Some of the many emails that enter my inbox daily–and some I actually look forward to are from the professional Listserve I belong to through the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine or SAHM.
Today there is a lively and provocative discussion about adolescent pornography access and even addiction to pornography. It was generated by a first email sent by a professional colleague who wrote of a young man in his early 20’s who recently told her “on-line porn is the scourge of my generation of young men.”
He described his addiction with online porn and the ensuing isolation and loneliness he felt and the impact it has on his “expectations of relationships.”
The professional feedback bemoans the fact that there is really no good research into this growing phenomenon much less sound or tested advice on how to advise parents or patients on this and many of the other issues that arise from “growing up online.” How do we even ask the questions in the right way in order to get at the answers? What constitutes addiction anyway? How do we measure that? What can we do if we uncover it?
There were some answers from the world of research into gaming addiction which is already being considered for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (the bible of psychiatric diagnosis). Some warning signs might be:
- Preoccupation with Internet gaming/porn
- Withdrawal symptoms when Internet is taken away
- Development of tolerance. This means the need to spend increasing amounts of time engaged in gaming/porn to get the same effect/pleasure
- Unable to control gaming/porn habits
- Continued use despite knowledge of negative impact
- Loss of previous interest in hobbies, entertainment, sports
- Use of gaming/sports to escape unpleasant moods
- Deception toward family, therapists and others regarding amount of time spent gaming/on porn sites
- Loss of job, relationship, career opportunity because of gaming/porn use
;