Last Updated on January 2, 2023 by Mike Robinson
The addiction to women constitutes a set of sensations, thoughts and behaviors that lead the person to require constant contact with women.
This psychopathological alteration refers to a specific type of behavioral addiction. And it can develop in both men and women.
The addictive elements of this disorder are not so much the women themselves, but a series of behaviors that are carried out with them. These can encompass any type of action such as talking, chatting or having sex.
Addiction to Women
Likewise, it is important to differentiate this alteration of the addiction to the sex and of the dependency to the couple.
Addiction to women is not limited to sexual acts and activities. Likewise, it is a concept that differs markedly from emotional dependence.
Characteristics of addiction to women
Addiction is a chronic and recurrent psychological disease that is characterized by the pathological search for reward and / or relief through the use of a substance or the performance of a behavior.
In the case of addiction to women, the alteration refers to the second addictive aspect. That is to say, the element that the addicted person needs to perform lies in the execution of a series of behaviors.
These behaviors are characterized by contact with women. In other words, the person with addiction to women needs to carry out activities with them on a constant basis in order to alleviate the anguished feelings caused by not doing so.
It is a type of unusual behavioral addiction, since few people present this psychopathology in different regions of the world.
However, this addiction can be as much or even more harmful to the subject than addiction to substances or other types of behavior.
Currently, it is unclear what kind of activities with women can be part of this type of addiction. In fact, it is postulated that any type of action carried out with women could be part of the psychopathology.
Main elements of addiction to women
In order to talk about addiction to women, the individual who suffers from it must present a series of main elements.
These are very similar to the alterations that substance addiction can cause and are characterized mainly by the experimentation of an extreme need to carry out activities with women.
Although it is difficult to define what behaviors are those that are addictive, for the detection of addiction to women, the main aspect presented by the activities of this alteration are defined by being carried out in the company of a woman.
In this sense, the behaviors can be multiple. These can range from chatting impulsively, to being to read a book, go for a walk or have a coffee.
Thus, in the case of addiction to women, the behavior that takes place is not as relevant as the element that provides gratification, which should be the contact with a woman.
The main elements that make up the addiction to women are: craving, loss of control, abstinence and tolerance.
Craving
Craving is the first manifestation that appears in addiction and is characterized by the experimentation of an imperative need to carry out activities with women.
The person suffering from addiction to women has a high desire to perform this type of activity. These desires appear in the form of impulse and motivate the implementation of a series of activities that allow to satisfy the internal desires.
Some of the observable behaviors about the craving of individuals with addiction to women can be:
- Constant search for women on the internet.
- Attempt to establish contact with unknown women.
- Attempt to encourage contact and relationship with known women.
- Go to places where there are many women to contact them.
- Immersion in chats to talk with strangers.
All these behaviors differ from normal behavior through the reasons that lead to their performance.
While a person can carry out these activities with different objectives (finding a partner or establishing a personal relationship), individuals with addiction to women perform them with the sole purpose of being in contact with them and meeting their internal needs to carry out such actions.
Lost of control
Another important element that allows defining the existence of addiction to women lies in the controlabildiad presented by the behaviors that the person performs.
In addictions, the activities carried out by the individual in relation to their addictive element are characterized by a low degree of control.
The cognitive processes that govern contact with women are governed by addiction, so these actions are not carried out in a rational, congruent and controlled manner.
The individual with addiction to women feels an enormous need to carry out actions together with a woman, so these activities are carried out in an uncontrolled manner.
Likewise, little by little the person will lose his ability to control the acts he performs to satisfy his addictive demands, a fact that can lead him to execute actions and unwanted behaviors.
Abstinence
Withdrawal syndrome is an alteration that frequently appears in drug addictions. In these cases, when individuals do not consume the substance, they experience a series of physical and psychological signs of discomfort.
The appearance of withdrawal symptoms refers to the dependence developed by the person. The individual becomes accustomed to functioning properly with the consumption of the drug, so when he does not perform it he experiences discomfort.
However, this phenomenon is not exclusive of drug use, and it also appears in addiction to women.
In these cases, the symptoms experienced are psychological (not physical) and is characterized mainly by providing high feelings of discomfort.
Agitation, impulsivity, irritability, anxious feelings or loss of interest in things are the most common manifestations.
The person with addiction to women needs to carry out activities with them above all. So when he is not able to do it he responds with an altered psychological state and unpleasant sensations.
Tolerance
Finally, the last element that appears in the addiction to women is tolerance to them. That is, the development of a remarkable desensitization to the desired stimulus.
This fact translates into an increase in the addictive needs of the person. That is, each time requires a greater realization of their desired activities to experience pleasure with them.
This factor is closely linked to the loss of control, since the emergence of tolerance makes the behaviors carried out by the individual more and more impulsive, recurrent and uncontrollable.
The tolerance developed in addiction to women is very similar to that produced by drugs. The drug addict increasingly requires a greater consumption of the substance in the same way that the addict to women requires more and more contact with them.
Difference between addiction to women and sex addiction
Addiction to women is usually associated and even confused with sex addiction. In fact, the latter is a type of addiction that is better known and more documented than addiction to women.
However, we must bear in mind that addiction to women is a psychopathology alien to sex addiction. Sexual activities do not have to play an important role in addiction to women and above all, it is not the addictive element.
Although in some cases the desired behaviors on the part of the individual addicted to women may include sexual activities, these are not the main ones.
Although sex may be a desired activity, it is never the only one. In the addiction to women the element to which the individual is addicted are the women themselves, so the type of behavior that wants to perform with them goes to the background.
In fact, in most cases any activity carried out with women serves equally to satisfy the internal and addictive needs of the subject. In this sense, sex is an aspect that can be desired in addiction to women, but in the same way that any other type of behavior can be desired.
Differences between addiction to women and dependence personality disorder
Addiction to women can also be confused with personality traits related to dependence.
The dependent personality disorder is characterized by the presence of excessive general and dealing with one that causes submissive behavior and fears of separation adhesion and necessity.
This alteration refers to the character and way of being of the person and can often lead the individual to conduct contact seeking behaviors with people due to the need to deal with them.
These behaviors may overlap, in part, with the typical behaviors of addiction to women.
However, dependence personality disorder is characterized by the absence of addictive behaviors. Elements such as craving, loss of control, abstinence and tolerance do not appear in the socializing behavior of subjects with personality disorder due to dependence.
In turn, the contacts sought in this type of personality disorder need not be related to a woman. In fact, they are usually perceived in both genders, which results in a markedly different alteration to the addiction to women.
Alarm signs
Often, addiction to women can be a difficult alteration to detect. Especially, this task can be complicated to perform by third parties.
On the other hand, as with other types of addictions, it is common for the subject who suffers from addiction to women to be reluctant to accept his pathology. And make efforts to interpret their behaviors as normal.
For all these reasons, a series of elements that may be helpful in detecting addiction to women have been developed. The most important are.
- Drastic changes in life habits in order to have more time to perform addictive behaviors.
- Generalized decrease in physical activity.
- Neglect of one’s health as a result of addictive activity.
- Avoidance of important activities in order to have more time to stay connected.
- Deprivation or change in sleep patterns in order to have more time to perform addictive behaviors.
- Decrease of sociability with people who are not women, fact has as a consequence the loss of friendships.
- Negligence regarding family and friends.
- Negligence regarding work and personal obligations.
Treatment
The therapeutic tool that has shown to be more useful to intervene addictive pathologies is the motivational interview.
This psychological technique focuses on gradually eliminating all the resistances that the subject establishes about his addiction to women.
In this sense, therapist and patient work together to increase the motivation for change, a fact that will allow to avoid the realization of addictive behavior.
Many studies have shown that the main element that allows to overcome behavioral addictions lies in the suppression of addictive behavior.
Thus, with the motivational interview, the commitment to avoid carrying out these activities is increased and replaced by others that are less harmful to the individual.
