Both a sexual addiction and pornography addiction are psychological addictions. Addictions to sex and pornography are found in all levels of society, in all levels of education, in all professions, and in both men and women. A key feature of sexually related addictions is its obsessive, unmanageable nature. This can cause an individual to spend an extraordinary amount of time and money on their addiction.

Two other key factors are the powerlessness that the individual feels to control their behavior and the rationalization they use to explain and justify acting out. The feelings of being powerless over a compulsive behavior and rationalizing the behaviors often result in their life becoming unmanageable. They act out the addiction and then often experiences guilt, shame, confusion, and feelings of hopelessness and self-loathing.

The individual will often try to stop their behavior and may be successful for a period of time but finds it difficult to permanently stop on their own. Typically, without professional help it will become progressively worse.