TV Mirrors Reality As David Duchovny Announces Sexual Addiction
Film mirrored reality when David Duchovny announced that he was entering into a rehabilitation facility for a long standing sexual addiction. On his current television program, “Californication”, Duchovny portrays a writer who engages in dangerous sexual liaisons. David Duchovny is best known for his television role as Mulder in The X Files.
It’s difficult to determine just how many people suffer from sexual addiction, internet pornography, or sexual compulsions. Six to eight percent of the population seeks treatment for sexual addiction, but because of the shame associated with this addiction, the actual number of people ensnared by it is thought to be considerably higher. Alcohol and/or drugs often accompany sexual addiction.
Alcohol, in particular, interferes with a person’s ability to reason, control impulses, and make positive societal choices. Sex is so desirable to the addict that he/she must have it regardless of the consequences. Schaeffer in his book Love or Addiction (2006) relates, “Paradoxically, love addiction is an unconscious attempt to gain control of our lives, and in so doing, we gradually go out of control by giving personal power to someone outside of ourselves. Addictive love is an attempt to satisfy our human hunger for security, sensation, power, identity, belonging, and meaning. It’s often associated with feelings of never having enough or not being enough.”Like drugs, substances, and food, sexual addictions can be alleviated.
Cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy are two treatments that seem to be effectively used to treat sexual addictions. Attending a sexual addiction group is an extremely important component of regaining relationship health. Like all addictions, knowing emotional and psychological triggers and formulating a relapse treatment plan are important elements of the treatment process. For More Information go to Total Life Counseling Center’s site.
NOTE: you can freely redistribute this resource, electronically or in print, provided you leave the author’s contact information below intact.
Author: Evelyn Wenzel,MSW,LCSW,CAP
