Reading erotica is a behavioral activity we often recommend to our patients looking to help increase their desire and arousal. Some patients find reading random articles in Cosmopolitan Magazine are sufficient enough to get their motors started, while others find the erotica we recommend too “vanilla”. Like everything else in life, what works for one person doesn’t always work for another. The same is true for erotica.
However, there is a romance novel floating around now that has captured the attention of women all over the globe and has created quite a stir. If you haven’t heard about this phenomenon yet, you surely will. I’m talking about the romance novel Fifty Shades of Gray, written by EL James. The reason for the stir? The story involves a young woman who crosses the path of an older man who happens to be a billionaire and interested in BDSM (bondage, discipline, dominance and submission). The novel has since been branded as “mommy porn” and is currently only available as an electronic book.
I met with a patient today who raved about this novel. She has been following her treatment plan for several months and it wasn’t until she read this book that she fully realized how much her desire and arousal have improved. She has read other erotic stories before but nothing had moved her in a such a way as this story. She never thought she would find BDSM a turn on. She found the book so engrossing that she cancelled her plans this past weekend to stay home to finish the trilogy! As a single woman navigating the complexities of the dating scene, she found the book enabled her to create fantasies a lot easier than before. She continues to feel that the area of her brain that felt “shut off” before has now been “turned on”. She left the office with a brand new vibrator!
Like I mentioned earlier, what turns on one person may turn off another but the cult following this book has created cannot be overlooked. The question of why this storyline has garnered mass appeal really isn’t as important as finding out what works for you. BDSM may be a topic you have no interest in reading about but it may just be the kind of story your brain needs to flick that switch on.
What do you think? Have you read the book?