My Parent is a Sex Addict, I’m suffering from their Hidden Legacy

Growing up with a parent who is a sex addict can be a confusing and traumatic experience for adult children. Adult children of sex addicts may struggle with a range of issues, including trust and intimacy issues, difficulty forming healthy relationships, shame and guilt, and a sense of isolation or feeling different from others.

Some common experiences of adult children of sex addicts include during childhood:

• Sex was perceived as the utmost important aspect in a relationship, dirty, or disgusting

• Was provided inaccurate information about healthy sexuality

• Was victim to inappropriate comments about gender and sexuality

• Did not receive adequate nurturing affection from caregiver

• Was asked to keep their caregiver’s sexual secrets

• May have been exposed to their caregiver’s pornography

Some common experiences of adult children of sex addicts include during adulthood:

• Growing up in a chaotic and unpredictable environment due to the caregiver's sexual behavior

• Feeling responsible for the caregiver's behavior or feeling ashamed or guilty about it

• Difficulty trusting others or forming intimate relationships due to a lack of trust in the parent or witnessing relationship dysfunction

• Struggling with feelings of low self-worth, anxiety, depression, or trauma as a result of the parent's behavior

• Difficulty setting boundaries or having healthy emotional regulation skills due to the lack of boundaries or emotional regulation skills modeled by the parent

• Uses sex to avoid abandonment or to control others

Learning your caregiver suffered from a sex addiction is a form of betrayal trauma. Healing from intergenerational trauma is possible with appropriate guidance from support groups and individual therapy. Developing healthy coping strategies to navigate relationships with self and others is imperative to the healing journey.