Meet Jason. The sex addict who needs to tell his girlfriend he's relapsed.

A young man has opened up about his struggle with sex addiction and how it has affected his work and his relationship.

The man, Jason, can be seen confessing to his girlfriend that he has relapsed in eye-opening preview of Triple J’s Hack Live program, which will explore the realities of sex addiction.

Jason introduces himself to the camera as a sex addict and describes the ways sex has consumed his life.

Listen: Pornstar Madison Messina talks about how you can watch ethical porn.

“I’m a sex addict. I’m not a recovering sex addict, I don’t feel like I’ve got it under control at the moment,” Jason says.

He says that sometimes he can’t get work done because he can’t concentrate, saying it also affected him at university.

“When I was at university I struggled in my assignments a lot of the time and just because these thoughts were constantly in my mind, and I can’t concentrate on anything else.”

Jason says he used to watch pornography on his phone at work, and also skip out to have sex.

"I was leaving work during the day and engaging in sexual activities," he says.

"If I'm walking down the street, every single person that walks past, whether it's male or female, there is some sort of sexual thought that will go through my mind."

But Jason's so-called sex addiction doesn't just affect his life - he also has a girlfriend, Cassie, and the pair are going to their first couples counselling session.

It is there we learn why Jason doesn't think he has his addiction under control.

When asked by the therapist if he has relapsed, Jason replies that "there was pornography involved".

The therapist then asks if the couple have been communicating, which Cassie answers.

"I've asked him a number of times and he's obviously lied," she says, turning to her boyfriend.

This is a snapshot of Jason's story, which is being told as part of a Hack special airing Tuesday night.

The Hack team will examine sex addiction, including answering the question of whether it is a real mental health condition - or an excuse for bad behaviour.

Sex addiction is not listed in the national reference guide, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, but psychologists are choosing to treat men like Jason, whose lives have been negatively impacted by sex and porn.

While others call sex addiction a lie in all cases, sexologist Desiree Spierings told Hack there was a key difference between serial cheaters and true addicts.

"Very simply put, those who are serial cheaters or who have a high sex drive but are not an addict, they can stop if they want to," Spierings said.

"Those who are addicts often they get to a point where they want to stop but can't."

Jason told reporter Stephen Stockwell that he understands people don't believe it's a real disorder, but asks for sceptics to keep an open mind for the sake of those who are suffering.

"I've unfortunately been in the situation a lot of the time where people aren't understanding of sex addiction."

"It's a real addiction that a lot of people really need to start recognising and understanding."

Hack LIVE on Sex Addicts airs Tuesday at 9.30pm on ABC2 or iView.

Do you think sex addiction is a real disorder?