I agree that one addiction can transform into another addiction, especially if the first addiction is intentionally prohibited from acting out. However, from what I've personally observed, sexual acting out (or the desire to) is extremely difficult to terminate, especially when the psychological source is not resolved. Sex is often the path of least resistance for many issues, since it produces such intense physical and emotional feelings. In essence, the troubled part of the psyche will attempt to collude with the sex drive, to bring an issue to the surface and get it resolved. Unfortunately, this rarely ever works out and usually just causes more problems.

There are psychologists who focus on the sex lives of their patients, and use their fetishes, fantasies and addictions as a means to search for and heal nonsexual psychological issues. Sex is often a doorway into deeper issues.

Arthur Janov, author of The Primal Scream, has done a lot of work in this area. One of his premises is that sexual compulsions are a symbolic acting out of nonsexual issues or wounds from the past. His ideas are fascinating, and I believe there is much truth to them.