Laura Yeager: Hypersexuality and Bipolar Illness
Hypersexuality is the increased need for sexual gratification and is often a symptom of mania.
I’m glad I don’t experience this. I have other problems when I’m manic such as paranoia and delusional thinking, but I don’t feel like going out and repeatedly cheating on my husband.
If I did have hypersexuality during mania, I’d find a good psychologist with whom I could talk when I felt as if I needed to have sex. I doubt I’d be in a married relationship.
Going through multiple partners is difficult on a person. I feel for people with hypersexuality. But, luckily, if a person is properly medicated, hypersexuality can be controlled.
What a strange disease bipolar illness is. It can make you want to go out and sleep with countless strangers. And these days with sexually transmitted diseases, that can be dangerous. Or you might experience an unwanted pregnancy. The need for abortion, which is also hard on people, might result.
The fact that some bipolar people experience hypersexuality and some don’t illustrates how unique each case of bipolar disorder is. All bipolar people cannot be lumped together. We’re all very different.
If you have raging hypersexuality during mania, you probably haven’t found the right cocktail of drugs to control your disease. Work with you psychiatrist to reel in the raging impulse to engage in sexual activity. You and your significant other will be glad you did.
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I do experince the great sexual want but have not gone through multiple partners. The craving is so great though it can overwhelm, when I was not DX this lead me into unhealthy relationships and I would wonder how and why I ended up with them. this a bonus for the spouse. I will add I have never been unfaithful, I wouldn't want to hurt another or be hurt in this regard.
Laura
Thanks so much for this SHARE. I think that hypersexuality in bipolar disorder is one of the most dangerous traits due to the risks of sometimes deadly diseases and the fact that people put themselves in great danger by meeting with strangers for sex. Hypersexuals have been known to meet people online and engaging in sex within a couple of hours.
They could be beaten, raped or worse. And of course, if a someone who suffers this is married and has a family, the consequences are even more serious.
I have seen some documentaries on sexual addiction and the consequences and wonder - are some of these people actually suffering from bipolar disorder? The characteristics can be quite similar in terms of the compulsive nature of sexual addiction, as well as the 'high' (mania) that happens and the subsequent feelings of depression.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?