It’s ironic, but it is hard to have an adult conversation about sex. In some areas, sexually loaded topics are so taboo that you risk your reputation even to raise them. It is not as though we are unaware of this inconvenient truth, despite its political incorrectness in the mainstream culture. Recent research suggests that about 17 percent of individuals who view porn on the Internet meet criteria for sexual compulsivity. That translates to a lot of people, given that about 12 percent of all the Internet traffic is porn and nearly 90 percent of the young male population (about 30 percent of the young female population) view pornography at least occasionally. Unfortunately, this issue is so tricky politically that clinical researchers almost run the other way rather than address it.
Psychotherapy treatment researchers have recently found ways to break the self-amplifying pattern of urge suppression and urge indulgence in OCD, and in OCD spectrum disorders such as hair pulling or skin picking, by using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Several controlled studies have found positive effects for ACT by teaching people to walk in the exact opposite direction than that suggested by the problem-solving organ between our ears. Instead of struggling with futile attempts to control sexual urges, ACT teaches acceptance and mindful awareness of them. Instead of self-loathing and criticism, ACT therapy teaches self-compassion. Instead of avoidance, ACT instigates approaching and sustaining ones’ most authentic values in all important affairs!