Pornography Addiction Northwestern Medicine

Sadly, individuals who struggle with pornography are often reluctant to seek help because they dont view their solo sexual behaviors as an underlying source of their unhappiness. And when they do seek assistance, they often seek help with related symptoms depression, loneliness, and relationship troubles rather than the porn problem itself. Many are in therapy for extended periods without ever discussing (or even being asked about) pornography and masturbation. Either the subject feels too shameful to talk about, or they just dont see the correlation between their porn use and the problems theyre having in life. Research has shown that porn addiction can have significant effects on mental health.

Brain chemistry imbalance

So if someone believes that masturbation to porn is immoral, yet they do it anyway, most clinicians agree that in itself is not a sign of a mental health disorder. Regardless of the study and who conducted it, the primary consequences of compulsive porn use tend to boil down to shame, mental health issues, relationship woes, and sexual dysfunction. At the very least, these are the issues that seem to drive heavy porn users into treatment.

Everything You Need to Know About Pornography ‘Addiction’

This theory has been suggested to be applicable to pornography and other areas of excessiveness, such as highly engaging video games and unnaturally sweetened foods. You may then crave the false scenes in porn, turning to them repeatedly. Research shows that one popular porn site receives 115 million views each day.

Breaking Free From Compulsive Porn Use

Since the existence of “porn addiction” is not recognized by the APA, no definitive diagnostic criteria guide mental health professionals in its diagnosis. Experts disagree about whether people can become addicted to porn in a medical sense — the way they get addicted to alcohol or drugs. However, if porn-watching habits interfere with daily life and relationships, it’s an issue.

You’ll work with a mental health professional to identify problem areas in your life and learn ways to overcome them. Porn addiction is not an official The Twelve Steps Alcoholics Anonymous diagnosis in The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). The DSM-5 is the standard classification of mental disorders that mental health professionals use in the United States.

Counseling sessions will help you understand what caused the compulsion in the first place. Your therapist can help you develop effective coping mechanisms to change your relationship with pornographic materials. Either way, if watching porn becomes problematic, there are ways to try to regain control. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors with no rational motivation, but are often engaged in to reduce anxiety.

According to Brassart, porn addicts use porn to cope with stress and other uncomfortable feelings, “losing” themselves in the content to the point where they spend hours consuming it to avoid whatever is going on in their lives. He says porn addicts may find that their use escalates over time, both in the time they devote to it and the intensity of the content they consume. This can lead them to live a “double life,” lying about or hiding altogether their dependence on porn. Porn addiction is problematic porn use as defined by a person continuing to watch, read, or listen to pornographic content despite experiencing negative consequences. There are many support groups and programs to choose from if you are looking for peer support and understanding for porn addiction.

1. The benefits of counseling extend beyond the cessation of porn consumption; it equips individuals with the necessary tools to rebuild their lives and cultivate healthier patterns of behavior.
2. Porn addiction is not recognized in the DSM-5, but many experts believe problematic or dysfunctional porn use exists.
3. Additionally, it can impair personal relationships, leading to difficulties in intimacy and trust.
4. Porn addiction is a complex and deeply personal struggle, but it can be overcome.

CSBDs make it difficult for the individual to control or manage intense sexual impulses or urges. Medical professionals sometimes refer to these behaviors as out of control sexual behavior (OCSB). Findings regarding motivations for porn use, frequency of pornography viewing, problematic porn use, and gender differences are summarized below.