Posted by Simcha on January 31, 2002, at 15:43:42
In reply to Re: Sex All the Time..., posted by ethan on January 31, 2002, at 13:58:35
> In the case of sexual compulsion, this is most unfortunate because sex is an inherently pleasurable experience, culminated most often in climax (you don't get that "high" from eating, washing or cleaning -- just exhaustion); it's really a crime that sex is still seen through the eyes of Victorian culture as something inherently "less than"...a crime for those with their compulsions focused on sex that such truly wonderful experiences are tainted by the physicall and emotional degradation that OCD performs on any compulsive activity.
Aghem! (Clearing throat....wanting to be recognized)
Ethan,It sounds as if you do not understand what Sexual OCD really is, or for that manner what OCD is in general.
Try this site:
This will explain to you some of the pain, horror, and unmanageability of the disease. Granted, this site can be a bit preachy, but overall it gives a good representation of what Sexual Compulsion is like.
Again, frequency does not matter at all. It is not society that told me that what I was doing was "bad." It's that I never had any time to take care of myself. I was terrified of any type of intimacy besides the sexual act. Oh yeah, I was even afraid of the sex I was having but I "had" to do it. There was no choice involved. It severely limited my ability to make friends because, as a compulsive, I had to keep my sex-life separate from my social life.
I was exhausted all the time. I caught many a cold, flu, strep, due to supressed immunity due to being run down (and perhaps all the germs I exposed myself to.)
There is a definite "rush" that comes from compulsive sexual activity. Sex with my partner cannot even compare to the mind-obliterating experience of a compulsive sexual binge.
The price I would pay for that "rush" just became too high to pay. I would never have to feel any feeling because the "rush" would deaden all my senses. So powerful was the "rush" that nothing else mattered in my life. It never mattered how exhausted I was from the previous binge, if I had the slightest anxiety I would head for the nearest adult bookstore, bath house, public toilet, cruising spot, bar, etc.
This is not a moral issue. This is a disease that is treatable through medication, 12-step, and therapy. I am living proof that Celexa takes the compulsion away. I did not get really well until I started taking the Celexa. I can actually think about other things besides sex.
Do you know what it is like to have a strong sexual thought/image in your head, taking over completely, and being unable to let it go? Before medication all I could do was obsess over sex. No other thought could occupy my mind with as much intensity. Sex ruled all. I was whipped.
Do not poo-poo Sexual OCD as some Victorian leftover. It is a real Hell. It is a living Hell. Finally, I have found peace and I can have a wonderful, healthy, homosexual, sex-life.
Simcha
poster:Simcha
thread:92301
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020131/msgs/92400.html