In general it is a process that can start in childhood or young adulthood and then progress over time to a point of becoming unmanageable, interfering with all aspects of life, destroying relationships, careers, and lives. I would like to clarify that someone who engages in masturbation, anonymous sex, or pornography is not necessarily a sex addict. Sexual addiction, although difficult to identify at times, has a specific set of characteristics that accompany it, including certain patterns of increased frequency, duration, or intensity. Patrick Carnes, author and researcher in the field of sex addiction, identifies seven themes present in sex addicts. A recurrent pattern of inability to resist sexual impulses.
Many people report an inability to control themselves once a sexual preoccupation begins.
Someone shopping at a grocery store might find himself or herself unable to continue shopping and find they cruise instead. Many people report entering an Internet chat room and find themselves hours later unable to leave. Others might find themselves cruising the bars or streets for sex long after their intended departure time. Still others might find themselves masturbating to pornography more intensely or for longer than intended even to the point of physical harm. A persistent desire or unsuccessful attempts to reduce, limit, stop, or control those behaviors.