Book Review: "In the Shadows of the Net: Breaking Free of Compulsive Online Sexual Behavior", by Carnes, Delmonico, Griffin et. al.

I think I might have mentioned this before somewhere, but I have an addiction to Internet pornography. I think I developed it during college when I did a psychological research study on vital signs while watching software pornography for $20. I thought it would be fine. Nope. Worst $20 I've ever earned.

A few months ago, I breached this subject to my therapist, who mentioned this book as a way in order to learn more about coping and recovery mechanisms specific to Internet cybersex addiction.

I think the really interesting things about this book is how they detail what relapse looks like and the fallacies behind each rationalization. It also mentions some amount of forms and plans you can construct yourself in order to address this topic effectively (such as an Internet health plan), and different approaches and attitudes towards addiction topics.

Psychology books are interesting because even though (in my opinion, which may be flawed) it's a "soft" science without too much quantitative evidence (mostly just links), assertions have the ability to maintain over time without being invalidated, and they can build on top of each other. The book predicted the commoditization of sex twenty years before the rise of hookup culture, and the deleterious effects of commoditizing something so primal and ingrained. I think this is a book I'll have to come back to.