How to Quit a Sexting Addiction What starts off playful and seemingly by Heather Nielsen

Choose a Girl

— It is important to be aware of who you are sending intimate messages to. As a divorced woman in her 40s who recently started dating again, I’ve found myself in unfamiliar territory. Not only is dating much different when you have kids, animals and a mortgage to take care of, the last time I was “out there,” texting wasn’t a thing. And yet, despite this revelation, I haven’t been able to give up on video chat sex. Bathed in the light of laptop screens, we touched ourselves and talked dirty, enacting our version of an online porno. And then, as the climax neared, I thought I heard a few weird sounds…

Sexting and Sex Addiction

Pocket porn has become a significant problem among men with the profileration of mobile devices and sexting is a significant problem about women. People who suffer from low self-esteem, a distorted body image, untreated sexual dysfunction, or a prior sexual addiction are more at risk to develop sexting and pornography addiction problems. The results of this study should be considered considering several limitations. First, the sample was collected in Rome with a convenient sample and this limits the generalization of the results to different groups of adolescents and young adults. For this reason, future research should focus on expanding the reference sample.

Is ‘Sexting Addiction’ a Real Thing?

In Drouin’s research, respondents have said they engage in sexting because it’s “fun” or “flirtatious.” But there are also neurochemical factors to why crafting a spicy text. As Drouin points out, there haven’t been any studies done on which parts of your brain light up from sexting. But based on her professional experience, she says your brain would likely act the same as when you’re watching or reading porn. “When you view other nude photographs or view erotica, probably similar areas of the brain are lighting up,” Drouin says. But ultimately sexting “addiction,” like most sex tech panics, is something of an overblown idea. “Our society is overly prone towards both technophobia and fear and condemnation of sex,” said David Ley, author of The Myth of Sex Addiction.

• It is only by identifying and understanding your reason for continuing the behavior, you will be able to replace it, satisfy your deeper needs, change your reasoning, and successfully quit.
• Another possible limitation is due to the use of self-report questionnaires which may have led to a bias of social desirability and consequently an alteration of the results.
• They all admit that there was a little voice telling them that it wasn’t okay while it happened; but that they also believed they were doing nothing wrong.
• If you’re already primed to engage in out of control behavior, sexting offers a pretty immediate outlet.
• As for me and my partner, we decided to hold off on sexting for now.

The Link Between Trauma, Shame, Sexual Shame and Sexual Addiction

Please note sexting is not a diagnosable mental health condition. But, it may very well fall under sexual addiction and can seriously impact daily functioning. In addition to meeting with sex addiction specialists and experienced therapists, clients receive support from other men or women who share similar struggles. Group therapy and 12-Step support groups are integral to the healing process, as is family or couples counseling in appropriate situations. First of all, we focused on the relationship between sexting motivations, behavior and expectancies.

One of the ample ways to confirm if your Kid is addicted to sexting is when you observe some secretive behaviors. Such teens may act withdrawn from you and won’t want any sort of interference. They would take any kind of parental concern as an obtrusion of privacy. That aside, they treat their phones like a second partner and may lock them up before sleeping just to safeguard any inversion. Sexting addiction could imply legal consequences, especially if the victim is below 18 years. It could mean a jail time penalty of 15 years for sharing sexually explicit pictures of themselves via text messaging.

You could be in bed, the office, or commuting and can still manage to send a quick sex text. I hope you understand that you have violated his trust, repeatedly. The only way to gain it back is for you to change, and then to prove that you’ve changed. Even then, it might be too late for your relationship, but it won’t be too late for you. You seem to be trying to manipulate your ex back into a relationship. He deserves the time and space to make his own choices, just as you have done.

In the early 2020s, the world was challenged by the COVID-19 emergency. Due to the dangerousness of the virus, the main intent of each country involved was to limit the diffusion in order to contain the damage caused by the pandemic. An aspect that has been deeply changed by self-isolation -used as a measure of containment of the virus- is related to sexuality. A practice that assumes importance in this sense is sexting, i.e., the act of sending/receiving sexually explicit messages, photos or videos via device. This practice allows a certain level of intimate behavior while eliminating the possibility of contagion. This study aims – through a qualitative survey – to investigate whether sexting is perceived as a potential addiction or adaptive sexual behavior to social distancing and lockdown policies by COVID-19.

Hell, when I was at an employee BBQ, hosted by my boss, I got the urge, running into the bathroom stall so I could shed my sundress and undergarments and take a full body selfie in the mirror. When you are addicted to something, you will keep doing it in spite of the consequences and this will make you feel like a terrible person. Until you face your addiction and make a fundamental change, the cycle continues. When you face your addiction for yourself, things start to change.

But with sexting, all you need is your phone or laptop, which most people have. The addiction treatment center must also offer post-treatment support to avoid relapse. They will also call upon the support of close family members to help with the treatment journey. Support groups or accountability partners can also be critical in the healing process. Your relationships may have suffered due to your sexting, so family therapy may also be part of your recovery.

If you obsess about sexting when watching pornography, switch to Netflix or your favorite streaming service. There is research to show linkages between pornography and sexting among the younger demographics. Treating sexting addiction can be very challenging for one reason. It is not a resource-intensive addiction like alcohol or drugs. If you realize that this is happening to you, seek professional help. Addiction treatment centers offer mental health treatment for trauma, addiction, and overall mental well-being.