Direct Individual Costs
Category Low Est. High Est.
Porn/escorts/apps/affairs $1,500/yr $75,000+/yr
Job loss / underperformance $10,000 $250,000+
Divorce/legal fees $15,000 $200,000+
Treatment/therapy (over years) $5,000 $100,000+
Compulsive purchases (grooming, tech, travel) $1,000 $25,000+
Individual Total $32,500 $650,000+

For a high-functioning, chronically acting-out addict, lifetime costs may exceed $1M+.

Healthcare + Psychiatric Burden
Comorbidity with depression, anxiety, suicidality, substance abuse

ER visits from STDs, panic attacks, suicidality

Cost to spouses, children, and families needing therapy

Estimated annual burden:

~$20–35 billion/year

Family & Generational Impact
 
Divorce fallout (housing, relocation, court) $20–60K per family
Partner betrayal trauma treatment $10K+ avg

Childhood developmental trauma from parental acting out Immeasurable, but often leads to future addiction, mental health costs, or broken attachment systems

Addiction becomes intergenerational without intervention.

SPIRITUAL & EXISTENTIAL COSTS
While harder to quantify, these costs are profound:

Loss of trust (in self, God, partner, community)

Collapse of identity (“I am a fraud” becomes a spiritual crisis)

Moral injury (knowing better but still acting out)

Disconnection from purpose (spending years surviving instead of creating)

Isolation despite performance

 These costs compound over time—many clients lose decades of relational, creative, and spiritual potential.

Honest, Far-Reaching Summary
Domain Estimated U.S. Annual Cost
Direct personal cost $100B–$150B
Healthcare/mental health $20B–$35B
Divorce/legal/family $60B–$90B
Lost productivity $40B–$60B
Generational/family dysfunction Unmeasurable, but multibillion ripple
Total (Conservative) $220–$335 billion/year

+ Add the incalculable costs of:

Suicide

Lost potential

Spiritual despair

Cultural normalization of dissociation and shame
Over $1 Trillion annual losses to USA