It seems that news of the porn star and Tiger Woods may have pushed his wife to the brink. The Boston Herald states “The alleged topsy-turvy Tiger Woods sex saga has reportedly driven his wife Elin Nordegren Woods out of the couple’s Orlando-area mansion.” Tiger Woods‘ wife flees mansion amid sex scandal .
Frankly, we would have been happier if she packed his bags and said, “Out!”
There were also reports that she had urged him to seek counseling for his sex addiction. That may have been a step towards healing. However the more these women claiming to have had sex with Tiger Woods surface, the more difficult it will be for his wife to feel a sense of dignity, even with intense marriage counseling.
The forgiveness factor may be the only hope for this marriage. If Elin can look at Tiger and say, “My husband has an illness — it is not heart disease, it is not cancer, but it is damaging and killing us” — then perhaps she can work with him to salvage their marriage.
But no one has confirmed a sex addiction. With ESPN baseball analyst, reports confrimed what many have been whispering, and according to the New York Daily News,” Steve Phillips is addicted to sex.
While society accepts alcoholism — and too often ignores its seriousness — sex addicts are treated differently. And a spouse is often in a difficult and embarrassing situation despite the fact that a husband may require treatment and she needs sympathy and support.
An Tinamarie Bernard noted in SNL skit coming out of the Tiger Woods (video) “Cheating rarely occurs in a vacuum. Most often, the partner who cheats does so with the underlying desire to escape something – boredom, pressure, anxiety, or the sense of being trapped for example. Sometimes an underlying psychological dysfunction – sexual addiction – is to blame.” Tiger Woods, Jamie Jungers and a 5th mistress come forward: Sexual addiction and sexy money
Psychology Today defines a sex addict as follows: “Insatiable sexual hunger is not really a desire, an act of will, but rather a desperate need, a compulsion that is experienced as a craving. The need is pursued like a drug. . . . Like a drug addict or alcoholic, the sex addict relentlessly seeks satisfaction from an external source to palliate an internal pain.” What Drives a Sex Addict?
Since we don’t know the real Tiger Woods story, perhaps we should give Elin the privacy and sympathy she needs to try to salvage their marriage.
Copyright 2009 Rita Watson/ All Rights Reserved