Knowing how to approach the problem is a necessary ingredient for success. Knowing what is not true about the problem can be more important. Since we live in a media-driven world, you will be bombarded with mistaken ideas about addiction for a long time to come. You need to be aware of them so that your attempt to overcome sex addiction is not hindered by misconceptions.

Let's discuss some of the more popular ones.

1. Myth: Positive addictions are good for you:

   There is no such thing as a positive addiction because all addictions are self-destructive.

2. Myth: Certain substances are addictive:

   This is probably the biggest myth of all.

   In fact, your use of a substance *might* become addictive. For instance:

   • After surgery many patients are allowed to self-administer morphine. Morphine is the medical form of heroin, and just as powerful. Yet most people who rely on morphine after surgery don't get addicted to it.

   • Tens of millions of people smoked marijuana. You might be one of them. Relatively few use it to the point of abuse.

   • Most people experimented with alcohol. You may have. Few became alcoholics.

   • Millions of people experimented with cocaine, crack and other hard drugs. Maybe you did. Relatively few became drug addicts.

   The difference between the person who becomes addicted and the person who doesn't has nothing to do with the substance. The difference lies in the choice each person makes regarding the use of the substance. Look at your own life. You made choices about substance abuse.

   Substances don't take you over and make you act addictively any more than:

   • Books make you read.

   • Cars make you drive.

   • Water makes you thirsty.

3. Myth: An addiction is a moral failing:

   Morality and addiction are two different phenomena. For instance, molesting a child is much more of a moral issue than an addictive one. A person with an overeating addiction is not immoral, just someone with a problem.

4. Myth: Addictions are hereditary:

   Some "scholars" claim there's an alcohol gene that makes people become lifetime drunks. Reality proves them wrong.

   There are millions of people who have alcoholic parents and do not get addicted to alcohol or drugs.

   Millions of people get addicted to alcohol and/or drugs whose parents never abused either.

5. Myth: Addictions are caused by sneaky advertising and evil corporations. Supposedly:

   • Advertising causes people to smoke and drink.

   • Pornography causes people to act sexually addictive.

   • Movies cause people to use drugs.

   These arguments assume that you have no free will, that you are merely a product of the media marketplace. So, let's look at a few facts:

   • Tens of millions of people were addicted to smoking and alcohol in the former Soviet Union and there was no advertising allowed for either.

   • There are millions of sexually addicted people who have no interest in pornography. They prefer the real thing or to use their own imagination.

   • Drug use was widespread long before Hollywood showcased it.

   Addictions are not caused by the marketplace; they arise from choices a person makes to escape dealing with the demands of real life.

Now that we've gotten some of the myths out of the way, let's discuss real symptoms of sex addiction.

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