Trying to overcome sex addiction can bring in horrible withdrawal symptoms if it has gotten far enough. It is important to understand these withdrawal symptoms and their triggers to achieve overcoming this obstacle. Otherwise, they can cause you to slide back into old habits once more.

To overcome sex addiction, the first step is to recognize the symptoms of sex addiction. All these symptoms can cause a strain in your everyday life and your relationships, as well as how you feel about yourself. Symptoms can include but are not limited to:

• The inability to resist impulses to engage in sexual acts.
• Constantly having sex with more partners than intended.
• Obsessing with sexual activities and desire.
• The need to increase activities and pleasure constantly to achieve the same outcome.
• Engaging in acts during inappropriate times, such as work or family gatherings for example.

Some of the activities that are caused by sex addiction include excessive masturbation, having affairs with multiple people, compulsive use of pornography, and meeting with sex workers to get what you are looking for.

Even though there is still research needed to understand these problems, there are some beliefs as to why this problem is caused. Some causes include an existing biological risk to addiction, growing up in dysfunctional families, or untreated mental conditions such as depression, bipolar, schizophrenia. Other causes may include a bad past with sexual encounters or simply getting into the habit of performing these acts that eventually got worse.

If you have deemed that you might have a sex addiction, the next step is to get help. The most common way to treat such an addiction is through therapy and possibly medication if there are any underlying causes. Talking with a therapist has been the biggest thing to overcome this addiction as they can help find any underlying problems that may be causing it and help you understand different coping mechanisms to get through it. They can also help with couple’s counseling, which may be needed if the affected person is in a relationship with someone.

One of the biggest setbacks people have when attempting to overcome sex addiction can be the withdrawal symptoms. These can be overwhelming to the point that people feel the need to revert to their old ways. Knowing these symptoms ahead of time can be a helpful way to cope with them. These withdrawal symptoms can include feeling grumpy and irritable, an increasing rise in anger, insomnia, developed anxiety or depression, the uncontrollable desire for sex, and outbursts of emotion. The person going through withdrawal may also experience boredom in a relationship or their sex life. Sometimes they may even feel shame for having this problem, embarrassment, or confusion.

Now that you know the withdrawal symptoms, it is important to understand how to overcome them. The first thing you can do is identify the triggers. Identifying triggers can make sure that you do your best to steer clear of them. Some triggers may include depression or anxiety getting worse, as some use it as a coping mechanism. Others may include people, places, or events in your everyday life that you correspond with these unhealthy habits. Other things you can do to overcome withdrawal symptoms include keeping active, improving sleep patterns, and getting support from family, friends, or counseling.