As if America doesn't already have enough problems, with an ever escalating budget crisis, a housing market still in free-fall mode, and oil and gas prices spiraling higher and higher, and that's just to name a few of our problems. A recent survey of clinical psychologists and behavioral disorder counselors reveals that millions of Americans, from elementary age school girls to Viagra popping great-great-grandfathers, are either addicted to sex or addicted to pornography – and in a lot of cases they're addicted to both – and it's beginning to affect our productivity and our mental and physical health as a nation.
As we move inexorably forward in our technologically assisted ascension towards becoming all that we can be as a species and as a civilized society, the mechanism by which we hope to achieve that goal – computers, coupled with our incorrigible and incurable yearning for escapism and entertainment – has led us to take one big giant technologically assisted step backwards; as statistics show that the Internet is fueling and fomenting a nationwide sex craze.
Internet pornography: is it technology's Frankenstein Monster?
According to TopTenReviews.com, a website which reviews and rates products for consumers – one of those products being software to block pornography – 40 million Americans visit Internet pornography sites at least once a month. And according to a Nielsen Online survey, one out of every four employees in the United States is accessing porn at work, despite the trouble that it could cause them. And an article in The New York Times shows that in addition to texting, 25 percent of teenagers are 'sexting' (sending sexually explicit pictures of themselves via text message) on a regular basis.
When Tiger Woods was outed as a sex addict a little over a year ago, America gasped and shook its head in collective disbelief. But Addiction Counselors state that sex addiction is the burgeoning bad boy of addictions in America today, taking its place right alongside drug addiction, alcohol addiction, and gambling addiction. And if the focus of the addiction is Internet pornography, it can be totally anonymous and accessed at the click of a mouse: Which means that there are no social or physical barriers which must be confronted or breached. And there is really nothing to stop the addict from indulging in their addictive behavior, except for their own will power and self control.
Identifying sex addiction, and what you can do about it
During a Suite 101 interview with Mary in Sacramento, Ca., Mary said that she confronted her husband in tears, after discovering that she had HPV, a sexually transmitted disease which can cause cervical cancer resulting in death, and after much denial, he eventually broke down and told Mary about his secret life of Internet pornography, and unprotected sex with call girls, and visits to massage parlors on an almost everyday basis. And then he said something which really confused Mary.
He said that his behavior had been going on for years, and that it had nothing to do with her or with their marriage. A statement which Mary found hard to believe, until she did some research on the subject of addiction, and discovered the underlying truth behind all addictions.
According to Dr. Patrick Carnes, a renowned expert in the field of sex addiction, and the man who treated Tiger Woods, there are a number of factors which lead to addiction of any nature, but two of the most prevalant are low self esteem and a high desire for acceptance.
In his book, "Don't Call It Love: Recovery From Sexual Addiction," Dr. Carnes gives clear and concise advice on how to recognize the signs of sex addiction, and how best to address the problem. And he says that anyone who suspects that they or someone close to them has a problem with sex addiction or Internet pornography, can help themselves in a number of ways: primarily through information, and possibly through Internet content filters.
No one can deny that technology and computers have improved and do improve the quality of our life. But when it comes to our ability to differentiate between the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of that technology: America's love of Internet pornography, and the accompanying sexual disorders which it creates in individuals and in society, are suggestive of the fact that our technological reach may have exceeded our sociological and psychological grasp.
Sources
- New York Times, "What They are Saying About Sexting," March 26, 2011.
- Dr. Patrick Carnes, Don't Call It Love: Recovery From Sexual Addiction, Bantam, 1991.
- TopTenReviews.Com "Internet Pornography Statistics."
- "Internet Addiction: Cybersex and Pornography." HELPGUIDE.ORG
- Nielsen Online. Taken From Newsweek Online. "The tangled Web of Porn in the Office."
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