What place does sex occupy in your relationships? Have you thought about what effect it has on your emotional regulation? What emotions are present before, during and after? Hypersexuality is a common cause of complaint in clinical practice, specifically due to the emotional discomfort that lies behind it. Sometimes, if we feel discomfort, with difficulty identifying and expressing emotions, we can perform sexual practices to channel it as an emotional regulation strategy.
but... how can sex regulate emotions?
Hypersexuality can be a strategy to escape, avoid or cope with dysphoric moods. The problem is that, in addition to providing some relief or reduction of discomfort (which lasts a very short time), feelings such as guilt and shame appear later. In this way, emotions and sexual behavior feed off each other, they enter a loop where sex becomes the only way (or at least the most immediate) to manage emotional discomfort. Therefore, emotional discomfort can be a cause and consequence of hypersexuality.
And so, how is hypersexuality addressed in therapy?
The therapeutic objective is to improve emotional identification and expression, acquire and reinforce coping strategies and emotional regulation. Your tolerance to discomfort will also increase, avoiding immediate behaviors that reduce it in the short term.
What emotional state do you think a person must have to want to have a sexual relationship? and now think about what state of mind you have had in your previous sexual encounters. Was there emotional discomfort before, during or after? If the answer is yes, I encourage you to see us for a consultation so we can guide you and work together on your emotional well-being.
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