Friday, July 31st
I lived in the fog of active sexual compulsion, and my drinking escalated.
Many of us entered recovery seeking relief from multiple addictions. Some of us enhanced compulsive sex with other activities or with substances. For many, the high we sought through sex was driven and magnified by drugs and alcohol.
Our compulsive drive may have caused us to neglect self-care and other responsibilities. We may have felt so consumed by shame and low self-worth that we tried to soothe ourselves in different ways, such as binge eating, spending money, or gambling. Whatever our activities — sexual or otherwise — we sought to repress negative emotions and escape the sense of being trapped in a maze of endless compulsion.
Our desire to break the addictive cycle might have led us to join multiple Twelve Step fellowships, but we found that our progress in one addiction could be undermined by slips in another.
In recovery, we learn the truth of our stories by telling them. First, we discover our needs and feelings; then, we seek ways to express them. Developing trust in our Higher Power expands our self-awareness and leads to self-acceptance. The seductive call of compulsive sex, alcohol, drugs, food, debts, gambling, and other addictions begins to lose its luster.
Compulsion can affect all areas of our lives; so does our recovery.