Andra Day says she once had a sex and porn addiction, and that shaped her approach to 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday'

• Andra Day was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of the singer Billie Holiday.
• Day said she did not want to play Holiday as hyper-sexualized, in part given her own relationship with sex.
• Sex addiction is not regarded as an official diagnosis, but data suggest 12 million Americans deal with sexual compulsion.

Oscar-nominated actress Andra Day said dealt with a sex and porn addiction before filming "The United States vs. Billie Holiday."

Day, who portrayed the iconic singer Billie Holiday in the movie, said she didn't want to play a hypersexualized version of Holiday, who has routinely been described as a "sex machine."

She wanted the focus to be on Holiday's music, in part because Day herself has dealt with sexual compulsion.

"I didn't want any element of sexualization," Day told InStyle. "I had come out of something in my own life - dealing with porn addiction, sex addiction."

Around 12 million people in the US have a sex addiction

Sex addiction is a compulsive need to have sex, fueled by a high sex drive or compulsive behavior towards sex, according to the World Health Organization's International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems.

It is not a universally accepted diagnosis, and it's not listed in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. One of the primary reasons it's omitted is because sex addiction doesn't affect your brain chemistry, unlike alcohol and drugs which can rewire your brain to depend on those substances.

However, data suggest around 12 million people in the US have a form of addiction that involves sex, Insider previously reported.

As Day told InStyle: "I'm being very, very candid with you because I'm not the only one."

Can sex addiction be treated?

Psychologist and sex therapist Joe Kort previously told Insider that therapy is effective at treating sexual compulsion because it delves into why a person is inclined toward sex. Kort advises against the increasingly popular bootcamps and retreats claiming to treat sex addiction, where, he says, people are shamed for their desires.

Day did not say whether she went through any kind of therapy or treatment, but she said she's recovered.

"I'm definitely in a healthier place to enjoy that because I'm outside of the addiction, if you will," Day said.