While porn addiction overuse continues to appear as a treatment and therapy issue for individuals of all ages, it is still a controversial topic. Most sources agree that porn is addictive, but raise concerns over how to define it. In this article, we’ll explore current attitudes towards porn addiction, as well as examine some of the effects of porn addiction.

Current scientific attitudes towards porn addiction

The World Health Organization (WHO) sets many of the standards for disease and disorder criteria and has recently added a new disorder termed “gaming disorder” as related to internet, screen times, or video gaming (WHO, 2020). The International Classification of Disease (ICD) 11th revision is a classification used by professionals as a basis for identifying health trends (WHO, 2020).

In specific, words such as screen dependent, internet addicted, or problematic digital user are used to describe persons who are losing control due to an addictive process. Addictive viewing of pornographic materials specifically has still not made the cut by the WHO, the American Psychological Association, or the Diagnostic Manual of Statistical Disorders although viewing erotic internet materials certainly seems to be on the rise (APA, 2014).

However, topics like pornography and sex are still hotly debated by healthcare professionals and mental health practitioners due to vastly differing attitudes about the acceptability of certain behaviors (APA, 2014). Multiple social movements and support groups exist that aim to liberate human beings from shame and restrictions from “days in the past”. Other camps have strict and meaningful reasons to abstain from certain behaviors for spiritual reasons or other valued commitments.

Mental health professionals have had their own concerns because of the increasing number of clients experiencing consequences for compulsive sexual behaviors which includes pornography. Opinions run wild and perhaps it has not been clear to date if pornography or sex addictions have clarity in categorization as some of the other addictions. One of the major concerns is the potential to over-diagnose or mis-diagnose due to mere differences in opinion on cultural or religious views (APA, 2014).

Prevalence of pornography addiction

One thing seems clear, the viewing of pornography is on the rise. Major porn sites are receiving more than 115 million hits per day, and the number keeps increasing! People are turning up at mental health and addiction treatment offices and centers at alarming rates. It appears the cut off for problem use or addiction rests on an ambiguous line where occasional use turns into a struggle to control use.

Researchers are beginning to pivot their efforts to exploring behavioral process addictions. Knowledge about substance use disorders have gained a lot of ground over the last few decades. They are more readily seen as mental illnesses in need of treatment. Groundbreaking work from neuroscience has explored the brain’s pleasure pathways and pleasure circuits to lend proof that damage occurs to the way drug users experience pleasure by actually damaging circuitry (NIDA, 2021).

Essentially, they found that users no longer release “feel good “chemicals effectively without the help of the drug itself. Research on brain science with pornography shows problematic use is more like an obsession, compulsion, or repetitive behavior pattern that exists that loop in the brain and may not effect all the same brain areas that substance addictions work on (APA, 2014).

Research is still only beginning to understand the neurochemical processes behind process addictions and this information may be lagging in a complete comprehensive understanding. New emerging areas of research and exploration are beginning to take an interest in the way process addiction hijack behavioral processes. Behavioral addictions are gaining exponential amounts of attention in the last decade and can be reflected in mainstream television shows and intervention episodes.

One thing is evident, porn addiction means that compulsive behavior patterns are present in a persons’ life, which create problems. Compulsive behavioral patterns are often tasked with numbing emotions and often result in a sense of disconnectedness. In other words, porn addicts are likely to feel disconnected from family, friends, hobbies, and enjoyment in life.

More research is needed about porn addiction

Groups of researchers and experts are pushing for pornography and sex addiction to be researched and explored to have more diagnostic credibility. The World Health Organization began to recognize “compulsive sexual behaviors” as a problem in 2018, but pornography use still struggles for a definitive category (Kritz, 2018). Opposing camps still worry that cultural and religious groups or fanaticism may push people to over-diagnose and there seems to be little or no education at all on healthy sexuality especially for emerging youth or young adults. The concern is perhaps pornography use is mired in conflict and confusion in values.

One thing has become clear, clients are continuously turning up at the offices of mental health providers looking for help for symptoms they believe are directly related to their compulsive or problematic pornography use in specific. Erectile disfunction, sexual performance issues, anxiety, depression, isolation, relationship issues, depression, anxiety, and many more stressors are bringing people into treatment centers or offices.

Many clients report that being rigid or fanatic can lead to shame and identify issues, but compulsive patterns can replace healthy connections and relationships leading to problems. If people start to experience unwanted patterns, it may be time to seek support and find a place to flush out beliefs, values, and concerns and come up with a plan to address problematic behaviors.

Defining addiction to pornography

A recent porn addiction article on WedMd.com states that “porn addiction is when you can’t stop looking at porn, even if you want to” and that the obsession “gets to the point that it interferes with work, relationships, and other parts of daily life”. Furthermore, it states that with the widespread availability of internet porn and growing research, that it is hard to pinpoint how much is too much but experts agree that “if it gets in the way of your day-to-day activities, you could be watching porn too much” (Donovan, 2020)

Porn addiction symptoms, signs, and effects

While we don’t yet have a clear definition in the literature of what porn addiction is, we can use signs and symptoms that we observe in problem users as well as other process addictions. The following signs likely indicate that an individual has a porn addiction:

Signs of porn addiction

• Intense urges or cravings for distracting oneself from tasks
• Stopping regular activities, you enjoy such as hobbies
• Lose interest in daily chores or attendance to life details
• Less interest in spending time socially with others
• Damage is created in intimate relationships
• Secrecy and transparency issues resulting in anxiety
• Can’t stop even when you try
• Enjoyment diminishes, but viewing porn anyway
• Crossing the line with types of pornography they are watching
• Use to resolve anxiety rather than other methods
• Struggles at work or home
• Dissatisfaction with relationships
• Intense fear or anxiety with intimacy

Side Effects and Symptoms of Porn Addiction

• Guilt / shame
• Low self-esteem
• Depression, anxiety, and suicide attempts
• Neglecting partner
• Debt
• Loss of job
• Other addictions increase such as drugs  

References

Donavon, J. (2020). Porn Addiction. WebMD. https://webmd.com

Kritz, Fran (2018). Compulsive sexual behavior as a mental health disorder. Everyday Health http://everydayhealth.com

NIDA (2021). Drugs and the brain. https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/drugs-brain

Weir, K. (2014). Is pornography addictive? Monitor on Psychology, 45(4). http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/04/pornography

World Health Organization (2020). Addictive behaviors: Gaming disorder. http://Who.int