The Jiminy Cricket Dilemma of Compulsive Sexual Behaviors |
Let’s take the example of three friends, Taylor, Sam, and Charlie. Taylor is a college student who feels more and more that he watches too much pornography and that it really bothers him, especially because he has been getting worse and worse grades. He started watching pornography in his early teens, but his habits have drastically changed over the past year. Night after night, he spends several hours scrolling through porn websites and binge-watching multiple videos without a break. Each morning, when he wakes up tired and groggy, he promises himself that tonight will be different: He’ll watch only one video and then go to bed. However, when night comes, and he opens the first video, he cannot stop and immediately jumps from one video to another. And then the promise to change this pattern returns the next morning.
His friend, Sam, feels similarly concerned and stressed about his own porn use, but his story is a little different. Sam is also a college student, and his porn-watching habits have changed in the past few months as well. He comes from a conservative and religious family with strong values around sexuality, including the belief that watching porn is immoral and a sin. Sam had a long-term girlfriend until about six months ago, and since their breakup, he has begun watching porn more frequently. Now, he watches it several times a week. During and especially after these sessions, he feels guilty and ashamed. He is highly distressed about porn use, and his watching habits have started to interfere with his daily life. In the past, he believed he could stop whenever he wanted. Over time, however, this belief has weakened. Despite repeatedly telling himself he will quit, he continues to return to pornography.
Charlie’s experience is somewhat similar to Sam’s, but........