Long ago I read somewhere that we should be extremely careful about what we become addicted to, as those addictions could harm or even destroy our lives.
 
Some addictions like the caffeine fix in morning coffee are relatively harmless. Despite its addictive potential that beverage jumpstarts the workforce and has become our national drink. Without it, some think, the gross domestic product and stock market would plummet. The afternoon sugar rush in a can of cola also gets a pass.  Many a harried parent or weary employee needs it for the energy to get through the rest of their day.
 
Other legal drugs are not so benign. After back surgery Chief Justice Rehnquist was taking the prescription drug Placidyl for insomnia.  Gradually he became so severely addicted that he had to be hospitalized. When in withdrawal, he experienced paranoid hallucinations.
 
We have also finally acknowledged that the non-prescription nicotine in cigarettes is harmful both to those who smoke them and those who inhale the smoke second-hand. Addicted smokers might grumble about the infringement to their freedom in not being able to puff away wherever they want, but too bad.  Belatedly, society has acknowledged the common good and is protecting non-smokers from those air-born carcinogens.
 
Illegal drugs are another matter.  Rightly or wrongly law enforcement and the entire justice system are mobilized to root them out – literally in the case of marijuana.  Whether we should spend all those resources, time, and energy to control these addictive substances is another matter.  The point here though is that they are indeed addictions that can harm and destroy lives.
 
Addiction is subtle, gradual and seductive.  It piggybacks on the very things necessary for living. We eat, work, relax, sleep and reproduce.  We all need food, sleep and the great majority of us need work, relaxation and sexual affection. These basic human needs, however, can morph into addictions. We can become addicted to food or its avoidance, as overeaters, anorectics and bulimics know too well.  Workaholics let work consume their energies and damage their relationships with friends and family. Relaxation can lead to addiction to alcohol or other drugs.
 
Experts disagree on what constitutes addiction.  Some would limit it to physical substances; most today would extend the meaning to psychological conditions such as obsessive-compulsive gambling, shoplifting, sex or on-line multi-player video games.  All agree, however, that addiction is a recurring compulsion to some activity in spite of the harmful consequences to our physical well-being, our mental health or public reputations.
 
A spate of media stories related to obsessive-compulsive sex helped trigger this column.  A 32-year-old female psychologist in the Albany area inappropriately and illegally crossed professional boundaries with a court entrusted 14-year-old male patient.  She had sex with him repeatedly and is now facing rape charges.
 
The typical sexual addict, however, is male. Recently, police arrested a popular high school teacher in Buffalo on seven counts of statutory rape with a 16-year-old female student. He is a 42-year-old married man with two children, His reputation destroyed and employment terminated, he’s now in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. Nationally, readers will remember that an undercover policeman arrested a now disgraced U.S. Senator in an airport men’s room for sexual solicitation.
 
The Internet with its anonymous gambling, pornography and videos has increased the potential for addiction. In a recent Western New York case, authorities arrested a man for the possession of child pornography. Originally he only viewed adult porn on his computer, but he got bored and it escalated. He said, “It was a drive, something like a fix. I needed more and if I didn’t get it. I felt empty.”
 
When the addiction is sexual, it usually hurts others, even when the partner is adult and willing to perform for a price.  The “happy hooker” is a self-justifying male fantasy. And if the objects of the addiction are minors, it harms them horribly – sometimes for their entire lives.
 
Prostitution is never a victimless crime.  Invariably, it involves some coercion. However outwardly willing sex workers appear, pimps and clients degrade and exploit them.  Moreover, as New York Times columnist Bob Herbert warns us, “…there are armies of women and girls who are trafficked into the sex trade by organized criminals both inside and outside the U.S.” He entitled his column, “Today’s Hidden Slave Trade.”
 
Viewers of pornography, even if there is no criminal acting-out, also exploit women and children.  How could children especially be knowledgeable and willing participants?  Those who pay for this porn on-line, moreover, make this international business possible -- and enormously profitable.
 
Addiction is insidious.  It often devastates the addicted, their families and others close to them. And in sexual matters it can also destroy the most vulnerable among us, not treating them as persons but as mere objects of the addiction.
 
If you or someone you care about is caught up in addiction, there are many resources. The Chautauqua Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Council – CASAC (664-3608) is local, in other locations consult your telephone directory; the National Council on Problem Gambling has a confidential 24-hour hotline (1-800-522-4700).  The Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health (SASH) has a website: www.sash.net. You can also Google “eating disorders” and the National Institute of Mental Health has help. Finally, for workaholics there is www.workaholicanonymous.org.
 
Daniel O'Rourke is a married Catholic priest. Retired from the Administration at State University of New York at Fredonia, he lives in Cassadaga, NY.  His column appears the second and fourth Thursday each month in the Observer, Dunkirk, NY.  He has published "The Spirit at Your Back," a book of his previous columns. The book may be purchased or comments sent to orourke@netsync.net