With the prevalence of E-Harmony commercials, it's amazing that I hadn't realized just how ordinary internet relationships had become. I knew that cybersex had been around for a long time, I guess I just never thought about the impact that it has on the traditional idea of how people "should" form relationships. The article bounces back and forth between discussing cyber relationships and cybersex. I think they are two different things so I'm going to pick one to talk about. I bet you can't guess which one...
Okay, so I went and found some information on cybersex addiction. Our class reading mentions fantasy being addictive and that cybering is similar to taking drugs. I became immediately curious about whether or not this was defined as a specific addiction or mental disorder or whether it had been recognized at all. This is what I found: http://www.nationalreviewofmedicine.com/issue/2005/06_15/2_feature05_11.html. This particular review is from 2005 and talks about the DSM-IV, The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, which does not specifically include cybersex addiction as a disorder. It usually gets lumped into the category of "sexual disorder not otherwise specified." This site however, http://www.netaddiction.com/, does mention that Internet addiction is a serious disorder and is being considered for inclusion in the upcoming revision of the DSM-V. My first reaction to this was laughter. I'm ashamed to admit that because I have always been one to take addiction seriously. After bouncing around a couple different web sites dedicated to people who are addicted to cybersex and reading their personal stories, I realized how real the whole thing is. Marriages have indeed been destroyed, internet abuse is attributed to 30% of lost productivity in the work place, and people are neglecting their own children in order to be cybering. A psychiatrist named Dr Jennifer Schneider calls cybersex addiction the crack cocaine of sexual addictions. Essentially she's saying, it's cheap, easy to obtain, and it's extremely powerful in the way it effects the body, therefore people who may not have had issues with addictive sexual behaviors before, might become so when introduced to cybering. I'm curious what the rest of you think about this.
Sex addiction alone is scary. As with all addictions, it is progressive. I have known a person who suffers from sex addiction for a long time, and to sit back and watch someone actually suffer from it is very sad. Any addiction is sad, and they all seem unexplainable to those of us absent of the addictive mind. As for cybersex addiction, this is also pretty intense. This could actually be a nesting house for future sex addicts. Like an entry port to addiction, almost like marijuna is known as the gateway drug. Or visa versa because all addictions can switch around. Sometimes you hear of an alcoholic who stops drinking but all of a sudden is stuck in the casino's. Addictions are all about immediate gratification and avoiding what is "really going on" per say. You can really become addicted to anything. Its part our society and addiction is kinda a norm here in the United States in my opinion, try to go somewhere, anywhere, and not be surrounded by someone who is addicted to something. Its almost impossible.
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