Recovery

In a 2012 interview, Dr. Patrick Carnes (the man who coined the term sex addiction) related a story about a patient who had been exposed to pornographic pictures as a young boy, and that man would continue to seek out the same kinds of pornography he saw in those pictures for years. Dr. Carnes stated that this man’s emotional development was stunted at the age when he first encountered those pictures and continued to seek them out. 1 ...

I’ve noticed a rather commonly held belief among men who flock to porn recovery forums. It seems many of these men, particularly the college-aged variety, regard it as a healthy behaviour and a sure-sign of recovery to hook up with strangers or people they barely know for sex (as an alternative to using porn). Whenever I come across such posts, I’m always skeptical of two things: one of the author’s authenticity, and two of his sincerity. ...