“We love our habits more than our income, often more than our life.” – Bertrand Russell

Porn addiction has commonalities with other types of addiction, identified by a struggle to stop the behavior regardless of its self-destructive quality and the adverse ramifications that may surface. 

The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) recognizes sex as an addiction, comparable to drug addiction, due to its ability to bring about sizable alterations in brain activity.

The following three signs are indications that you cannot resist watching porn:

• You spend most of your time thinking and planning for sexual activity. 
• You have lost control in watching porn.
• You are experiencing negative changes. For instance, anxiety, and depression, which results in social isolation, relationship conflict, loss of focus, and mood swings. 

Another symptom of pornography addiction is having joint or physical pain. Exorbitant amount of masturbation along with lengthy amounts of time viewing a screen results in the above discomfort.

Furthermore, many people struggling with porn addiction might encounter fatigue or physical strain resulting from numerous orgasms after viewing pornographic content

Here are some common forms of pain that people affected by pornography addiction may experience:

• Backache 
• Wrist and neck pain 
• Pain around genitals due to excessive masturbation 

Porn addiction can affect different aspects of your life and impact your productivity. Want to retake control of your life and quit pornography addiction? 

Schedule a free consultation now with Dr Invia A. Betjoseph — who is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Sex Addiction Therapist trained in EMDR, specializing in sex addictions, couples therapy, and trauma. 

Statistically, every second less than 30,000 people are viewing pornography. To meet such a growing demand for porn, a pornographic film is produced every 30 minutes in the United States.

As the addiction progresses, the addicts want more time and novel sexual experiences to satisfy their desensitized brain. 

The addict exercises euphoric recall to experience pleasure regardless of his/her location, which can ultimately impact psychological health.

Spending more time on porn and craving more stimulation cannot be treated without seeing a reputable therapist.

Schedule your free consultation with Dr. Invia, who is a certified sex and porn addiction therapist. 

Porn is a $97 billion global industry, out of which $10-12 billion is generated in the United States, according to Kassia Wosick, an Assistant Professor of Sociology at New Mexico State University. 

Porn is perceived to be just as, if not,more tempting than drug or substance addiction due to its 3A factor:

• Accessibility: Porn is more easily accessible than alcohol or drugs. 
• Affordability: Almost all porn is free. 
• Anonymity: It is on your phone, and you remain anonymous. 

However, for extreme and novel sexual experiences, a porn user may not hesitate to subscribe to porn magazines, X-rated content, and any adult entertainment that gives access to live cam shows, cybersex, and downloading of porn content. 

Hence, people with porn addiction are even willing to spend money, just like other substance abuse addicts. 

When access to pornographic material is reduced or blocked, mood swings or irritability surface, which is a common sign of porn addiction. 

This dynamic results from the regular consumption of sexual content, which may foster dependence. 

When addicts are prevented from viewing pornographic material, individuals may exhibit restlessness, agitation or anger, as a result of the interruption of their usual practices

Addiction and distraction are tightly linked, often resulting in considerable obstacles in different aspects of life. 

Pornography addiction, specifically, can have profound outcomes on an individual's educational or career achievements.

Sleep deprivation and anxiety are common results of addictive behavior, which can majorly interfere with focus. 

Therefore, people who view explicit sexual material may often find themselves experiencing difficulty keeping up with their fundamental roles and responsibilities.

Porn addiction may cause or increase the chances of erectile dysfunction (ED), as well as prolonged ability to ejaculate with your current partner. For maintaining erection and ejaculation, the brain needs dopamine, but this may not be possible if the brain is desensitized with porn.

People wrestling with pornography addiction may find themselves dependent on graphic sexual material to start sexual activity, as their ability to become aroused by usual means may have declined.

A clear sign of porn addiction is if you find that your partner cannot sexually arouse you and you need the constant help of porn to promote desire.

This level of dependence implies that pornography has severely impacted your natural sexual responses
This reliance indicates that pornography has started to tamper with your typical sexual behaviors and romantic relationships, possibly indicating a need for professional services.

Porn is an exaggerated world of reality because it shows unrealistic sexual intimacy. 

The porn addicts may expect their partners to behave in a porn-like scenario during the sexual activity, which could disappoint and frustrate the addicts if their partners cannot fulfill their requirements. 

Hence, porn addiction can break down romantic relationships. Additionally, porn-addicted people lose their sex drive. The following are the things that happen most commonly:

• Your sex life is becoming less satisfying 
• You are facing relationship issues with your spouse. 

Substance abuse addicts do not want to face life stressors, anxiety, depression, and unpleasant feelings without taking the substance or drug. 

The porn addiction also resembles other types of addiction, i.e., many porn addicts use adult content to cope with life stressors and difficult feelings. However, they are just burying their heads in the sand.

Consequently, they feel anxiety or guilt (in their current state and numbness), and then to deal with shame and guilt, they rely on porn content, which keeps them busy in an endless cycle called porn addiction.

Porn Addiction Treatment Options: Getting Help from a Porn Addiction Therapist

Feel shame and guilt after watching the porn? Alternatively, fear of shame and judgment might stop you from seeing a doctor on time. 

Do not worry; you are not alone. All porn addicts feel uncomfortable discussing their porn-related problems before they reclaim their lives.

Before you start your treatment, we suggest you do the following things:

• Dump your porn-related DVDs, hardcopies, sex toys, softcopy porn
• Cancel your subscription to porn apps and magazines. Try to use electronics and mobile gadgets as little as possible.
• Find an accountability partner who can track your progress (during recovery) and install a porn blocker app or extension. 

For more ways to overcome pornography addiction, check our article here. 

The following are the treatment strategies and tools that a porn and sex addiction may employ to recover you back to normal life: 

• Psychotherapy
• Psychodynamic psychotherapy 
• CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy)
• Relationship counseling 
• Medication (Antidepressant drugs, Naltrexone, Antiandrogens, Mood stabilizers, etc.)
• Self-help and support groups (optional)

Schedule a free consultation now with Dr Invia A. Betjoseph — who is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Sex Addiction Therapist trained in EMDR, specializing in sex addictions, couples therapy, and trauma.