Am I a sex addict?

You are ONLY 15 years old. This is NOT the path you should be on at your age. Here is some important information that I believe is why teens get hung up on sex. (http://www.teenpaths.org/teen_sex_addiction.htm)>>”Addiction” may be defined as any behavior that is used to produce gratification, escape from internal discomfort and/or can be engaged in compulsively. Three characteristic findings of any addictive disorder are the following:

Compulsivity, that is, loss of the ability to choose freely whether to stop or to continue.

Continuation of the behavior despite adverse consequences, such as loss of health, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, poor school or job performance and compromised relationships.

Obsession - the addict is obsessed with their addiction and generally places more importance on the addiction than they do on other areas of their lives.

Physiology of Addiction (how addictive disorders develop and change the brain) The “human will” resides in the neocortex tissue of the brain. Here lies a series of brain cells connected to each other by synapses. These connections disconnect and reconnect over time depending on one’s experiences. With repetition, one’s choices, behavior, and actions create links and defined routes that become embedded in the tissues actually making the pathways easier and easier to follow. (It’s sort of like a hiking trail that gets worn through the woods and easier to follow the more times its used.)

“A specific behavior, whether good or bad, becomes increasingly strengthened through repetition. Physically altering the brain tissue to create new and better pathways is a difficult task and takes persistent repetitious new behavior.”

When children first begin to experience negative behavior, it occurs purely because they have chosen to, regardless of the influences of peer pressure, need to fit in, or whatever outside forces helped dictate that choice. However, once the behavior elicits instant gratification, it encourages repetition. Once the act becomes repetitious, it becomes facilitated by those ruts or pathways that begin to form in the brain. What began as psychological addiction has now grown into a physical addiction.

July 28 (CBSHealthWatch) – Many mental health problems tend to develop in people during the teen and early adult years–around the same time that sexuality begins to emerge. And a new study now suggests that psychiatric problems at this tender age may lead to promiscuity and other risky sexual behavior.

A relationship isnt all about sex, and it sounds like thats all you & your partner have going between you. Sex isnt going to keep a relationship going forever. If you cant enjoy just being together, and spending quality time without it getting physical, then in my opinion, you dont have a healthy relationship that is going to last!