In the modern world, romantic feelings rarely occur without sexual intercourse. For most, sex drive is an important element of the warmest emotions experienced for their partner. Sex and love are strong external and internal experiences that can lead to addiction.

Love addiction and sexual obsession are not equal concepts. However, like all forms of addictions, they too have many things in common. Very often they are the result of an unrealized desire to satisfy emotional needs.

For people experiencing love addiction (who have a strong desire to love and be loved), mutual feelings are the main task. Obsessed with their feelings, they think that by finding a soul mate, they will get the meaning of life and stability in relationships. A strong need for love leads to quick and obsessive courtship. The object of feelings changes over time, but the forms of manifestation of feelings for it are always akin to some kind of idolatry.

For a sexually obsessed person, on the contrary, feelings are meaningless, moreover, there is no desire to act. If sex addicts are already in a relationship, they are still often unfaithful to their partners, they do not have enough sex with one person. A lot of sexually obsessed people are always in search of one-time sex, they even agree to have sex with strangers. They may be in a couple, but they are not let go of the obsessive thirst for sex, even if it begins to harm the relationship with a regular partner.

The result in both cases considered is a quick relationship in which actions develop rapidly. Emotional instability and impulsivity, manifestations characteristic of both love addiction and sexual obsession, destroy any relationship. However, the end of the relationship in the addict of the first type comes because of the cult of honoring his partner and dependence on him created by him. At the same time, the sensual connections of sexually anxious people do not work out because of dislike for a partner and windiness.

Feelings of love and sexual affection can appear at an early age or during adolescence. This could be due to childhood problems that affected the psyche of the addict and forced him to actively search for an object to fill the void that arose as a result of this trauma. Specific events and genetics can also play a role in the formation of emotional dependence and behavioral characteristics, which leads to love and sexual dependence.

However, love addicts and sex maniacs eventually go looking for all sorts of ways to meet their needs:

Sexual Obsession. The main goal is sex and dating, no matter with whom. Sexually obsessed people are ready to connect with both a stranger and a regular partner. If there is no permanent or one-time partner, the sexaholic engages in self-satisfaction, looks for virtual sex on the Internet, watches films, etc.

People with love addiction crave a relationship with a certain person, which, in their opinion, will become their purpose in life. We can say that somewhere these people are similar to anonymous partners of sexually obsessed people due to the fact that the image of the object of adoration of the addict is very often far from the real person, it exists only as a fantasy in his head.

If love addiction reaches a boiling point, people may resist the breakup of a relationship or harm themselves after the relationship ends. Having lost a relationship with the idealized object of love, the addict loses the meaning of life and can come to a suicide attempt. So he tries to take revenge. Love addicts can get hung up on a former or possible partner for a long time.

Sexual harassment is an extreme manifestation of what a sexually obsessed person can do. Not every sex addict will harass or rape. However, some sexual maniacs may begin to force sex if they cannot achieve it in another way.

But in both cases, people need support from specialists. Both love addiction and sexual obsession need to be treated, because emotional dependence and psychological dissatisfaction will not allow the addict to fully live and be happy.