Sex addict mum: Five times a day was not enough
A MOTHER has spoken of her addiction to sex – saying how even five times a day ‘wasn’t enough’.
Rebecca Barker, 37, said it destroyed her marriage because she was constantly pestering her husband.
The mother-of-three spoke out about her affliction yesterday as relationship charities called on the NHS to recognise it as a medical condition and offer free treatment.
Miss Barker said her problems were linked to depression and a lack of serotonin, a chemical that helps send nerve signals and is linked to functions including mood, behaviour and sexual desire.
She told the BBC: ‘At its worst, even having sex five times a day wasn’t enough.
‘It was literally the first thing I thought about when I woke up, I just couldn’t get it off my mind. I felt like everything reminded me of it. I felt like my whole body was craving it. It was giving me the instant hit and five minutes later I wanted it again.’
Ashamed of her habit, she became ‘a hermit’ rather than face other people.
She added: ‘At first my partner was fine with it but towards the end he couldn’t understand it at all. After a few months he started to raise questions about why and where it was coming from. He accused me of having an affair - he thought I must have been feeling guilty about it and that’s why I wanted sex with him.’
Miss Barker, from Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, was diagnosed with depression in 2012 after having her third child. The sex addiction problems intensified, and by 2014 her relationship had ended.
She changed jobs and moved to France as a way of getting over her depression and sex cravings and says it has so far proved a success.
Relationship groups say they have seen a four-fold increase in those seeking help, and have called on the NHS to provide free treatment. Currently, doctors disagree over whether an addiction to sex is even possible and sufferers are referred to charities. Peter
‘My whole body craving it’
Saddington, a therapist at the relationship charity Relate, said: ‘Addicts realise it is causing harm, but they can’t stop and they recognise they need help in changing it.’
Paula Hall, of the Association for the Treatment of Sex Addiction and Compulsivity, said: ‘You can get self-help resources online but in terms of getting professional input, there needs to be more services developed by the NHS.’
A Department of Health spokesman said help was available from other groups including Sexaholics Anonymous and Sex Addicts Anonymous. Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein and actor Kevin Spacey have said they are being treated for sex addiction following allegations of sexual misconduct.