Lost, alone, and rapidly losing their self esteem, victims begin to indulge in self harm and eventually deliberately place themselves in dangerous situations, the sexual equivalent of the crack den, where they all too often encounter people happy to harm them with fatal consequences.

Fortunately my friend has the strength of mind to pull back from the brink, although it is going to be a very long, difficult, and lonely struggle for her to lead anything like a normal life.

In comparison, most of us who are accused of being sex addicts are guilty of nothing more than a hyperactive libido.

But for having to helplessly watch my friend’s experience I would have written off sex addiction as some sort of fad. The reality is very different.