For sex addicts nearby center offers help

"Mike" appeared to be living the American dream. He had a wife and kids, a big suburban house with a white picket fence and a swimming pool and a comfortable corporate job. He was in the best financial and physical shape of his life. He even ran marathons. But beneath all this Mike hid a terrible secret. He was addicted to sex. "I was a compulsive masturbator," he said. "I was very heavy into pornography and casual sex, having some kind of sex contact 3 or 4 times a day." The Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital at 49th and Market streets treats people like Mike, who asked that his real name not be used, and helps them overcome their sexual problems. Mary Jo Porreca, coordinator of Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, said that addiction to compulsive sexual behavior is a serious and often underestimated problem afflicting many people today. Porreca said that people who are addicted to sex need their daily fix, much like heroin addicts. Anyone, she said, can be afflicted by this condition. "We treat all kinds of people from businessmen to college students," she said. For many addicts, alcoholism and sexual abuse played a large part in their lives. Mike, for example, came from an alcoholic family and spent his teen years on street corners "hustling men and women." He said he would often trade sex for drugs and alcohol and said he was "caught in a triangle of drugs, sex and violence." At 17 he joined the Marine Corps and went to Vietnam. His sexual addiction continued through it all, he said, and his alcoholism worsened. When he returned, he was finally able to kick his alcohol habit, but his sexual addiction escalated. Things degenerated until he finally realized his problem and began dealing with it. "I realized I had no idea about feelings and emotions," he said. "The only things I knew were lust and anger -- everything was sexual." "Jen" had to deal with an incestuous upbringing which marred her life in many ways. She is a former alcoholic who was sexually abused by her father and by her mother's lesbian friend, she said. Since the age of four, she said, she has engaged in compulsive sexual behavior, including heavy use of pornography, excessive masturbation and promiscuous sexual activity. Jen said that at the height of her addiction she would "cruise the bars looking for one-night stands." "I would dance in seedy bars," she said. "I would basically do anything to get my sexual fix." "Sex was about power and intrigue," she added. "I would hook people into the illusion of being desired by having sex with them." At the time she was also involved with Alcoholics Anonymous to deal with the drinking problem that paralleled her sex obsession. It was during an AA session that she first heard of sexual addiction from a man who was sharing his compulsive sexual behavior with the group. She said she believed that once she conquered her alcoholism she would be free of the problems and fears afflicting her. However, once her alcohol addiction ended, she said, her sexual addiction grew to the point where it dominated her life. She cited a quote from Looking for Mr. Goodbar that describes what her condition was like. " 'One drink was too many, 1,000 drinks weren't enough,' " she said. "It was like that with me for sex." At the height of her addiction she went on a business trip where she went on a "sexual binge" and had sex with a married co-worker. After the man left, she said, she began to feel suicidal. "I was going to order a bottle of scotch, go into the bath and either slit my wrists or drown myself," she said. In a last ditch effort she called the man whom years before she had first heard speak of his sexual addiction at the AA group meeting. He helped her admit what she actually was: a sex addict. "At that point I realized that it came down to choosing between death and recovery," she said. Both Mike and Jen said they are now fully recovered and help Mary Jo Porreca run her program.