Yahoo Lifestyle 
Mum-of-three reveals reality of living with crippling sex addiction
It was the all-consuming addiction that took control of her life and mum-of-three Rebecca Barker has spoken about what living with sex addiction is really like – and the effects it had on her and those around her.
Candid about the compulsions that once saw her have sex for seven hours a day, Rebecca, who is mum to three children, admits she’s always had a “really high sex drive”.
The Yorkshire local met the father of her two children when she was 16, but left him at the age of 24 to move to Vienne in central France where her mum had a farm.
There, she fell head-over-heels with her next partner, with the couple quickly getting engaged and having a daughter together.
Despite having sex most days, Rebecca struggled with anxiety and was prescribed medication. It was in 2014 the mum claims her sex addiction spiraled out of control.
“Every minute I was awake I had obsessive thoughts about sex,” Rebecca told The Sun.
“When I gave in to temptation I briefly felt better about myself, less stressed and anxious, but there was no longer-term satisfaction — as soon as it was over, all I could think about was doing it again.”
Battling with feelings of insecurity and depression, Rebecca claims she became “obsessed” and craved sex as a way of obtaining her partner’s approval, with the couple sleeping together five times a day to try and satisfy her needs.
Left staring at people’s lips and thinking about sex constantly, things got to the point where Rebecca became a hermit as she worried about leaving the house and encountering others.
Her partner struggled with where and why her fixation had come about and even becoming convinced she was cheating as a result.
Rebecca sought help from a professional, who changed her medication dosage. Determined to address her problems, Rebecca moved to her mum for support, and ended up leaving her partner in 2014.
Despite her best intentions, Rebecca embarked on rebound romances, with one seeing her have sex with her partner for seven hours a day.
“It was literally the first thing I thought about when I woke up, I jut couldn’t get it off my mind,” Rebecca told the BBC.
“I felt like everything reminded me of it. I think it was linked to my depression and the lack of serotonin. I felt like my whole body was craving it.”
In 2015, Rebecca consulted two psychotherapists who told the mum her sex cravings were due to obsessive compulsive disorder. She weaned herself off medication, and embarked on a healthy, stable relationship with a man named Jean-Marc – who she is set to marry later next year.
Rebecca explains she decided to go public with her sex addiction in a bid to help others realise it is a “massively misunderstood medical condition” people shouldn’t be ashamed of asking for help for.
“I made many lifestyle changes in order to get over the depression and the addiction and for me that has worked,” she told the BBC.
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