Lust addiction is a disease of the soul. It woks in the following way: The Gemarah Succos (52a) teaches that in keitz hayomim, Hashem will slaughter the yetzer harah. To tzadikim it will appear as a huge mountain, and to reshaim as a strand of hair (K'chut hsaarah). The tzadikim will weep and say "How were we able to overcome such a gigantic mountain?" The reshaim will  say "How were not able to overcome this chut hasaarah?" The Bais Halevy- Parshas Bereishis explains that the yetzer harah gains its effectiveness from the power of dimyon. These imaginative and fantasy powers of the yetzer harah draws after the lust and desires of earthly physical pleasures. The imaginative powers of lust and desires are far stronger that their actualization.

Tzadikim viewed it as as a enormous mountain because they struggled all their lives and overcame it. The reshaim had great remorse for giving in after realizing the actualization of their lust was not worth it, for the lust was only a dimyon.

Professionally, we see the lust can become more intense until it reaches compulsive, obsessive and addictive levels.

So is lust addiction uncontrollable? The answer is no, as we see that the talmidim of Rebi Yochanan Ben Zachai approached him when he was very ill and asked him for a brocho. His brocho was "May your yiras shamaim be as strong as your fear of human presence. The talmidim surprisingly inquired, This and no more? The Rebbe replied, "Halevei, it should so strong.

We see that a person can immediately be in the heat of viewing inappropriate material on the internet and yet he will immediately log off if someone enters the room.

Lust addiction stems from from a spiritual or emotional lacking. The person feels depressed or unfulfilled and looks to something pleasurable on the outside to fulfill this void. Many factors can cause this void. Strong among them is lack of self esteem. Others include: 2) The whole gamut dysfunctional parental upbringing 3) Problems with relationships 4) Poor social skills leading to avoidance of social contacts. 5) Environmental and peer pressure. 6) Anxiety disorders can serve as causes or exacerbate the already existing problem.

How can a professional help a client through his lust addiction crisis? A combination of 12-step affiliation, CBT therapy, Self-esteem building techniques and anxiety reduction are helpful. Sometimes a change of lifestyle and cognitive orientation is necessary.

The void inside (mentioned above) must be filled with authentic modes of satisfaction and accomplishment. This can be accomplished by building healthy core beliefs and presenting the client with opportunities of  greater spiritual and emotional fulfillment.

Very vital is that the therapist must be astute and flexible enough to set up a reparative program whether the issue stems from ADD-ADHD, obsessive or compulsive personality, peer associations, depression or any of the other conditions mentioned above.