Internet: Case Studies

1. Mike:

A 24 year old single man living with his girl friend (Dora) of four years reveals that he has an "unhealthy" sexual desire for teen age girls. He requests treatment to help "cure" him of this sexual interest. While not acting out his sexual desire, he has been secretly spending 3-8 hours per week hunting images of young girls on the internet. He acknowledges that his compulsion has hurt his relationship and his sex life. He is extremely ambivalent about his relationship but has not talked about his feelings openly with Dora. He has been avoiding sexual contact with Dora as well as having difficulty getting himself to the gym and other outside interests and activities. He states that his mood has been more depressed and he is anxious about his compulsion being revealed. He feels guilty, ashamed, and preoccupied.

2. George:

George is a 49 year old married man with a two year old boy. He has a history of alcohol addiction and cyber-porn addiction. Four years ago he was successfully treated for these addictions with a combination of in-patient, outpatient, and group psychotherapy. He is a writer and has taught English at a variety of local colleges. After three years of recovery from alcohol and cyber-porn addiction, he relapsed following his being laid off from his teaching position in an administration change. He has not begun drinking but is again "medicating" his anxiety by spending large chunks of time watching cyber-porn. He presented to treatment after becoming increasingly more agitated, depressed, ashamed and "fed-up" with himself.

3. Simone Gioia:

Simone Gioia uses the internet every single day either via computer or mobile - for on average eight hours a day five days a week and a few hours on the weekends. When you consider Simone uses it for work, uni and 'play' it's really not that long at all - find out how Simone keeps herself safe online here. 

As someone who is always online Simone Gioia knows a thing or two about using the internet to make her life easier. Not only does she spend the majority of her day at work on the internet she then uses it out of work hours in so many ways.

“I source entertainment (ie. music, movies, podcasts, magazines), socialise (Facebook and blogs), pay bills, shop and more importantly, as I get lost so easily, find directions to the places I want to go,” Simone said. “Whereis.com has now replaced my Melways!”

With such a reliance on the internet it means Simone is very aware of how important her own online behaviours are in staying safe.  Her recommendations include:

-  Be cautious of the kinds of details you provide online and to who you are providing them to - she even makes hers up sometimes

- Always read the fine print on a website you are using

- Never enter your personal details on a site which you don't think is reputable

- Don't provide your bank details on a website you know nothing about or which doesn’t use a security service

“I am worried about people finding out private information about me online. I know once something is online it's there forever,” Simone shares. “This is why I have made my settings on social networking sites quite rigid and trust my intuition when making online purchases - if something doesn't seem right I just don't buy from that site.”

“I'm not alone as all my friends use the internet on a daily basis as well, mostly on their phone,” says Simone. “To be honest I don't quite know how I would operate with it, I don't think I can so that's why I am always careful when I'm online.”