The Addictions Foundation of Manitoba (AFM) is holding a bimonthly series of free "lunch and learn" seminars through the spring.
"Right now we are trying to bring this to the normal community, and we are inviting the community members to join us for lunch and join in the discussion," says Nuwan Fonseka, a prevention education consultant with AFM. "This discussion is open for the community, anybody can join us."
The interdisciplinary discussions, known as durbars, have already begun, and will continue until June on the first and third Thursdays of every month. The word durbar dates back to the 15th century and is Hindi-Urdu in origin with roots in the Persian word darb?. It broadly means admission or audience but historically also referred to court held by an Indian prince or a formal reception held by an Indian prince or an African ruler.
Upcoming topics include cybersex addiction on Feb. 17 and opiate addiction on March 3.
Fonseka says that traditional cybersex activities including one-way viewing of Internet pornography are still prevalent, but no longer the cutting edge. "The very newest, modern cybersex activities build up a character in the Internet, moving their own personality with that personality and playing with that character," he explains.
"There are troubled people who have issues with cybersex, and of course a lot of kids in school that also have some trouble with cybersex," continues Fonseka, who recently moved to Thompson from Toronto. "We had a lot of cybersex stuff in Toronto, but I also find it in Thompson."
"I thought maybe we should have a discussion with the community about cybersex activities, and the addiction - how your brain is working for cybersex addiction, what are the side effects of that, the community problems and family issues," adds Fonseka, noting that he's also heard from other counsellors that cybersex is an issue with some people in Thompson.
"I have two case studies - I'm not going to show their face, but I'm going to show the video clips that I have without showing their face," he says. "We're going to talk about these things - one of the things we find in this community is that cybersex issues are highly connected with the family life."
One of the problems with cybersex addictions, says Fonseka, is that it's more likely to be kept hidden within the addicted person or their family than other addictions. "It's going to come to us as another problem, another mental health issue or another addiction - but when we work with this client, we find that they have a pornography or other sexual addiction," he says. "Many people who have cybersex addictions also have addictions with another thing. The way the brain works with addictions issues is pretty similar with different addictions. If you have an addiction to cybersex, you might also have an addiction to alcohol or marijuana or another substance."
The seminars are held at the AFM building. Muffins and coffee are available, but anyone interested in attending is asked to bring their own lunch if they wish to eat a full meal during the session.
