The statistics on Eating Disorders are mind-blowing: -24 million Americans, 1 million of which are men and boys, have an eating disorder in the US. Seventy-million people worldwide suffer from an eating disorder (The Renfrew Center Foundation for Eating Disorders)
Pornography is rampant in America. Why?? Access, affordability, anonymity, contact. It is believed that 2/3 of American teens look at pornography while they study for school. There are 1.3 billion porn sites on-line. Sex is the number 1 topic for internet searches! This tidal wave has hit our culture, and it is impacting families by the millions. What about women...do women view porn? YES.
i often have clients who report feeling much angst over their finances, sharing that they feel as if have no money, are living paycheck to paycheck, or must wait to live out their dreams until they have more income. My response typically is, "Where else in your life are you withholding from yourself or others?" The reality is that money, like everything else in the Universe, is energy. The more you give of anything, be it positive or negative, the more you receive. Try this out if you don't believe me. Give someone a compliment, and listen as you receive multiple compliments in return, or make a list of all the things you are grateful for, and watch as more prosperity flows to you. Or do the opposite: try withholding, not sharing advice, words of wisdom, your time, things, etc., and watch as you begin to feel more scarce.
WARNING: This Blog may be more blunt than my usual blogs. America is a society where sex is marketed as a commodity, to be bought and sold, both figuratively and literally. These days, you can go to any bar and see women dressed in scantily clad outfits, with fake breasts (especially in Utah where we have the highest breast implant rate per capita over Beverly Hills and New York), and a size zero waist (the oxymoron in that is that zero is NOT a real size). I offer therapy to many women who are dying (literally) to be thin by using laxatives, starving themselves, or abusing drugs such as heroin, adderall, oxycontin, and/or meth to be society's thinnest 3%~ an illusive waif child like figure that men are allegedly supposed to fall over. Sadly, many men blindly support this stereotype. Has our media succeeded or failed us?
I work with many individuals recovering from alcohol and/or drug addiction. In the early stages of recovery (often within the first 18 months of recovery), many of my younger clients (between 18-26) report cross-addicting by having indiscriminate sex with multiple partners. In therapy, we often explore how clients replace their substance addiction with having sex as a means of attempting to achieve a similar high. When does this type of behavior become dysfunctional? When does one's behavior venture into the "sex addict" category?
