Something we cannot avoid is stress. All of us have stress at some point in our lives. The way a sex addict medicates or avoids stress, is by acting out. After acting out, the stress seems to dissipate. However, the fact that the sex addict acted out creates more stress that makes a cycle for them to keep adding stress to the pain agent and repeat the cycle. Many sex addicts set up these dynamics in which they repeat this behavior by creating stress so that they can alleviate the stress again by acting out.
Stress can be located in several areas in the addict’s life. It can come from the realm of his vocation. It can be from the pressure of finances as many sex addicts have difficulty budgeting money. Stressors can be tied to close relationships, family of origin or children. It can be about spiritual issues. Just the everyday grind of driving through traffic can be stressful for some. Stress--pressure from outside--can move the addict into a pain agent and back into the cycle of addiction.