Dreams and the sex addicted

For those of us that are porn and/or sex addicted. Would you reset your sobriety if you had a sex dream that culminated in climaxing? I’m almost 30 days sober and have been lucky to have no dreams. (They don’t occur as often at 63 :face_with_diagonal_mouth:) But if it would happen, would you reset?

Personally no. That’s like me resetting because I got wasted in a dream. I wouldn’t say I’m a sex addict, well…. Maybe .. hypersexual most definitely…. Anyways I’m rambling!!! My answer is no.

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Thank you for your reply. I agree except that if an alcoholic drinks in their dream, they don’t wake up with a hangover. And a drug addict won’t experience the physiological changes of a high. But if a sex addict finishes in their dream, they actually achieve the physical release they crave and are trying to avoid. I personally don’t believe it ‘counts’. I’m just curious if this is how other sex addicts feel. Thanks again. :blush::latin_cross::folded_hands:t2:

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I don’t consider dreams to be a relapse.

I’ve had maybe 3-4 dreams in the last 12-18 months where I have had an “emission”.

It’s not something I am in control of, and rather than berating myself for it, I try to reflect on why it happened, if it was my brain doing some soft-testing of pushing the boundaries without actually doing it in real life, and if I can learn from it going forward.

A couple of things I would point out, firstly a couple of the dreams weren’t sexual, but I still had an “emission” - in these situations I figured it was just my body’s natural way of removing a build up of semen, so nothing to worry about.

When the dreams were sexual, I didn’t dwell on it too much. Recovery from sex addiction isn’t about becoming a monk and being completely celibate for the rest of our lives. It’s about stopping the harmful sexual behaviours, and relearning how to be sexual in a healthy way (some people compare it to food addiction, where the aim isn’t to stop eating, but to develop a healthy relationship with food).

I’ve had a fair few sexual/acting out dreams that haven’t culminated in climax as well. I think these dreams are useful, and can be harnessed to maintain sobriety. They act as a reminder of how awful it would be to slip/relapse, and allow for a bit of a kick up the arse to stop complacency creeping in.

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Thank you. I appreciate your insight. :blush::latin_cross::folded_hands:t2: