We expect certain behaviors from people addicted to alcohol. These include impulsive decision-making, lateness or absenteeism from work, and impaired social relations. But what about high-risk sexual behavior?
If you’ve ever been intoxicated from drinking alcohol, the actions of alcohol addicts may not be surprising. Drinking alcohol, even if it’s only once in a while, can temporarily lower a person’s ambitions and warp their thinking. It can cause a hangover the next day that impairs their ability to function as normal.
However, there is one surprising behavior that some people addicted to alcohol exhibit: frequent sexual encounters, many of which may pose a high risk. Or, to use the colloquial term, sleeping around.
What is it about alcohol addiction that leads some people to sleep around? There are a number of factors at play, which we’ll discuss in this article.
The Impact of Alcohol on The Brain
Alcohol affects the brain in a few significant ways. For this discussion, it’s necessary to focus on the depressant effects of alcohol.
Alcohol depresses the central nervous system of the brain. This impairs cognitive functions and affects the areas responsible for decision-making and impulse control. This is why it is so difficult to accurately evaluate risks and consequences while drunk, often resulting in impulsive and risky behaviors.
Many people not addicted to alcohol can relate to this. It is easy to determine never to drive under the influence when you’re still sober, but it doesn’t seem as dangerous when you have been drinking. This is why experts urge people to make plans before they start drinking in order to avert potentially life-changing accidents.
For some people, impaired decision-making and impulse control leads to risky sexual behavior. They may have sexual encounters without using protection, in public or near-public spaces, or go home with someone they have no reason to trust.
When a person has been addicted to alcohol for an extended period of time, the cognitive impairment does not simply subside when they are sober. It may take detoxing from alcohol to return to their normal cognitive capacity.
It is also important to note that, when the person has been addicted for years, there is risk of permanent damage to the areas of the brain involved in decision-making and impulse control.
The Psychological Impact
But it’s not just the cognitive impairment that leads to high-risk sexual behaviors. People who become addicted to alcohol are often suffering from low self-esteem, depression, and anxiety. Even those who began drinking while in a positive psychological space may find their mental health suffering due to the effect of alcohol.
Low self-esteem in particular is a factor in high-risk sexual behaviors. A person with low self-esteem might seek external validation from frequent sexual encounters to make up for the absence of internal validation. They might also feel undeserving of positive sexual encounters and therefore choose to go ahead in risky situations, believing it is the best they can get or even as a form of self-punishment.
Sex can also be an addictive behavior. For some it is a primary addiction, but for others it may become secondary to alcohol addiction, serving a similar function when alcohol is unavailable.
Libido: The Highs and Lows
The biological impact of alcohol is interesting in the context of frequent high-risk sex. On the one hand, alcohol use can increase the libido by reducing anxiety and social inhibitions, leading to heightened sexual desire.
On the other hand, chronic alcohol use often has the opposite effect, reducing libido and impairing sexual function. Alcohol disrupts the balance of hormones such as testosterone and estrogen, which are critical for maintaining sexual health and drive. Additionally, it affects neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, which play key roles in mood and arousal.
As such, some people addicted to alcohol have sex less frequently, which can negatively impact their relationships.
Alcohol Addiction and Social Circumstances
One reason that some people addicted to alcohol sleep around is as an effect of circumstances related to addiction. When a person is using alcohol throughout the week, they are likely to spend time with others who are addicted. The other factors influencing sexual behaviors are then enabled, increasing the possibility that there is someone around to sleep with.
A person addicted to alcohol is also more likely to spend time in environments where they have increased social interactions or where people go to find sexual partners. They may spend multiple nights during the week in a bar or a club, at which they are much likelier to meet potential sexual partners than when at home or at a restaurant.
Treatment for Alcohol Addiction and High-Risk Sexual Behaviors
In theory, treating alcohol addiction in isolation can help the person recover. However, in many cases, the use of alcohol and sex becomes a vicious cycle. When sex is serving similar needs to alcohol, it can become an addiction in its own right, and can lead the person to relapse and drink again, as the core issues have never been fully resolved.
The presence of high-risk sexual behaviors must therefore be considered by treatment experts and addressed during recovery.
Conclusion
There are a number of reasons that addiction to alcohol can lead to frequent high-risk sexual behaviors. While the alcohol use may trigger the sexual behaviors, stopping using alcohol may not lead to an end to the habit.
The best treatment centers take every aspect of the person’s life into account. They will treat the addiction along with any co-occurring disorders, as well as secondary addictions, using a holistic approach.
