Overview
The easy and cheap access to the Internet had made access to porn easier than it once was; terms such as porn addiction were not heard of before because access to porn was a lot harder and cost more. Nowadays, statistics say that about 200,000 Americans are classified as porn addicts, while 40 million visit porn sites regularly! Raising the number of those who are in danger of developing addiction. A more dangerous aspect of this issue is that children can now easily watch porn at a very early age, which means the effects porn exerts on them might be stronger than those of an adult. It's estimated that by age nine, 10% of kids will have watched porn! And by eleven, 27% of them have watched pornography.
Porn addiction affects a person's life, their relationships, and the quality of their sex life, and believe it or not, it affects their brains. All of this makes it a problem that needs to be addressed seriously. Awareness must be raised so that those who suffer from porn addiction are able to identify it earlier and thus have less struggle overcoming it.
What Is Porn Addiction?
Porn addiction is when you have a compulsive and irresistible urge to watch porn, to the degree that you become emotionally dependent on it. It starts affecting your life, your relationships, and your sexual life and expectations. We use the term porn addiction to describe this condition, but it's not actually an addiction because addiction means that there are physical withdrawal symptoms, when in fact quitting porn (thankfully!) does not cause any withdrawal symptoms.
How Does Porn Addiction Happen?
Watching porn releases dopamine, a chemical that's released in the brain. Dopamine is connected to addiction; it's the same neurotransmitter that gets released when you have drugs or smoke. Dopamine is a reward system chemical, which means it gets released when you make an achievement or do something that would make you feel good. The difference is that in the case of addiction, this chemical basically floods your brain; every time you watch porn, you would be aiming for that dopamine kick. Eventually, the excessive release of dopamine and the other neurotransmitters related to the reward pathway might lead to a change in the brain makeup.
Every time you watch porn to release dopamine, you become more dependent and reliant on consuming pornography.
Causes Of Porn Addiction
There are things that can lead to porn addiction, or we can say that they are considered to be risk factors for porn addiction. They include:
Easy access: as we mentioned before, now with the internet in every home and phone, viewing porn is as easy as it could be.
Privacy and isolation: consuming pornography and growing an addiction are easier if you are isolated.
Consuming drugs and alcohol is considered a risk factor for porn addiction.
Other mental health issues, like depression, stress, and bipolar disorder.
Trauma related to sexual abuse.
Problems with your personal relationships.
Effects Of Porn Addiction
Porn addiction affects not only your life but also your brain! Porn addiction might reduce the size of your orbifrontal cortex, an area in the brain responsible for us making strategic decisions instead of impulsive ones. It's also linked to the cognitive sophistication that characterizes us as humans. In other words, porn addiction might erase the area in our brain that is basically making us humans.
Other effects of porn addiction include:
1. It affects your sexual expectations
Watching porn exposes you to all kinds of fetishes and uncommon activities, so much so that you start thinking those activities are the norm, which means you would be expecting a lot more than what you would be given during sex.
2. It affects the pleasure you get from real sex
Studies have shown that consuming pornography reduces the amount of pleasure you can get from actually having sex. This could contribute to the point we mentioned previously, which is the impossible expectations a person has. When those expectations are not met, this leads to decreased satisfaction.
3. It affects your morality and beliefs
People who view porn become desensitized to violent sex and rape, and they start looking down on traditional institutions like getting married and building a family.
4. Porn addiction affects your partner
The effects of pornography are not only limited to you, but they also extend to your partner. Porn addiction might affect your partner's self-esteem in a negative way by making them believe that this is their mistake and that they are not good enough.
5. Porn Addiction affects your work life and relationships
The compulsion to watch porn might lead you to be late for work or delay your duties because you are unable to fight the urge to watch porn immediately.
6. Porn Addiction will lead to isolation
In the long term, all the things we mentioned above are going to lead to you being isolated from everyone.
7. Porn induces erctile dysfunction
Research has shown that porn can cause erectile dysfunction, a condition in which it's hard to have and maintain an erection. The research that was done showed a sharp increase in the prevalence of erectile dysfunction and low sexual desire among men who are under 40.
8. Porn Addiction can cause depression
Porn addiction might lead to depression, this connection is mostly indirect and can be triggered due to other effects like, isolation, destruction of relationships, erectile dysfunction, etc.
Signs And Symptoms Of Porn Addiction
If you are worried that you or a loved one might suffer from porn addiction, you can look out for the following signs and symptoms:
There is a compulsion and a craving to watch porn that comes more frequently with time.
Feelings of shame and guilt after you are done watching.
Canceling other life activities to watch porn.
Sexual dysfunction.
You lose your sense of time when you are watching porn.
Losing interest in actually having sex.
You demand more and more of your partner every time.
Experiencing physical symptoms like headaches and aching joints, those come from sitting around and staring at the screen for long periods of time.
Experiencing mood swings, for example, you might find yourself agitated, irritated, and annoyed by small things.
Spending money to watch more porn.
You find the usual type of porn to be less satisfying every time you watch it.
Thinking constantly about pornography.
Treatment Of Porn Addiction
There are no medications for the treatment of porn addiction to this day, the main approach to treating porn addiction is psychological. Admitting that you have a problem is the first step on the long road to recovery, and it's the most important step. Here are a few things that would help you treat your porn addiction:
Talking to a Therapist
Talking to a therapist is important in the treatment of porn addiction because a therapist is able to detect the reasons and risk factors behind your addiction (whether it's stress, depression, or anxiety) and address them first.
Group Therapy
Sharing your experience with other people and listening to others who have gone through this experience just as you did—people who know what it's like to be there—can greatly help you overcome your addiction.
Use a Phone App
There are some smartphone applications that can be useful and helpful in treating porn addiction. Those apps work by placing restrictions on not only what pages you can access but also on the words that you can type. For those apps to work efficiently, you need to share a password with someone you know; only the person with the password gets to change settings in the app or delete it.
Entrusting a friend or family member with your problem
Telling someone who is close to you about your porn addiction can be very helpful to you, because to overcome an addiction, we need support and encouragement from those whom we trust. This person can also help you by keeping the password to one of the apps that help with overcoming porn addiction.
Make a list
Make a list of every reason why you want to quit porn addiction; the reasons could be related to religion, relationships, work, or even your health. Every time you want to watch porn, look at the list and remind yourself of all the reasons why you shouldn't do this.
Take it one day at a time
Stopping porn addiction is hard, so take it one day at a time and tell yourself that you will just go on this one day without any porn. Make a diary of every day you finish; aim for a day, then a week, and then a month.
Avoid isolation
Avoid staying along because the compulsion is most likely to come on you when there is no one around.
Find a new hobby
Fill your time with activities. Find new hobbies and embrace them; exercise specifically, can be a great assistant.
When you fail, try again
Keep in mind that you might not succeed the first time, or even the second or third time; it's very normal. That's why, no matter how many times you fail, try again.
In the end, keep in mind that nothing is impossible. Remember that you are stronger than your addiction and that your will is greater; reward yourself for every step you take until you reach your goal.
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