Loosening the grip of sexual addiction

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THE BIG STORY Sunday, October 2, 2016  |  magicvalley.com  |  SECTION B

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS‌

Dr. Matthew Hedelius gives a tour Aug. 22 of a group counseling room at Paradise Creek Recovery Center in Malta. The center sees a lot of unemployed college students who are flunking out because of their sexual addiction, he says.

Loosening the grip of sexual addiction Addiction explodes in smartphone porn age, but therapy offers hope for recovering other pleasures

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M 1

12%

Websites that are pornographic.

25%

Online search engine requests related to sex. That’s about 68 million per day.

35%

Internet downloads that are porn-related.

LAURIE WELCH lwelch@magicvalley.com‌

URLEY — Polite society doesn’t talk about them. A person’s sexual habits are considered private. But when sexuality becomes compulsive it can cost a spouse or a job, even the person’s freedom. Addicts live in fear of someone finding their secret and the shame and stigma that would follow. The number of people with sexual addictions is exploding as access expands to internet pornography, sex hook-up sites and apps and newly emerging cybersex technology, said Dr. Matthew Hedelius, one of the founders of Paradise Creek Recovery Center for sexual “There are clear addiction in Malta. Around-the-clock access is in peodifferences in ple’s palms and as easy as a swipe of brain activity a finger across a smartphone screen. Hedelius, who has treated indibetween viduals suffering from trauma and patients sexual compulsivity for more than 20 years, said hallmarks of sexual who have addiction include compulsive mascompulsive turbation, indulging in excessive sexual behavior pornography, chronic affairs, exhibitionism, dangerous sexual practices, and healthy prostitution, anonymous sex and volunteers. voyeurism. Patrick Carnes, considered one of These the country’s experts, estimates about differences 6 percent of the population faces sexual addiction. Sixty percent of those mirror those of are men and 40 percent, women. drug addicts.” Carnes received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for the Dr. Valerie Voon, Advancement of Sexual Health for a neuropsychiatrist his work in sexual addiction research at the University of and rehabilitation and has written Cambridge books on the subject. He founded an inpatient center for sexual addiction in Arizona and pioneered the International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals, which trains certified sex specialists. There is no clinical psychiatric diagnosis for sexual compulsivity, and some experts argue that it does not exist. But doctors such as Hedelius who treat people struggling with the issue say there’s no doubt that it does. Researcher Dr. Valerie Voon, a neuropsychiatrist at the University of Cambridge, said sexual addiction is similar to a drug addiction.

INTERNET PORN USE

40 MILLION

Americans who regularly visit porn sites.

70%

Men ages 18-24 who visit porn sites at least once a month.

11

Average age of first exposure to internet porn. DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

At his home in Burley, Lonnie Hardy talks Sept. 1 about the sexual addiction that cost him job productivity and his wife and stole years from his life. Her study showed the brain activity of people with sexual compulsivity exposed to pornographic material is similar to the brain activity in people with addictions who are exposed to drugs or paraphernalia. “There are clear differences in brain activity between patients who have compulsive sexual behavior and healthy volunteers. These differences mirror those of drug addicts,” Voon said. Hedelius said it isn’t known whether the differences in brain activity were there before the addiction or the addiction caused the changes. “That’s the realm of future research,” he said.

A life laid bare‌

The consequences of compulsive sexuality haunt Cassia County 59-year-old Lonnie Hardy daily. His short gray hair picks up the late-afternoon light as he settles nervously onto his red leather couch, art pieces at his back. He laughs and makes a joke to delay briefly the discussion on such a difficult topic.

MORE INSIDE: When does sexual addiction overstep the legal line?, B2 | How to get help for sexual addiction, B2

Please see ADDICTION, Page B2

1/3

Women who use internet porn.

Thanksgiving Most popular day of the year to watch porn.

Sunday Most popular day of the week to watch porn. Source: Robert Weiss, a licensed clinical social worker and senior vice president of the National Clinical Development for Elements Behavior Health. He oversees addiction and mental health treatment programs at more than a dozen treatment facilities, and he is the author of several books about sexual addiction.


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