Abstract
The evolution of technology and the internet creation has contributed much to the virtual connectivity and on-line communication. Decades of growth in internet and usage of computer systems has brought about changes in people’s lifestyles which mainly rely on the internet. The internet has undoubtedly revolutionalised the way people think, and it occupies a very important place in the society and our private lives. Internet addiction has the symptoms similar to those of chemical addiction. It is defined through the behavior of a person. For behavioral addictions, there is a sign of force that is uncontrollable when the addicts try to cut back or control the amount of addictive used. The number of websites loaded with sexual content has been on the rise. This sexual content serves the purpose of arousal of sexual interest. Sexual addiction provides addicts of the internet with an imagination room. This paper approves that modern day sex addiction is related to internet addiction. It provides an overview of internet addiction and gives the reasons as to why it is related to online sex addiction.
Cover page.1
Abstract.2
Introduction4
Definitions 4
Statistics.5
Internet use on sex addiction..6
Cybersex.6
Diagnosis.7
Involved parties8
Opinion on the subject.8
Conclusion9
References10
Introduction
Internet is currently being used as a helpful tool in daily life. However, some individuals do not have the ability to control their internet usage addiction (Brand et al, 2011). These present problems in their daily life with respect to work or academic processes, psychological well-being, and social relationships. The phenomenon where internet is excessively used is known as internet addiction (Brand et al, 2011). The use of internet has had a great impact on our social lives over the last decade. More research has also been done on the use of internet and the addictive behavior of the internet, particularly off-line behaviors (Fisoun, 2012). Research has shown that there is a growing dependency on the internet for various activities ranging from maintenance and building of virtual communications to management of daily lives. Internet is firmly and increasingly becoming part of the society (Fisoun, 2012).
Definitions
Behavioral addictions happen when a person develops difficulty in stopping behaviors despite negative consequences. Internet addiction is a technological addiction (Jones and Hertlein, 2012). It is characterized by the interaction of human and machine. Sex addiction with the help of the internet is the compulsive seeking of sexual materials on the internet regardless of the negative consequences. It is also known as the failed efforts in the sexual behavior control. Online sexual activity refers to the usage of internet for any activity involving sexuality for the purposes of entertainment, support, exploration, commerce, education, and recreation. The reasons may also be due to search of romantic or sexual partners (Jones and Hertlein, 2012).
Sex addiction is a controversial designation. Compulsive sexual behavior is a hypersexual disorder that systematically destroys a life of a person just like alcohol or drugs addiction. It may be termed as a natural epidemic.
Statistics
The internet addiction has been on the rise. It is estimated that about three to five percent of the population of United States meets the criterion for addiction (Corley, 2012). More than 1500 therapists are practicing treatment of compulsive behavior. There are more clinicians and researchers than there were a decade ago. Dozens of rehabilitation centers have been also on the rise (Corley, 2012).
The growth in sex addiction has been fueled by digital revolution that has revved up the canal metabolism of Europe. The previous generation had to risk the public embarrassment ate x-rated movie theaters and dirty bookstores (Corley, 2012). Currently, the web has made all this more simple. Pornographic materials are accessible, anonymous and free. Statistics has it that more than 40 million people in the United States log onto the more than 4.2 million websites on pornography every day (Corley, 2012). Experts say that watching pornography is not the same as seeking a real live sex. Pornography can be a form of a gateway drug. The constant exposure to nude images may trigger susceptible people.
New high technological tools have also made it easier to meet strangers for a quick ramp. Applications from Smartphone such as Grindr make use of GPS technology gay hookups in 192 countries. Another website Ashleymadison.com provides “affairs guaranteed”. It does this by connecting people who are looking for sex outside marriages. This site has a population member of 12.2 million (Corley, 2012).
Internet addiction versus sex addiction
The advent of the internet has contributed to engagement in a wide range of potential sexual behaviors online (Griffiths, 2011). Use of internet has had many positive impacts on the experience of people’s sexuality of individuals all over the world. This is especially on women and youth. It has also been helpful on sexually marginalized populations, such as lesbian, gay and the disabled. The internet can also enhance safe sexual exploration that provides less social and physical danger than offline activities. It can also provide support system for sexual expression and non-normative gender. It also provides access to the social community (Griffiths, 2011).
It is possible for people to engage in sexual activities that are complementary to offline sexual lives. Examples include presentation of hyper sexualized bodies online relative to offline. Others engage in online sexual behaviors that they would otherwise have engaged offline. These behaviors may take on qualities of addiction that can indicate internet sex addiction (Griffiths, 2011).
Cybersex
Excessive cybersex is an example of internet addiction. Cybersex has become a rising problem, mostly in industrial nations. According to Brand et al (2011), some feel that there is a high potential for cybersex to develop internet addiction. Excessive cybersex may lead to negative consequences such as the use of online pornography by staff in the workplace. It also increases the risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases in people who seek sexual partners excessively through the sites of cybersex (Brand et al, 2011).
Cybersex comprises of several passive or active forms, such as sex chats, search of sexual partners and sex through web camera. Consumption of cyber pornography is an important facet of cybersex. Brand et al (2011) states that the motivational key element for cybersex is the expectation of finding sexual gratification and arousal. On a theoretical level, it is assumed that when consuming the sites of cybersex the subjects addicted to cybersex gets a positive emotional episode that is accompanied by sexual arousal. It is also assumed that subjects who consume the sites cybersex excessively have resilience for sexual arousal (Brand et al, 2011).
These behaviors may lead to concurrent masturbation. Internet activities using a sexual component may be problematic for various reasons. Firstly, they manifest desires for sex that the person feel guilty about or disapprove of. They also divert or greatly distort sexual energy from the corporeal sex. It also wastes time because the search for the necessary online sexual material is a time-consuming activity.
Diagnosis
Hypersexual disorder is diagnosed in the new version of DSM-V (Griffiths, 2011). This has been included based on research and clinical needs. This is particularly in the range of negative consequences entailed by the disorder for the people suffering from it. However, it is essential to establish a category of clear-cut diagnostic. Sexual addiction is approximated by hypersexual disorder by heavily relying on obsessive compulsive disorders. It mainly includes obsessions in form of recurrent sexual urges and fantasies (Griffiths, 2011). It also includes compulsions in the repeated sexual behaviors engagement for purposes of coping. Despite the knowledge of detrimental effects on the addicts’ lives, they continue engaging in this behavior (Griffiths, 2011).
Mostly, the addiction to the internet may only be determined by the number of online hours per week. Internet addicts are those whose activities on the internet constitute approximately 19-38 hours per week or more. In contrast, non-addicts spend about 4.7 hours online per week (Jones and Hertlein, 2012). Therefore, it is clear that sexual or internet addicts spend a lot of time online. Similarly, a person having an affair spends time online while contacting the partner. The bottom line is the possibility of inordinate time spent online for various reasons (Jones and Hertlein, 2012).
Therapists are encouraged to focus on potential sexual activities of a person using the computer and not solely on the time spent. It also includes getting an adequate history of sex life of an individual. Also important, is the assessment of a couple’s sexual relationship. This will help avoid a protocol that is inappropriate (Jones and Hertlein, 2012).
Involved parties
Internet addiction is generally characterized by the activity of one person on the computer. An addict of the internet may be addicted to activities online or chat rooms. Internet sexual addiction is an activity of an individual. Addiction in this case lies in the obsession to access online sexual material (Griffiths, 2011).
Opinion on the subject
Internet is a safe tool, although its extreme usage has lead to behavior-based internet addiction. The use of internet and addiction to the internet has become common to most people in the modern world. Addictive internet behavior develops when a person starts engaging in obsession behaviors. It is shown as a preoccupation that is compulsive and control loss against the addicted activity (Kapahi, et al, 2013). Online sexual preoccupation are activities of downloading sexual materials, online reviewing, uploading adult-content materials or participating in adult chat rooms. Users of the internet in this category have an easy alternative to get sexually explicit materials. The internet enables them to remain anonymous, and this allures them into online sexual addiction (Kapahi, et al, 2013).
Conclusion
This paper has shown the effects of internet use of people’s offline behavior. It has given the connection between internet addiction and sexual addiction. Pornographic materials are richly sourced on the internet making it easier to access them unanimously. The extreme usage of the internet by some individuals has been attributed to the cybersex activities. These activities lead to behavioral addictions such as online sexual addiction.
References
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Jones K. and Hertlein K. (2012). Four Key Dimensions for Distinguishing Internet Infidelity
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Brand M. et al. (2011). Watching Pornographic Pictures on the Internet: Role of Sexual Arousal
Ratings and Psychological–Psychiatric Symptoms for Using Internet Sex Sites Excessively. Cyberpsychology, behavior, and social networking. 14(6).
Corley M. (2012). Women, Female Sex and Love Addicts, and Use of the Internet: Sexual
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