Sex addiction is not just sex or sexual behavior that someone might find offensive or excessive. It is an illness, a brain disorder, characterized by specific symptoms—primarily, sexual preoccupation and compulsivity, and the inability to stop detrimental behaviors despite severe risks and consequences. Symptoms are based on an addict’s misguided efforts to self-soothe the discomfort of extreme emotions he or she experiences. Sex addicts are attempting to escape reality by mood-altering using sex.