A dependency on sex most often affects people who lack self-assurance and have an anxious attachment style, tending toward impulsivity and self-criticism. The findings of a study by scholars from Sapienza University of Rome were published in the journal Sexual Health & Compulsivity.
For some individuals, hypersexuality becomes a method to cope with boredom, solitude, apprehension, and melancholy. Nonetheless, this kind of “remedy” can result in addiction and worsen existing issues.
As an experiment, the researchers gathered a cohort of 562 volunteers, the majority being women around 30 years old. It emerged that 13% of respondents resolve their psychological difficulties through intimate encounters, require social affirmation, poorly manage their conduct, censure themselves, and suffer from persistent feelings of shame, guilt, as well as depression and anxiety conditions.
The study outcomes are intended to be validated through other surveys and utilized in the therapy of mental illnesses.
Another indicator of a sex addict, according to clinical psychologist Natalia Shestakova, is considered to be obsessive thoughts about intimacy, even during times when one does not desire it.
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