Comments about the sites were offered in a recent Christian Post report, in which Brent Hartinger, a "relationship expert" for the website 365.gay.com, discusses the issue. Following the national dialogue about sex as an addiction, Hartinger told readers that he is unclear on the addictive nature of the hook-up sites. In the Christian Post report, his writing is summarized, including comments that the consequences for sexual experiences with strangers may be nothing more than a diversion from having a legitimate, positive relationship.

Christian Counsel International counselor Rob Jackson states in the article that not only has the Internet modified the way sex is viewed in America, it has also dramatically hastened the levels of sexual addiction in the U.S. Jackson, who has counseled people with sexual addictions for nearly two decades, believes patients move more quickly toward addiction and at more intense levels because of the accessibility of Internet sex-based sites. He also believes people fall into sexual addiction at even younger ages due to Internet exposure.

Further comments Jackson provided in the article point to sexual addiction as a type of addiction similar to drugs or alcohol, in that the person’s brain becomes addicted to the rewards of the behavior, rather than becoming addicted to the actual sex act itself.

In contrast to Hartinger, Jackson does believe the use of sexual hook-up Internet sites can lead to an addiction to the behavior because the brain adapts to the euphoria or feelings of escape that come from the activity.

The findings present a different picture of the sex-related industry than previous years, in which customers could be found at traditional establishments like nightclubs or bars. While avenues for finding prostitution customers such as strip clubs have seen a drop of about half, use of social media sites for business continues to climb.

Facebook was the most frequently used social media outlet for prostitution workers in New York, the subject of the study that included participation from nearly 300 women involved in the sex industry. Participants said Facebook was used by more than 80 percent to help locate new business, a much higher figure than the 61 percent who posted ads for their services on Craigslist.

Social media and online networking tools have continued to quickly gain momentum as resources for finding customers in the sex industry. Researchers noted that even three years ago, in 2008, one-fourth of study participants’ regular customers were gained from Facebook usage.

The rise in usage toward Facebook as a recruitment center for the sex industry could represent the nonspecific guidelines issued by the site toward its use. Facebook administrators have not formally restricted the use of the site for locating sexual partners, although the site does prohibit illegal activity. Prostitution, however, is not illegal in every state, providing what some call a loophole for Facebook to be utilized to boost the sex industry.

Furthermore, Facebook retains a popular, widespread use for non-sexual connections, giving it a more secure feeling to users than other social media sites. In terms of the sex industry as a business, the study, conducted by Columbia sociology instructors and printed in Wired magazine, also said that people who work in the sex industry used BlackBerry smartphones more often than other types of phones, which they suspect adds to the experience of hiring "professional" sex industry personnel.

Craigslist, in comparison, removed its category for "adult" offerings such as prostitution one year ago. The site has seen declining rates of usage by sex industry workers, while Facebook use continues to grow. Traditional "escort" services have also seen a decline in use, a drop of around 10 percent, and researchers believe more prostitution workers are looking for more removed ways of finding customers and arranging deals. This theory emerges at the same time as other recent research suggesting that many people transition online-based relationships into real-world encounters, and that those who use sex-based communications like sexting or sex chat sites are more likely to cheat on a spouse in a real-life setting.

Researchers also suspect customers and workers may prefer the ability to create false identities with social media tools as they seek anonymity in their relationships.

Kids have also become bolder behind the computer screen. There is a false sense that they are not in danger and that talking to strangers online is just harmless fun. Most youngsters think that nothing bad can ever happen to them. However, sex predators don’t come online and have ‘sex predator’ written across their forehead. They will begin a simple conversation in a chatroom or start playing a video game so that they can gain the trust of the child, making it easier to sexually exploit them later.

In fact, the North American Man/Boy Love Association, otherwise known as NAMBLA, used this ideology in its literature. The organization directed its members where to locate underage boys and instructed them how to gain their trust. Bethesda, Ohio Police Chief, Tim Zdanski says that they have had cases where predators have engaged in online gaming with children for a period of two years before petitioning them for sex.

Zdanski says that parents aren’t always aware that their children are talking to strangers via chatroom, messaging, e-mailing, or online gaming. He points out that many of these interactions require no parental consent, so they make easy targets for attracting child prey. Facebook is also being used for this purpose. Not long ago, FoxNew.com reported that NAMBLA was using Facebook as a means to befriend children and gain their trust.

Dateline reporter Chris Hanson teamed up with the activist group, Perverted Justice, to see just how prevalent sex predators were on the Internet. In the show, "To Catch a Predator," profiles of underage decoys were created, and the responses started pouring in. All conversations between each decoy and predator were recorded and transcribed. The decoy would then solicit a meeting with the predator where he would instead be confronted by Hanson, who would question him about the transcribed conversation.

The show ran for three years before its last episode in December 2007. Hansen says in that time he interviewed 200 prospective sex predators, most of which were arrested. The show was taken off the air in part because of its popularity and the fact that fewer predators were showing up to meet the decoys as a result.

The show helped raise awareness that sex predators are only a click away. Parents should stay in constant communication with their children and be aware of all time spent on the Internet. Programs such as WebWatcher can help track children’s history online. Even FBI agent, Diane Holtz, maintains that children should not be allowed to use computers alone. Many abused children don’t tell what’s happened to them because they feel they are responsible or don’t understand that they have been victimized. The best means of prevention is education and honest communication.

Worth told Metro UK that he has been kicked off of Facebook four times. He now says he’s back on Facebook, posing as a woman named Carol Peters, with a photo of model Coralie Robinson. He told Metro that he hopes this tactic will help him attract more women.

Worth also claims to have been removed from dating sites PlentyofFish.com, DatingDirect.com, and Match.com. He says he has about three to four dates per week and collects undergarments as “trophies.”

Worth told BBC News in 2004 that DatingDirect.com removed him because women complained that he was only interested in sex, not commitment. At the time he told the BBC he would keep using dating sites until he’s 80.

Sources: Huffington Post, Catharine Smith, Clive Worth Claims He Was Booted Off Facebook for Bedding Women, July 20, 2010

Fox Chattanooga, Man Claims Facebook Banned Him for Sleeping with 300 Women, July 21, 2010

Easy access to high-speed, wireless Internet that (usually) is unregulated, uncensored, and unmonitored is "the antithesis of what you find in a typical business environment," Leahy writes, adding that college students are going to get a "real shock treatment" when they go to work for employers who have a zero-tolerance policy on porn. "What’s going to happen when these two worlds collide?” he posits.

Cheryl Wetzstein of the Washington Times writes that Leahy founded www.bravehearts.net in 2002 after recovering from a 30-year pornography habit in order to raise awareness about the encroachment of adult materials in American life.

Between 2006 and 2008, Leahy gathered responses from about 26,000 college students and 2,000 college staff who took an online survey about their sexual views and behaviors. He found that 64 percent of males regularly viewed online pornography, as did 18 percent of females.

He also found that a significant minority of respondents (26 percent of men and 18 percent of women) were already struggling to stop their sexual behavior, even when they knew it was "inappropriate."

Some of these troubled men and women will join the estimated 6 percent to 8 percent of the population considered to be full-blown sex addicts, Leahy said. However, a more common scenario will be that men and women will try to hide their pornography habits, both at home and at work.

Working in the computer industry is especially risky for people with porn problems, said Leahy, who was once an IBM executive. Since computer experts "set up all the firewalls and filtering, they know all the back doors," he said. But "they have no accountability — and they have no way to be held accountable—because they know all the tricks."

Leahy recommends that business leaders face the reality that, since the mid-1990s, young people have "been raised on perhaps the most explicit and habit-forming types of pornography known to man."

Having employees sign an Internet Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) that forbids online pornography, exchange of lewd photos and obscene jokes, and storage of adult materials on company equipment is not enough, Leahy said. Rather, employee education and awareness training about Internet pornography and sex addiction will help employees understand warning signs and open the door for conversations about the problem.

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) should include referrals to sex-addiction counselors and 12-step programs, just as they do for substance abuse, Leahy said. For people in recovery, EAPs can help negotiate temporary limits on computer access at work and "accountability partners" who get summary reports on a person’s computer activity.

Leahy warns, "For every employee who surfaces and is exposed as a violator of our sexually related company policies and Internet AUPs, I can assure you that there are 10 others hiding in our hallways and operating under the radar yet to be discovered."

“Finding it was devastating to us. We had no idea, and the things that were coming up on the screen were…we’re not just talking a Playboy picture, we’re talking some horrible sexual figures that came up and some in cartoon form which was really awful to think what age they’re targeting for this,” the boy’s mother told Minnesota’s ABC 6 News.

Internet porn graduated to telephone porn in his case. “We felt like we had conquered the monster,” she explains. “We secured our computer and learned how to watch for it. A year later, when he was 15 we discovered that the phone had a bunch of 800 numbers on it. We had blocks for 900 numbers but his cell phone had 800 numbers. When we got the bill I looked it up and started dialing the numbers and found it was telephone porn,” she says.

“These are very hard core, pornographic pictures that even 8-year-old kids are seeing and it’s getting into their minds,” says Internet Forensic Investigator Darin Finch.

Finch investigates Internet activity on the corporate level and sees the long-term effects this type of addiction can have. “In my position with a couple of different companies, I’ve seen people’s careers end because they couldn’t stop browsing inappropriate things even though they know they’re being watched,” says Finch.

Vicki Tiede is a Christian motivational speaker who counsels countless women on pornography addiction. She has first-hand knowledge because her ex-husband spent a lot of time and money on his addiction to pornography.

“I share my own story having walked through this, having been married to someone before who didn’t struggle with it but who just did it and saw nothing wrong with it. Those who struggle with it actually have hope because they want to be rescued from this pit,” says Tiede. “I was one of those women who was up at two and three in the morning because my husband was on the computer, and thankfully I was pointed to resources and people who could help.”

Finch says, “I think the biggest challenge is how to explain to them how it could affect them later in life. How serious those images are and actions—we’re even talking about movies—how that is adversely affecting their views of women, their view of masculinity and sexuality and what healthy sexuality is versus what they’re seeing on TV or on the Internet.”

Australia’s ABC News reports that Dr. Squirrell carried out the research as part of his professional doctorate at Melbourne’s Swinburne University.

Of the people who completed the questionnaire, 55 percent said they were either married or in a serious offline relationship.

"I suppose one of the problems with it is that when you engage in cyber sex frequently enough, the actual arousal pattern to your partner often diminishes and it actually gets replaced with the online images," Dr. Squirrell said.

"There’s lots of people who report they actually prefer engaging in cyber sex and looking at pornography and masturbating online than actual face-to-face-encounters."

Dr. Squirrell says online infidelity can have the same impact on a partner as other forms of cheating.

"Even if somebody isn’t actually meeting up with somebody online it has the same sorts of ramifications as a face-to-face affair, because people feel that they’ve been cheated on even if the partner’s just looking at pictures," he said.

Dr. Squirrell’s survey shows men have a strong preference for looking at pornographic pictures and videos, while women are twice as likely to use web cameras, to send sexually explicit emails, or to spend time in chat rooms.
He recruited survey participants by advertising within cyber sex user groups—sites that are generally used by people who spend a greater than average amount of time engaged in cyber sexual activities.

Almost half of those who took part in the survey live in North America; 12 percent said they were Australians. The average respondent was male, well-educated, and in their early 40s.

Around 40 percent of respondents identified themselves as heterosexual, with others listing their sexual orientation as gay, lesbian, or bi-sexual.

While the average participant in Dr. Squirrell’s sample group said they spent just over 12 hours a week engaging in sexual activity online, some people reported engaging in cyber sex for up to 10 hours a day.

Dr, Squirrell says that while not all sexual activity online is harmful, some people are desperate to overcome an addiction to online sex. He treats about seven online sex addicts at his practice in Melbourne’s inner south.

"They’re absolutely at the end of their tether in terms of being able to control their behavior themselves," he said.

"Clients will even go as far as putting filters and blocks on websites. They’ve often made changes like putting their computer into other rooms,” he continued. “I’ve got one client who frequently looks at cyber sex at work and just struggles to control that behavior."

Dr. Squirrell says he often suggests that people install filtering devices or join support groups such as Sex Addicts Anonymous, which offer a 12-step program based on the Alcoholics Anonymous model.

He says it is important to realize that not all cyber sexual activity is harmful.

"Most people can engage in cyber sex and take it or leave it. But there is significant minority, like there is with all addictions, where the behavior just gets absolutely completely out of control," he said.

Dr. Squirrell says there is a need for more support services for people who want to overcome their online sex addiction.

"There’s very few people out there who really specialize in the area," he said. "What I’m trying to get off the ground is actually an e-therapy program like they have for some other conditions, with training modules where people can actually go through the process of treatment online and engage with a therapist occasionally. As far as I know, there’s nothing like that currently in the world."

MSN reports that the new study adds to a growing body of research and practice involving technology-based treatments for depression and other mental health issues. In this case, the specific type of therapy used was cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

“There is a role for this, it’s exciting,” said Dr. Kathryn J. Kotrla, chairwoman and associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. “CBT is tremendously underutilized.”

Computer-based treatment could benefit people in rural or remote areas who need psychotherapy, including traumatized veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

CBT “is proven [effective] for trauma-related issues,” said Kotrla, who is also associate dean of the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, Round Rock campus. And providing it online means that “it’s discreet, it’s time-related. It avoids the issue of stigma,” she said.

Prescription rates for antidepressant medications have soared over the past two decades, but the number of people receiving in-person psychotherapy has declined. In addition, a good proportion of people for whom therapy is recommended never show up and half of those who do show up don’t last through to the fourth appointment.

So, “people are looking at different ways of delivering psychotherapy other than the traditional go-to-the-therapist’s-office-and-meet-for-50-minutes,” said Dr. Gregory E. Simon, co-author of the commentary and a psychiatrist and researcher with Group Health Cooperative in Seattle.

“On the far extreme are completely computerized or completely automated programs that don’t have to have a human being involved. On the other end, people may communicate with a therapist through a Web site or telephone but there’s a real live therapist there they’re communicating with.”

For this study, nearly 300 British patients with depression were randomly assigned to receive online CBT or were put on an eight-month waiting list for online CBT while they received usual care from their general practitioner.

The online therapy, which consisted of 10 weekly 55-minute sessions, essentially involved instant messages back and forth. About two-thirds of participants “showed up” for five or more sessions.

After four months of follow-up, 38 percent of patients in the CBT group recovered from depression compared with 24 percent in the control group, the study found. At eight months, recovery rates were 42 percent in the intervention group and 26 percent in the control group, the researchers found. That’s an improvement on recovery rates seen in conventional therapy.

The authors hypothesized that the heightened success rate might be due to the fact that people are writing rather than speaking their feelings and thoughts. “This approach could enhance metacognitive awareness, a term applied to changing the patient’s relationship with negative thoughts and feelings, rather than changing their belief in the content of the negative thoughts,” they wrote.

Virtual therapy sessions with a real person do not save much in costs (except for gas) and there may be a trade-off in terms of quality of communication. But the real benefits come in access and convenience, experts said.

“When you make the therapy much more convenient, people will be more likely to stick with it,” Simon said. “I don’t think anyone would argue that you don’t lose something. Communicating in person is richer and communication over phone is richer than just typing text, but balance that with convenience and the person is more likely to stick with it…You may be reaching people you wouldn’t reach otherwise.”

CNBC news aired a TV special that took an unprecedented look inside the $13 billion dollar porn industry. One of the many people interviewed in the show was Michael Leahy, a recovering sex addict and founder and executive director of BraveHearts, a website that helps people who are fighting “for freedom from sexual exploitation and sexual addiction.” Michael is also the author of Porn @ Work, Porn Nation, and Porn University.

Michael wrote a guest blog called “Recognizing a Sex Addict @ Work” for CNBC. In it, he describes running in to an old friend he used to work with at a software company in Atlanta. The friend started telling Michael about an employee who was recently fired after being caught and reprimanded twice in less than a month for looking at porn during work.

The friend said to Michael, “I just don’t get…the guy gets caught by someone who sees him looking at porn in his office. So the IT department checks his computer and discovers he (has) a bunch of porn loaded on his hard drive. He basically almost loses his job over it…Less than a month later, they catch the guy looking at porn again. But this time, he’s used another employee’s computer and logged on with their user name and password. Of course they found out it was him and fired him for it on the spot. What an idiot! I mean, he had to know that he’d get caught. Right? How stupid can you be?”

Michael writes that for most people, this is a logical question to ask. But as a recovering sex addict, Michael realizes that what his friend is really saying is that he doesn’t understand the mind of a sex addict at work.

Michael points out that of 61 million US visitors logged into pornographic web sites in March of 2006, every fifth visitor was from an office work station, and that two-thirds of 474 human resources professionals said they’ve discovered pornography on employee computers. Nearly half of those said they had found such material more than once.

In addition, a 2004 study of 350 companies in the US, the UK, and Australia found that one-third of all workers said they’d been exposed to sexually explicit materials by co-workers. In 2003, employees at the UK Department of Work and Pensions downloaded about 2 million pages of pornographic content. Of these, about 1,800 contained child pornography.

Michael writes that while a conclusive diagnosis for sexual addiction should only be carried out by a mental health professional, there are several behavior patterns one can look out for. These behaviors, compiled by Dr. Patrick Carnes, can indicate the prescence of sexual addiction in any environment:

1. Acting out: a pattern of out-of-control sexual behavior
2. Experiencing severe consequences due to sexual behavior, and an inability to stop despite these adverse consequences
3. Persistent pursuit of self-destructive behavior
4. Ongoing desire or effort to limit sexual behavior
5. Sexual obsession and fantasy as a primary coping strategy
6. Regularly increasing the amount of sexual experience because the current level of activity is no longer sufficiently satisfying
7. Severe mood changes related to sexual activity
8. Inordinate amounts of time spent obtaining sex, being sexual, and recovering from sexual experiences
9. Neglect of important social, occupational, or recreational activities because of sexual behavior

Here are a few telltale signs of what this looks like in the workplace:

• Hiding Internet use or secretive behaviors
• Declining work performance
• Withdrawing from others
• Increased irritability
• Losing sleep and declining health
• Declining interpersonal skills
• Inappropriate sharing of sexual beliefs with others

Michael admits that in his own life, he displayed every one of these behavior patterns while at work at one time or another, and that even though he made conscious efforts to hide the behaviors, he was still in denial that any of them were “all that serious.”

“But as my disorder progressively got worse, the symptomatic behaviors and their related consequences became more obvious to family, friends and coworkers,” he wrote. “As such, the presence of four or more of these showing signs within a six month period of time is a strong indicator that this individual may have a serious problem and require some help or intervention.”

Sex is a part of human nature. In an age where the world is available at the touch of a key stroke, it’s no surprise that Internet pornography sites have become so popular. Until recently, porn sites were the most-frequented sites on the Internet, only recently haven been beat out by social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Needless to say, sex sells. Or at least draws a large amount of viewers.

While viewing online pornography as a couple or alone may be a form of foreplay, for many Americans this simple pleasure can develop into something much more severe—an addiction. It is estimated that 15 million Americans are addicted to and/or compulsively view pornography. Although there are many critics who dispute that porn addiction is a real condition, it is a significant problem for many men and women when it affects aspects of their lives including their relationships and jobs.

Pornography addiction is defined as a psychological addiction or dependence upon pornography, characterized by obsessive viewing, reading, or thinking about pornography and sexual themes to the detriment of other areas in one’s life. Currently, neither pornography addiction nor Internet pornography addiction are defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), although that may change in the near future. Regardless, for those suffering from the disorder, it is a very real and serious problem that needs to be recognized and treated.

Internet pornography has become a widespread phenomenon for several reasons, one being the availability of pornography via the Internet. Individuals can view pornography as still images, video clips, or even as live action via Web cams. New content is constantly being added to sites so fresh material is always available to the viewer. Internet porn also brings with it a sense of anonymity for the viewer. Instead of having to buy videos and/or magazines from an adult store, individuals can watch what they want in the privacy of their own home.

Psychologists suggest that individuals who are struggling with pornography addiction often experience five stages, the first being the discovery stage. In this stage, the individual first comes across pornographic material and experiences a rush of excitement. For many people, this introduction to erotica happens at a young age. The second stage is experimentation/exploration, where the individual attempts to rationalize their exploration as “harmless fun.”

The third stage is desensitization, where material that was once exciting now becomes the norm, even mundane. In this stage, the rush one used to get from viewing pornography starts subsiding. The fourth stage is escalation, where the pornographic material becomes more intense in an attempt to reach that initial rush of excitement. The fifth and final stage is performance, where the individual acts out sexual behaviors seen in the pornographic material. It is important to note that not all porn addicts experience each stage described above.

For most people, perusing the Internet for pornography does not lead to addiction. But when the behavior starts to obstruct an individual’s normal everyday life, and is accompanied by feelings of guilt, viewing pornography becomes a problem.

Suggested treatment for Internet pornography addiction is attending a 12-step program where the addict can share their feelings and concerns with those who are going through the same thing. Setting up Internet porn blockers at home and at the office will also help curb the viewing temptation and can help prevent a relapse. Internet porn addiction is nothing to be ashamed of—it’s a disorder that affects millions, and like any other addiction, it can be treated.