Key Takeaways
- Though cybersex is accessible, cheap, and common today, it can lead to problematic behaviors, risky outcomes, and cybersex addiction.
- Cybersex addiction is a compulsive sexual behavior and hypersexual disorder that compels you to engage in cybersex in order to function.
- Cybersex addiction is often rooted in unresolved past trauma or co-occurring mental health disorders.
- Professional addiction treatment is necessary to achieve lasting recovery from your cybersex addiction.
The internet is good for a lot of things. However, it also creates societal and relational problems, too. For some who’ve used the internet to engage in cybersex, what seems like a mindless, private pleasure can spiral into an all-encompassing struggle. In this day and age, cybersex addiction is a very real thing. If you’re concerned about the possibility of internet sex addiction, here’s how you can identify it in your own life—and break free from its destructive cycle.
The Prevalence of Cybersex Today
According to Addictive Behaviors, cybersex refers to using the internet to engage in sexually gratifying activities. In practicality, cybersex typically looks like:
- Watching pornography
- Using sex webcams
- Engaging in sex chats
- Searching for sexual partners on the internet
- Engaging in 3D sexual role playing
As the internet and social media have further intertwined into our everyday lives, more and more people are engaging in online sexual activities like those above. But what makes cybersex so appealing?
For some, it’s easy to access and cheap—even free. With the ubiquity of the internet, there is also an almost endless variety of sexual content and experiences available online. Others are drawn to cybersex because it’s anonymous and may feel more secure. You simply don’t face the same risks of sex in the real world (rejection, being found out, sexually-transmitted diseases, etc.).
With that said, cybersex isn’t without its own risks. Cybersex can expose you to harmful outcomes associated with negative internet culture, such as stalking, harassment, sextortion, unwanted exposure to explicit material, abuse of shared content, and more. These experiences can create emotional distress, feelings of guilt, depression, reduced relationship satisfaction, and beyond, shares Archives of Sexual Behavior.
In time, however, cybersex consumption can also devolve into problematic behaviors that lead to cybersex addiction. Engaging in cybersex doesn’t guarantee that you’ll develop a cybersex addiction. Many participants in cybersex don’t. However, internet sex addiction is a reality that more are dealing with, and it can happen to anyone.
What is Cybersex Addiction?
Cybersex addiction is associated with the compulsive use of online sexual activities and material. Whether you’re always in sex chat rooms, viewing pornography, or something else, your internet sex activities are no longer in your control. You feel compelled to engage in cybersex in order to function on a daily basis. You need it to feel normal. That means you’re excessively participating in cybersex, so much that it gets in the way of your quality of life.
Cybersex addiction is considered a compulsive sexual behavior and a hypersexual disorder, like porn addiction, phone sex addiction, or masturbation addiction. Like other forms of sexual addiction, internet sex addiction is associated with your brain’s chemical dependence on dopamine.
When you experience cybersex, your brain releases large amounts of dopamine—your brain’s pleasure chemical—indicating to you that the experience is rewarding. You remember the experience and want to replicate it in the future. As you continue to engage in cybersex, your brain develops a tolerance to the ongoing dopamine rush. That means the euphoric feelings you first experienced don’t happen in the same way anymore.
In pursuit of the pleasure you once had, you may increase your frequency of internet sex, as well as seek out more hardcore content and outlets. Soon, you may be prioritizing cybersex all the time, and your brain becomes chemically dependent on all that dopamine. In order to get through the day, you need to participate in cybersex habitually. When this happens, you’ve developed an internet sex addiction.
Internet Sex Addiction and Past Trauma
What’s driving you to seek out all this cybersex in the first place? For many, an internet sex addiction is tied to deeper issues like unresolved past trauma and co-occurring disorders like depression or anxiety. It’s not about poor decision making, questionable morals, or self-discipline.
When you experience trauma, especially from adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), you can continue to deal with its effects long after the event has passed. Traumatic feelings can linger in the background of your mind for decades if left untreated. ACEs trauma can especially cause you to struggle with poor emotional regulation skills, or the inability to manage negative emotions, stress, or feelings as they arise.
In the fallout of various types of trauma, it’s easy to seek out substances or behaviors that make you feel better. It’s a way to self-medicate the negative feelings, after all. Co-occurring mental health disorders may be part of the picture, too, so cybersex becomes a way to cope with the ongoing symptoms. Instead of an activity intended for pleasure, internet sex addiction is more likely an unhealthy coping mechanism for mental health or trauma issues.
Cybersex Addiction Symptoms and Signs
How do you know if you’re addicted to cybersex? Like other forms of hypersexual disorder, there are certain symptoms and signs that indicate you have a cybersex addiction. Common internet sex addiction symptoms can include:
- Spending more and more time engaging in cybersex (and more time than intended)
- Struggling with work, school, or personal responsibilities in favor of cybersex
- Requiring riskier or more extreme cybersex experiences to get the same effects
- Inability to stop or reduce your cybersex participation
- Isolating yourself from friends or family to engage in cybersex
- Experiencing feelings of withdrawal (irritability or restlessness) when you stop or reduce cybersex usage
- Continuing to engage in cybersex despite the negative consequences
- Using cybersex to cope with stress, negative feelings, or everyday problems
- Lying to others to hide your cybersex habit
- Engaging in illegal or exploitative cybersex activities
- Experiencing financial difficulties due to internet sex expenditures
Overcoming Addiction: Where Do You Go From Here?
If you can relate to the above signs and symptoms, then you may have a cybersex addiction. If so, then you’ve probably realized that trying to quit cybersex on your own isn’t working. Instead of throwing in the towel, however, you can still take steps to break the cycle and find freedom from your addiction.
To achieve sobriety from cybersex addiction, you’ll need to seek professional help. Not only is your addiction tied to your brain’s chemical dependency on dopamine, but there may be deeper trauma or mental health disorders that need healing, too. A sex addiction treatment center can help you navigate these issues simultaneously.
At Integrative Life Center in Nashville, Tennessee, our sex addiction treatment programs uncover the root causes of your cybersex addiction, including any untreated trauma or co-occurring disorders. Taking a holistic approach with trauma-focused care and tailored programming, we help you achieve lasting recovery from your addiction. We also combine both evidence-based and experiential therapies to equip you with the tools you need to stay healthy long-term. To start your recovery journey, call us today.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is addiction withdrawal, and why does it occur?
According to the National Cancer Institute, addiction withdrawal refers to the mental and physical symptoms you experience when you suddenly stop or cut back on an addictive substance or behavior. This happens because your brain and body are adjusting to the absence of the substance (or the dopamine supplied by the substance or behavior).
Sex addiction or cybersex addiction withdrawal symptoms can include:
- Mood swings
- Irritability
- Anxiety
- Sleep difficulties
- Cravings and/or obsessive thoughts about sex
What are the long-term effects of cybersex addiction?
The fallout of cybersex addiction can impact both you and your loved ones in various ways, such as:
- Difficulties in forming intimate relationships
- Decreased intimacy with your romantic partner
- Betrayal trauma in the romantic partner (as well as separation and divorce)
- Erectile dysfunction and arousal dysfunction
- Depression and anxiety
- Decreased self-esteem
- Social isolation and loneliness
The post Cybersex Addiction, Explained: What To Do If You’re Struggling appeared first on Integrative Life Center.
source https://integrativelifecenter.com/intimacy-disorders/cybersex-addiction-explained-what-to-do-if-youre-struggling/
