"I got increasingly worse, particularly in university, cheating on my boyfriends, sleeping with my boyfriends' best friends.
"When my boyfriend's dad was dying from cancer I was having an affair, it was very dark. I went to drama school and for me it was just another place to just act out.
"I was sleeping with everyone at drama school.
She now works as a relationship expert and influencer
Kennedy News/@theartofsamara
"I ended up giving a boyfriend chlamydia. I found out from him (boyfriend) because he said he had a rash. His dad threatened to have me killed, it was all very extreme.
"I didn't have any symptoms which turns out can be quite common, you can pass it on and not even know that you have it.
"I'm pretty sure I gave it to lots of people - I couldn't give you numbers but it wasn't good.
"The hard thing was that doctors said you need to tell whoever you slept with and I had no idea, I couldn't remember.
"I didn't even know some people [who I had slept with]. It's such a blur.
"I lied and said my boyfriend must have cheated on me which is really awful. I just felt so embarrassed and ashamed. That was really bad behaviour on my part.
"Like any addiction, I was a compulsive liar, I would lie about anything. That is a trait of addiction because you try to conceal it all.
"I couldn't remember the lies I told, I ended up calling one of my boyfriends by the wrong name.
"I probably had four boyfriends at the same time. I would just go with these guys who were all over the place, maybe addicts, just big characters that are not healthy in any way.
Persia on her wedding day
Kennedy News/@persialawson
"I kept getting into these very dark situations, it was definitely the rock bottom. I have no idea how many people I've slept with. It's definitely in the hundreds. I couldn't possibly know.
"I was so willing to just give my body up and not think about the dangers of that."
Persia said her parents noticed something was wrong when she got a severe faecal impaction from not looking after her health while working at the strip club.
For the past 14 years, Persia has completely transformed her lifestyle and admits she has no shame around her old life.
The author aims to help remove the stigma around sex addiction in women and urges others to seek help.
Persia said: "I got these horrendous stomach cramps. My mum had to drive me to hospital and I found out I had severe faecal impaction.
"I was not looking after myself and was just drinking too much. My parents spotted the signs and my dad ended up taking me to a health retreat in Thailand.
"There were no boys there to distract me, no partying. I got into therapy, got into Sex Addicts Anonymous
"I hadn't dealt with any of the trauma growing up. No one was talking about this, I didn't realise it was a thing.
The author with one of her books
Kennedy News/@theartofsamara
"For the past 14 years I've been living a very different life. It feels like I'm talking about a movie.
"I've been with my husband for 10 years and been talking about it for so long. I don't have any shame around it anymore because it's not where I am and I've done a lot of healing and I help other women with it.
"If more women realised this, they would get the help they need to deal with it. No one would have known, friends would see the chaos but on the outside I looked really successful.
"This is coming from deep trauma you haven't dealt with and you're seeking out these very destructive romantic dynamics in a way that a junkie would seek out drugs.
"I run retreats around the world, working with very successful women one-to-one. I have a festival with my husband that we raise money for charity.
"I was a complete commitment-phobe, I loved lust, I loved drama, the high of falling in love, but I could not actually commit to a grown-up relationship.
"I have the most amazing husband and relationship now. He is very chilled out and relaxed. He never has been critical.
"All I ever wanted was love and I was trying to get it in a very dysfunctional way.
"It has to start with you learning to love yourself. I didn't even realise what was going on or that I had a problem, I just thought that's who I was."
