Porn Addiction: Are You Addicted To Watching Porn? What Are The Adverse Effects

Addiction to pornography has been a big concern for many researchers and professionals in the field of psychosocial health. While there are many kinds of addiction behavior that are considered as a psychological disorder, compulsive porn watching is not labeled as a disorder that needs clinical attention. There is no official diagnosis for porn addiction in the books of psychiatry and psychology. However, the serious mental, emotional and social consequences of it are such that one cannot ignore this growing problem in the world. Porn addiction is a form of sexual addiction which involves excessive preoccupation with sexual imagery that has a negative impact on one's life.

There are some who argue and believe that viewing porn is beneficial as it helps in enhancing the quality of sex life shared between couples. They think that if there is a dry spell between the partners, watching porn together could perhaps revive and bring back the spark in the relationship. It helps partners open up, become more sexually experimental and shed some inhibitions related to free sexual expression in bed. For some watching erotica is a way of distressing the mind and derive a feeling of sexual satisfaction in a safe environment. It is a harmless outlet for your fantasies and sexual gratification.

Also read: Will Watching Porn Reduce My Sexual Power And Stamina?

As much as these could be understood has some advantages of pornography, studies have shown that excessive / compulsive viewing of porn results in problematic behaviors and causes threat to a person's mental and social well - being. Today, high speed internet has made pornographic content easily accessible, affordable while you continue to remain anonymous in your activities. The plethora of sexual content is available at a mere click of a few buttons with your fingers.

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When pornography use becomes excessive, romantic relationships can suffer as it may lead to poorer sexual quality and / or satisfaction. Often the other partner could feel inadequate and suffer from low self - esteem where they begin to think that they are not good enough. When too much time is spent in this kind of solo activity, it creates a physical and emotional distance between the couple which results in loneliness, lack of intimacy and in some cases depression or anxiety. It becomes a vicious loop as this would push the person more towards the compulsive habit creating more distance and withdrawal that could be detrimental to the health of the relationship.

It is seen that those who indulge in this habit could develop other sexual problems such as excessive masturbation, delayed ejaculation, erectile dysfunction and anorgasmia.

Also read: Is Porn Improving Your Sex Life Or, Is It Not?

People addicted to porn may find it hard to stay away / avoid or reduce engaging in this habit. They may spend more time on it than intended. Therefore, the habit begins to interfere with other aspects of their lives - personal, occupational, social and recreational. People may bunk school, office or other social, personal commitments either because they want to watch porn or due to the excessive viewing, they are unable to manage their time to fulfill their responsibilities. Sleep cycle could get disturbed which makes it more difficult to accomplish one's daily activities.

Very often it is seen that there is an underlying psychological issue that leads to addiction such as an existing depression or anxiety, history of sexual abuse / trauma, low self - esteem, personality disorder, impulsivity or a poor ability to handle stress. The person could be using this as an outlet to deal with the emotional stress. However, the addiction would only aggravate the mental illness as the person is simply running away from the pain instead of resolving it.

It is important that this is acknowledged as a serious problem that needs medical and psychological intervention in the form of effective treatment.

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