BY DAY, the 26-year-old petite, fresh-faced woman with long, wavy hair is a secretary who would blend right into a crowd of office workers.
But Fiona, which is not her real name, has a secret: She has been treated for sex addiction in the last 10 months, undergoing one-on-one counselling with a doctor at a private psychiatric clinic.
For three to four years up until her treatment started last year, she was anything but the average office worker.
Every other night, she would prowl night spots, 'looking for a hook-up with good-looking guys who were willing'.
She had no shortage of takers.
She said: 'I was hooked on the high I got during sex. Sometimes in the morning, I would wake up in a strange bed. That was when guilt and shame would come pouring in.'
She first had an inkling that something was wrong with her when she read a magazine article on sex addiction at a hair salon.
'It has been 10 months since I sought help and I've managed to 'stay clean'.
'I think I am better. I am now able to control my urges better by turning my attention to other things like exercise,' she said.
She cannot talk about this problem to anyone in her circle: 'My friends and colleagues don't know I have this affliction. Not even my family knows.'
Fiona reckons she became addicted to the high from sex from cyber porn. She was introduced to it by her stepbrother, then 15 and a year older than she was.
She added, resignedly: 'We also experimented between ourselves. Young and curious, I guess.'
Considering that she did not always insist that the men she was with wear a condom, she said she thinks she is 'lucky' not to have caught any sexually transmitted diseases.
She is not yet out of the woods. Each time she is stressed or has a falling-out with those close to her, the urges do come back.
'It is tough not to return to my old ways,' she said. But, she said, 'I try.'
But Fiona, which is not her real name, has a secret: She has been treated for sex addiction in the last 10 months, undergoing one-on-one counselling with a doctor at a private psychiatric clinic.
For three to four years up until her treatment started last year, she was anything but the average office worker.
Every other night, she would prowl night spots, 'looking for a hook-up with good-looking guys who were willing'.
She had no shortage of takers.
She said: 'I was hooked on the high I got during sex. Sometimes in the morning, I would wake up in a strange bed. That was when guilt and shame would come pouring in.'
She first had an inkling that something was wrong with her when she read a magazine article on sex addiction at a hair salon.
'It has been 10 months since I sought help and I've managed to 'stay clean'.
'I think I am better. I am now able to control my urges better by turning my attention to other things like exercise,' she said.
She cannot talk about this problem to anyone in her circle: 'My friends and colleagues don't know I have this affliction. Not even my family knows.'
She added, resignedly: 'We also experimented between ourselves. Young and curious, I guess.'
Considering that she did not always insist that the men she was with wear a condom, she said she thinks she is 'lucky' not to have caught any sexually transmitted diseases.
She is not yet out of the woods. Each time she is stressed or has a falling-out with those close to her, the urges do come back.
'It is tough not to return to my old ways,' she said. But, she said, 'I try.'
