who do hold a job (and are even quite successful), but when they’re off the clock they’re never without a drink.
 
Pfaffenhoffen said:
You seem to be very assertive with what you say.
So you have the solution for the problem of the OP, please state, let’s wait 2 months and see if, according to the OP, and following your adives, the problem is solved.
Please, read what I wrote. I did not say what you say I said.
Where did I say: “Go ahead and sin”? It is very easy your position. first, you invent something that I did not say, then you fight agains that ghost.
Please, the first thing in a good Christian is to listen to others.
I did not say this:

I did not say that sex betweena married couple needs to be balanced. My idea is that everybody’s sex lives should be according to God’s law. Yo say and I do not agree. It is reghtly the opposite. It is the person who is out of balance that provokes the sex life being out of balance. Sex is a part of life. If a person is completely out of balance he may start drinking and have a irregular sex life which are the effects and not the causes.
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Calm yourself.

Perhaps you can explain what you mean when you say, “forget about it (masturbation)” and “If it happens, it happens”. It sounds to me like you are trying to excuse away sinful behavior with an explanation that other “imbalances” in one’s life naturally lead to potentially addictive behaviors, sinful behaviors, such as masturbation. I’m not sure what you mean by “imbalances”. Please explain, I may be misunderstanding.

IF you are saying that there may be certain factors that may mitigate one’s culpability for sins like masturbation or an inordinately sinful attachment to sexual behavior (even in marriage), then, yes, I would agree that such could be the case.

IF you are saying that there is no such thing as an addiction to sex, I vehemetely disagree.

I’m not claiming to have a cure for sex addiction, what I am saying is that IF a person is afflicted with such an addiction, he or she cannot simply ignore the potential sinful “effects”, as you put it; one cannot simply give up and let the addiction rule their life.

Whether that means prayer, counseling, whatever…we are obligated as Christians to do what is necessary to control our sinful behavior.

Is a sex addiction necessarily sinful? No. Sex is a good thing, but like all other good things the Almighty has given us, it needs to be taken in moderation, just like food. Eating food is a good thing. Gluttany may be an addictive behavior, but it is still sinful. Same applies to sex.
 
Joe_5859 said:
Good point. We certainly don’t want to overuse the word “addiction” as a way to absolve ourselves from any responsibility for our actions.

Would you say there could be degrees of addiction? Do you think there could be such a thing as “mild” addiction where someone possesses enough self-control to function relatively normally, but they still spend all their free time thinking about this one thing? Or would you call it something else? I guess as an example, I can think of a few people I have known who do hold a job (and are even quite successful), but when they’re off the clock they’re never without a drink.
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I’d call it something else, but you raise some thought provoking issues. I’ve always thought that you can’t be “sort of addicted”. It’s like being “almost pregnant”. That doesn’t mean if you take one line of coke your automatically addicted-but the people who I’ve known that claim to casually use coke/pot usually use alot more than we know about. Same with the heavy drinkers. Those who who are off the clock and drink from 5-midnight might be alcoholics-but I don’t know about the terminology.

Like I said, you raise some really good questions. I’ve noticed that too many people claim to be “addicted” to sex/self-gratification but are just looking for for an excuse to justify bad behavior.
 
Newbie2 said:
Calm yourself.

Perhaps you can explain what you mean when you say, “forget about it (masturbation)” and “If it happens, it happens”. It sounds to me like you are trying to excuse away sinful behavior with an explanation that other “imbalances” in one’s life naturally lead to potentially addictive behaviors, sinful behaviors, such as masturbation. I’m not sure what you mean by “imbalances”. Please explain, I may be misunderstanding.

IF you are saying that there may be certain factors that may mitigate one’s culpability for sins like masturbation or an inordinately sinful attachment to sexual behavior (even in marriage), then, yes, I would agree that such could be the case.

IF you are saying that there is no such thing as an addiction to sex, I vehemetely disagree.

I’m not claiming to have a cure for sex addiction, what I am saying is that IF a person is afflicted with such an addiction, he or she cannot simply ignore the potential sinful “effects”, as you put it; one cannot simply give up and let the addiction rule their life.

Whether that means prayer, counseling, whatever…we are obligated as Christians to do what is necessary to control our sinful behavior.

Is a sex addiction necessarily sinful? No. Sex is a good thing, but like all other good things the Almighty has given us, it needs to be taken in moderation, just like food. Eating food is a good thing. Gluttany may be an addictive behavior, but it is still sinful. Same applies to sex.
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Oh! OK! That is fine! What do you mean by that should be the first question…
I say, masturbation is quite a problem. It is hard to deal with. It is no use to think over and over :“I did it, I did it, was it a mortal sin, I am a sinner, I go to hell” and so on, for this does not help hte cause. You did it, go ahead, forget about self-punishment. It is not thinking about the past that solves the problem, it is goint into the future. And the Church solution is simple:

  1. *]ask god for forgiveness
    *]make a commitment to improve what you think you can improve or what other councelors say you can improve
    *]go to confession
    *]do penance
    *]go to mass and communion because these are the arms of God

    Go into the future and take the arms of God to deal with sin and make yourself Perfect like God is perfect.

    I deal with young people, as a voluntary work. I see that balance young people, who had a family, they have friends, they study and go to school, their grades are all right and they do not need to have very good grades,they simle and are well with life, they do not get into fights but try other prople’s fights, these kind of people are balanced when they speak about sex.

    Now, kids who were raised with disfunctional families, mother alcoholic, father crazy, grandmother lunatic, economic problems and a style of life full os problems, lack affection ans self-esteem ( I am giving a real case but some are lighter ), when they talk about sex is unblaced, curse, naughty jokes, bad words, their behavior towards women is many times not the best, they put themselves in trouble with the police…

    Attention: this is a black and white picture: no-problems/full of problems. In the middle there are plenty of half tones.

    Most of the kids which I say are imbalanced, when they write texts, they show their sexual emotions very distorted, they see the woman just like a pleasure object, just talk about genital sex and not about affection and love, they have an imge of the position of women in society which is not dignifying for her.

    From this point to masturbation, relation with prostitutes, rape ( I have never dealt with it, but saw the feelings in texts), free sex or distorted sex( and I cannot elaborate in the terrible things that happen to kids that make me cry and make masturbation seem like peanuts), it is s short step.

    So, I thing if you treat the person, you treat his sexual behavior, we cannot separate masturbation from the whole individual as a person.

    The doctor, to treat something in the foot, an infection, tells the patient to take a pill through the mouth. Sex Life is the same. Maybe a problem on sex life receives a solution through another point of Human Life.

    And the trouble is that each person is differente. there are common grounds but each person is different.

    I agree completely with the text you wrote.
 
Sex and masturbation can become “addictive”. Not that the actions themselves are inherently addictive, but the chemicals that are released in your brain during an orgasm.

The key is moderation for everything, excesses can always lead to an unhealthy preoccupation. However, having regular sex within the constructs of a valid marriage is completely fine, and encouraged by the Church.

When someone experiences an orgasm, the brain receives a cocktail of seratonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine which gives that person a “high” that could, if unchecked as in the case of habitual masturbation, become addictive and very difficult to stop. It takes a while, at least a month or two, for the brain chemistry to become rebalanced.

I highly recommend turning to prayer and seeking forgiveness whenever you are faced with carnal sins. The Lord will always take you back, so long as you truly want to amend your life. And remember, Jesus’ flesh was flayed and torn away when He was scourged at the pillar to pay for our sins of the flesh.

God Bless
 
Pfaffenhoffen said:
Oh! OK! That is fine! What do you mean by that should be the first question…
I say, masturbation is quite a problem. It is hard to deal with. It is no use to think over and over :“I did it, I did it, was it a mortal sin, I am a sinner, I go to hell” and so on, for this does not help hte cause. You did it, go ahead, forget about self-punishment. It is not thinking about the past that solves the problem, it is goint into the future. And the Church solution is simple:

  1. *]ask god for forgiveness
    *]make a commitment to improve what you think you can improve or what other councelors say you can improve
    *]go to confession
    *]do penance
    *]go to mass and communion because these are the arms of God

    Go into the future and take the arms of God to deal with sin and make yourself Perfect like God is perfect.

    I deal with young people, as a voluntary work. I see that balance young people, who had a family, they have friends, they study and go to school, their grades are all right and they do not need to have very good grades,they simle and are well with life, they do not get into fights but try other prople’s fights, these kind of people are balanced when they speak about sex.

    Now, kids who were raised with disfunctional families, mother alcoholic, father crazy, grandmother lunatic, economic problems and a style of life full os problems, lack affection ans self-esteem ( I am giving a real case but some are lighter ), when they talk about sex is unblaced, curse, naughty jokes, bad words, their behavior towards women is many times not the best, they put themselves in trouble with the police…

    Attention: this is a black and white picture: no-problems/full of problems. In the middle there are plenty of half tones.

    Most of the kids which I say are imbalanced, when they write texts, they show their sexual emotions very distorted, they see the woman just like a pleasure object, just talk about genital sex and not about affection and love, they have an imge of the position of women in society which is not dignifying for her.

    From this point to masturbation, relation with prostitutes, rape ( I have never dealt with it, but saw the feelings in texts), free sex or distorted sex( and I cannot elaborate in the terrible things that happen to kids that make me cry and make masturbation seem like peanuts), it is s short step.

    So, I thing if you treat the person, you treat his sexual behavior, we cannot separate masturbation from the whole individual as a person.

    The doctor, to treat something in the foot, an infection, tells the patient to take a pill through the mouth. Sex Life is the same. Maybe a problem on sex life receives a solution through another point of Human Life.

    And the trouble is that each person is differente. there are common grounds but each person is different.

    I agree completely with the text you wrote.
Click to expand...

  1. OK, I see.

    My bad, I misunderstood you.

    :hug1:
 
Paul_theApostle said:
Ok

maybe im just trying to ask whether the pleasure and orgasm experience can become addictive

if one frequently has orgasm(s) can the pleasure become addictive?

like the more one takes a drug the more addicted or dependant they become to it?

is it that the more one has orgasm ,the more one will desire and long for it(addiction)?
Click to expand...
It is absolutely addictive. I would recommend Googling the issue, and you will find numerous scientific opinions that concur. I am no scientist, but i believe that sexual activity specifically orgasms generate a flood of endorphins in the brain. These are the same endorphins released due to ingesting drugs. So for that reason along i would say that the body can get chemically addicted to sex. There is also the temporary feeling of being wanted and desired that people can get from casual sex that is psychologically alluring, and therefore can be addictive.
 
Yes. Sexual pleasure is addictive. Avoid fornication and sensual thoughts in all their forms.
 
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