And virtually everyone's had sexual experiences at one time or another that they felt powerless to resist. Feelings of love and sexual excitement are part of being human. For sex addicts, though, arousal is a self-reinforcing habit, no less than alcohol, drugs, and other pursuits are to other addicts. Because what's missing from a sex addict's life can't be found in repeating the same old patterns. But it can be discovered if we look close enough into the lives of others, and see more there than potential sex partners or impulse objects, and instead glimpse the deeper, ultimate love that connects and binds us all.
Differences are both clear-cut and subtle.
Love addicts live in endless anticipation of perfect love, and not finding it with one lover, immediately begin searching for it with another. A common result is a landscape littered with broken hearts and homes. Relationship addicts fix their attention on a particular individual and act out their dependency needs with that person, typically becoming obsessed, isolated, and manipulating in the process. Overcoming sexual compulsivity and addiction starts with recognizing that you are out of control sexually, at least some of the time. It's impossible to move beyond compulsive sexuality if you continue to act out sexual impulses.