helpforaddiction Posted February 10, 2021 Report Share Posted February 10, 2021 Hi I am a recovering sex addict a very very long way to go for me but I am on track. Will anyone be interested to know/work with me to recover on the sexual addictive behavior. Thanks (You help me more than I help you by me sharing the message that I have freely received) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John D Posted February 10, 2021 Report Share Posted February 10, 2021 Hi helpforaddiction, Welcome to the forum. You might want to post your experiences of recovery here for the benefit of all our forum users. Many of our clients utilise the fellowship programs to assist in their recovery while for some 12-step is a mystery. The forum is a safe place for addicts and partners of addicts to share their experiences, ask questions and gain advice from people at all stages of their addiction. We look forward to hearing from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helpforaddiction Posted February 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2021 (edited) Thanks for the messages. Addiction for me was slow. What started as fun, enjoyment and relaxation gradually became a habit. From watching porn pictures to masturbation and then to watching women and men performing on camera and then slowly to wanting to act out with these people. Sex addiction held on to me very tightly. I forgot that I had bills to pay, family to look after and wasted the opportunities at job. Most of the money I earned went to escorts and by the end of the month I had to ask my friends to pay for my bills. Over the last 4 years this cycle has only grown stronger. In 2017 I started realizing that this is something I had to work upon. I quit my job to pursue studies, thinking that I would never act out sexually in such and such a manner if I changed the environment or the city or the context. Guess what, I was wrong, I did not address the issue only tried to suppress it. I did try to get some help but did not know how to find one. Shame and guilt made me NOT to admit this hopeless situation I was in. I always thought I could control this behavior. For me not using phone, putting filters in mobile , laptop or not going at night, not getting drunk etc. did not work and eventually I acted out sexually. Every small anxiety, fear and resentment lead me to act out. My only hope(?) to overcome a difficult situation was to act out! I got some help by joining a 12 step program called Sex Addicts Anonymous. I was perplexed by the concept of Higher Power. Usually non religious people have issues with the idea that the Creator as supreme being holds everything together and the creation and that we are not heading towards nothingness. But here I was with agnostic/non religious people telling me about the concept of a higher power, In 2018 I joined the SAA group but was very infrequent to the meetings or doing the steps. In principle the 12 step is a simple program. I say this because I have been on off with it in the last two years. Simplicity actually makes this program difficult to follow. I simply could not accept what my sponsor told me. Had it been something difficult I would have accepted and tried my best to do better. We don't have to be perfect to follow this program, the program only demands honesty and willingness to go to any lengths to be free from the addiction. The heavy stuff of removing this addiction comes from "the higher power" who takes care of our needs if we stick close. In my opinion the 12 step program is not therapy but it is a reliance on the Higher Power to remove this addiction. I have seen this program work for me. As I said there is a long way to go as I have only started, but I have seen how this program works for my sponsor, for people whom I listen to in SAA talks, for people who told us that they wanted to lock themselves in their homes because they could not control their sexual acting out. Edited February 16, 2021 by Firefly Simplify text to focus on journey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefly Posted February 16, 2021 Report Share Posted February 16, 2021 I am so glad to see that you have a good sponsor and you are getting the help you need. You are so right when you say that it is "one day at a time" I wish you well in your continued recovery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helpforaddiction Posted February 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2021 Thank you Firefly. God bless. I am slowly realizing what God can do (my Higher Power) and I could not. I copy the promises from the AA website for the sex addict who still suffers. If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are halfway through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity, and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeryFik Posted July 2, 2021 Report Share Posted July 2, 2021 It interferes with your life in some way? I myself have encountered a similar, but for me it is more of a plus than a minus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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