What is Porn Addiction?
Porn Addiction is another word for Sex addiction. Porn addiction can refer to a range of behaviours that are done in excess and impact one’s life in a negative manner. Addiction to anything can be dangerous. In the same way, addiction to porn can cause serious consequences in many aspects of life.
Addiction to porn has become very common these days. Mostly, the youth are getting distracted by this addiction.
Statistics related to pornography (United States)
Every Second
- 28,858 Users watch porn on the internet.
- $3,075.64 spent on porn.
- 372 people type the word ‘adult’ in the search engine.
Every Day
- 37 pornographic videos were created in the US.
- More than 2.5 billion porn contains emails sent or received.
- 116,000 queries related to child porn.
- 68 million searches related to porn which is 25% of total searches on the internet.
Pornography Stats:- Source
Signs and Symptoms of Porn Addiction
- Watching excessive porn. Definition of ‘excessive’ can be different for different people. Excessive means what you consider healthy or the point at which pornography starts to have a negative impact on your or someone’s life.
- Watching porn excessively interferes with your day-to-day life and normal daily behaviour.
- More time you spent watching porn or searching for more pornographic content, to get you aroused it means that you have developed tolerance.
- You feel distressed or distracted from your work when porn is stopped.
- Sexual dysfunction i.e Impotence, premature ejaculation etc.
- If you watch pornography on daily basis, It can increase the chance of Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
- Watching porn daily affects your realtionship with your partner.
I will recommend that it is best to consult a healthcare professional If you are concerned about your behaviour towards porn. A health care professional will be best for you as it will give correct information about your behaviour and solution to it.
What Causes Porn Addiction?
Porn addiction is also like other addictions. You can know if a person is born addicted or not by just following the ” operant conditioning “ principle.
What is operant conditioning?
Operant conditioning is a method of learning in which we give rewards or punishment according to one’s behaviour.
Lots of different things can be reinforcing, and thus influence our behaviour, but porn can be especially reinforcing because the reward taps into a very basic instinctual drive–sex. Therefore, it is very easy to become addicted to porn–it is accessing a fundamental (and very enjoyable) natural drive. It is also much easier to obtain than going out and finding a “mate” to fulfil this drive.
Causes of Porn Addiction
There are a lot of controversies regarding porn addiction, So researchers have yet to decide the clear cause of porn addiction.
A study in the USA shows that the very idea of the existence of porn causes lots of distress in one’s mind. Watching porn excessively can cause many problems not only mental but also physical. Some of these causes may include :
- Mental health conditions: A person may use porn as an escape from psychological distress.
- Problems in a relationship: Pornography can be a cause of one’s sexual dissatisfaction.
- Biological causes: Some biological factors like brain chemistry change when a person views porn. It might lead one’s to Sexual crimes.
Overview of Porn Addiction
Porn addiction has the potential to cause the following problems.
Social Isolation
- Neglecting Social Activities
- living a secret life
- Self-centered
- Choosing pornography and self-pleasure over peoples
Mood Disorders
- Irritable mood
- Always angry and depressed
- Mood swings
- Anxiety and fearfulness
These above problems are just starting. There is a lot of problems people face when they are addicted to porn like accessing porn in the workplace, objectifying people as a sex object, Sexual problems and so on. Watching porn release several chemicals in the mind which plays with your mind and causes a lot of disturbance in your life.
Treatment of Porn addiction
According to research, there is no particular treatment for this addiction. Yes, it is possible because some doctors and counsellors believe that porn addiction is not a medical condition. Some believe that no treatment is required for this addiction.
But after viewing the issues related to porn addiction, Below I am giving some tips to cope with this addiction.
- Therapy: This can help a person understand their relationship with porn, identify unmet sexual needs, and develop strategies for dealing with psychological distress.
- Relationship counselling: Relationship counselling can also benefit in this addiction because it is possible you are not getting proper fulfilment from your partner.
- Medication: Some people use porn as a distraction from other issues. So get proper medication for the underlying issues.
- Lifestyle: Lifestyle plays important role in this addiction. Most people use porn to get over with their boredom and loneliness. So living a healthy life like doing yoga and meditation can help you to get over this addiction.
Summary
Watching pornography content in excess causes a lot of physical and mental problems. This addiction is mainly found in teenagers. They think that this will not affect their life. But this affects their life the most. According to research 9/10 boys are exposed to pornographic content before 18.
We must know what is good for us and what is bad. This is not only our responsibility but the teacher and parents should also take care of their children and teach them what is good or bad for them.
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