Watch this news report about sex addiction

• “An estimated 22 million Americans age 12 or older were considered to have an alcohol or drug use disorder.”

• “As many as one in four children-(19million) lives in a home where problems with alcohol alone are a fact of daily life.”

• “Only 10.3 percent of Americans age 12 or older who needed treatment for an alcohol or drug use disorder actually received treatment.”

• “Of those who recognized that they needed treatment, 35 percent (266,000 persons) of Americans suffering from alcohol use disorder-and an estimated 88,000 people suffering from a drug use disorder (24.4 percent)-tried but were unable to obtain treatment.”

As of 1997 the annual financial cost for alcohol and drug problems in the U.S. was almost $300 billion. The social cost in terms of human pain and suffering is practically incalculable.

None of the above statistics is likely surprising to many of us. We know there are enormous problems. We also know that treatment can be effective, but access to treatment and the willingness to engage treatment (even when available) are significant obstacles.

The social stigma for persons with alcohol or drug problems impacts accessibility to treatment. While there are serious hurdles accessing treatment for the uninsured with coronary disease, diabetes, or cancer, these health problems don’t carry much in the way of stigma. Not everyone with coronary disease, diabetes or cancer runs right to the doctor, but most people simply find it much easier to tell employers, family and friends they went in for a by-pass as opposed to saying, “I went to drug rehab.”

Social stigma is powerful. Stigma affects the willingness of society to provide adequate treatment options. Stigma affects the chemically dependent person’s willingness to seek help. Stigma can contribute to family members being reluctant to seek help because of their own fear and guilt. Stigma also influences society’s willingness to utilize long jail sentences for non-violent drug offenders.

There is a lot of judgment in our society for persons who struggle with alcohol or drug problems. The greater the stigma the more likely it is that an individual will resist treatment. Uncle John may stubbornly drag his feet about looking into his chest pains due to fear of the diagnosis. Yet, if Uncle John’s problem is with alcohol or drugs, fear of the diagnosis is compounded by the social embarrassment and personal humiliation that is associated with addiction.

The Mental Health field has made gains in reducing the stigma associated with the common difficulty of depression. Society has become more aware that depression is something that touches many of our co-workers, family members and friends. Depression is increasingly seen as something that can be discussed without shame and viewed as a condition that is very treatable with medications, therapy and lifestyle adjustments.

Social stigma is a result of assigning blame or fault to a person for their problem or condition. And blaming persons who have alcohol or drug addiction problems results from a major myth that continues to exist in our society. The myth is that addicted persons are at fault for their condition.

We know that many major health problems such as, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease run in families. Just 2 years ago scientists pinpointed a gene that has been found to be a major cause of asthma in a significant proportion of cases. Alcoholism and drug addiction also run in families. There is strong evidence that there are genetic factors and vulnerabilities that contribute to addiction.

The AA and NA (Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous) communities, as well as the majority of alcohol and drug treatment professionals, recognize alcohol and drug addiction as a disease process. (The American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization also consider Alcoholism a disease). Part of what this means is that there is a biological component to addiction. The body of a person who becomes addicted does not react in the same manner to alcohol or drugs as a person who does not become addicted.

The communities of AA and NA have always taught that it is not lack of intelligence, will power or moral character that leads one into addiction, but rather an experience of “powerlessness.” Millions of us have chosen to use alcohol or drugs, yet it is only a fraction that loses control and become addicted. It makes no more sense to blame them than to blame someone who lives in Los Angeles for developing asthma.

The reality is that people don’t choose to become addicted to alcohol or drugs. In all the years that I have worked with folks on this issue, no one ever said “I recall it clearly now, it was June 12, 1987, that I woke up and decided to become addicted.”

People choose to move to Los Angeles, but they don’t “choose” to acquire Asthma. Why would anyone choose that and why would anyone choose the misery that comes with addiction?

While it is not the person’s “fault” for becoming addicted, it is most certainly their responsibility to deal with the consequences of their addiction, to abstain from alcohol/drugs and to work on a program of recovery. We can reduce the stigma by stopping the blaming of addicted people and encourage viable options for treatment and recovery.

Congress and governmental officials contribute to the stigma problem as they continue to allocate the majority of the federal drug budget towards law enforcement and incarceration. It’s not that these are unneeded. It’s just that our jails and prisons are already overloaded with people who have alcohol and drug problems.

Law enforcement and incarceration will continue to be a necessary part of society’s response to the enormous alcohol and drug problem. Yet, shifting our priorities toward prevention and treatment (which is cheaper and more effective than incarceration), not only makes economic sense, but it sends a powerful message that our society is seeking to de-stigmatize alcohol and drug addiction.

Al Heystek is a licensed professional counselor and therapist with the Men’s Resource Center at Fountain Hill, 534 Fountain St. NE. 49503.

A July 2007 Time Magazine article estimated there to be 16 million Americans addicted to sex, the majority being men. Many will never get to the point of infidelity, use of prostitutes, or having sexually explicit conversations with actual persons, much less someone underage, via chat rooms.

By means of video technology and the internet, pornography has become a multi-billion dollar industry. According to Internet Filter Review, in 2006 the revenues of the sex and porn industry worldwide were 97 billion greater than the revenues of Microsoft the NBA, NFL, and Major League Baseball combined.

At least, pornographic images contribute to the objectification of women leading many men to believe they can act out sexual fantasies outside a caring relationship by viewing porn on the internet, participating in sexually explicit chat rooms, seeing prostitutes, or having an affair.

At worst, pornography, especially hardcore porn, further removes sexuality from the realm of care and respect and reinforces the normalization of sexual violence toward women.

At the Men’s Resource Center, we often see men lost in the cyclone of sexual addiction. Have you ever met anyone who told you that they made a choice to become addicted? It is unlikely you have because addiction doesn’t work that way.

It is crucial for communities, ours included, to recognize and acknowledge the role of pornography and the internet in the development of sexual addictions. Clearly, sexual acting out behavior that threatens innocent and especially underage persons needs to be addressed. We must work with sexual addicts before they reach the point of no return.

Many men begin using pornography as a distraction from their loneliness, sense of isolation, or feelings of inadequacy. These motivations begin a pattern of use much like how someone begins using/abusing alcohol or drugs. Participating in the behavior provides relief from the stress or anxiety that plagues them. Although many are married or involved in a significant relationship, this doesn’t guarantee intimacy skills, nor protect from addiction. Through internet pornography, they can pursue euphoria and false intimacy, which can distract and give pleasure in the moment, but fails to give the satisfaction and experience of closeness that an actual relationship provides.

There are also men who may simply be curious about internet pornography and who are involved in what they would describe as a satisfying intimate partner relationship. These men can also develop a pattern of use that involves many hours per week and takes them away from their partners. This pattern of use, and the deception involved in hiding it, becomes a toxin to the user and his intimate relationships.

Whether a man begins using internet pornography as a distraction or type of medication, or whether he begins more out of curiosity, the process can escalate. Men can move from seeking some type of connection or mood altering experience on the internet into an addictive pattern. The process begins to take on a life of its own. Weekend use can move to daily use and start to create problems with self-worth, health, employment, legal and financial issues.

Sexual addiction, like an addiction to gambling, is considered a “process addiction,” in which a person, instead of ingesting a substance, is involved in an “acting out process” that provides a significant neuro-chemical high characterized by preoccupation and increased acting out in spite of risky consequences.

As with substance addictions, process addictions involve a hijacking of the brain where the neuro-chemical changes that take place result in a compromised ability to make rational decisions based on outcomes or consequences

While most sexual addicts who struggle with pornography may not escalate to committing sexual assault, or even to sexually explicit chat room conversations, they need to become aware of the potential danger AND invited to receive help. Unfortunately, admitting one has an addiction is often viewed as an excuse or a cop-out from responsibility. Additionally, a social stigma is often attached to people who admit to addiction problems.

We believe that education and treatment is key. The insidious presence of a sexual addiction in one’s life without treatment will eventually destroy everything in its path. Relationships fail, work suffers, and individuals begin drowning in shame and guilt. The journey into recovery requires commitment, strength, and honesty. We have experienced men from all walks of life crack their denial, understand their problem, and open their heart and mind to a more loving and intimate life. Although the hardest and the biggest step is the first step; one moves from isolation, shame, and chaos into a therapeutic community offering hope, joy and restoration.

We view sexual addiction as a reality to be accepted and treated. Men who struggle with this addiction and problems with pornography don’t get better by denying the problem. They get better by becoming accountable, admitting to the addiction, and doing something about it. It is our hope that men who are struggling will step forward and face their own sexual addiction problem – not just for their well-being but for their family’s and society’s as well.

What is at least as disturbing to me as the charges themselves is the fact that a conviction results in a minimum of 1 year and a maximum of 20 years in prison.

It is disturbing because long-term incarcerations are a by-product of the war on drugs, a war that we have been waging intensely through the 80’s and 90’s. Long-term incarceration does nothing really to address our pervasive drug problem.

Three decades after President Nixon declared “war” on drugs, they are more readily available, at greater purity and at lower prices than ever before.

Incarcerating persons who possess and/or sell illegal drugs may make many of us feel better, but nearly tripling the prison population, as we did in the 80’s has resulted in our prisons being overrun with non-violent drug offenders. And for every person who is incarcerated for selling (often supporting their own addiction), there are others willing to take their place on the streets. Meanwhile, there are millions of addicts and alcoholics who cannot get treatment on request.

The movie “Traffic” makes the point that addressing demand—not supply—is the appropriate response to the drug problem. Solutions are in drug addiction treatment and prevention, not heavy policing and law enforcement.

There is a philosophy in Europe called “harm reduction”. It recognizes the reality that drugs are here to stay and it focuses on reducing harm, not eliminating the problem.

“War” conveys something to be won and it utilizes aggressive and punitive tactics. “Harm reduction” recognizes the huge financial and human waste in attacking the supply side of the problem and in building more and more prisons.

The United States has taken more of a harm-reduction approach with nicotine. We know prohibition won’t work; it didn’t work with alcohol.

Overall rates of smoking in this country fell from 42 percent in 1965 to approximately 25 percent in 1990 and have remained at that level up until now.

Public eduction and social restraints—not punishment or fear of incarceration—are responsible for the reductions. Teen smoking rates continue to rise. Appropriately, our national response has been to curtail tobacco advertising and increase public information aimed at teens, not arresting minors who smoke and placing them in jail.

Granted, cocaine is a highly addictive and scary drug. The threat to our youth, however, is not the seller. Cocaine use typically begins with friends or at a party with other users. Cocaine users don’t usually seek out a seller until they are hooked.

And cocaine addicts are not typically gun-wielding, arm robbers or murderers. They write bad checks, shop lift, run up huge credit card bills, prostitute or commit other nonviolent petty crimes. They are hurting and addicted people who need help, not criminalization.

Nicotine is also a highly addictive and scary drug. And we have known for a long time that the cost of cocaine use in terms of health, money and lives lost is a tiny fraction compared to the costs of nicotine use.

In 1993, of the 520,000 preventable drug-related deaths reported by the Journal of the American Medical Association, 4 percent were caused by illegal drugs, including cocaine, and 96 percent—499,000 deaths—were caused by nicotine and alcohol. With 400,000 deaths attributed to nicotine and approximately 100,000 to alcohol, it is clear where the major thereat lies.

Here’s the irony. If a store owner sells cigarettes to a minor, the state law in Michigan calls for a $50 fine, not 1-20 years in prison. Granted, if Robert Bultler (who has since resigned from Calvin College) is found guilty, then he broke the law and betrayed a vital trust in the community. There will need to be some consequences.

At the same time, let’s begin considering the kind of harm reduction approach with cocaine that we have with nicotine. Let us move toward decriminalizing people with drug problems, and find alternatives to putting people with drug problems in jail for years at a time. We should place more of our resources and energy in treatment, education and prevention.

We’ll never win the war on drugs, but we certainly can be wiser and more effective about reducing the harm.

Grand Rapids Press, 2005