Porn is everywhere – one study reports that 91.5% of men and 60.2% of women in the USA report watching porn in the past month. And it’s a loaded topic. Those against porn argue that it’s immoral, ruins relationships, and can lead to an addiction. Those who are for it, argue the benefits of watching porn – that more porn is correlated with more sexual satisfaction, better communication during sex, & more intimacy in your relationships. But is porn addictive?
The jury seems to be out on this one, so we’re looking at the evidence.
Is porn addiction real?
To date, the American Psychological Association (APA) does not recognize porn addiction as a real psychological condition. Porn addiction is also not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the world’s leading guide on psychological disorders.
“Official bodies in psychiatry don’t recognise compulsive porn use as an addiction. That’s largely because the boundary conditions haven’t been mapped out, the prevalence is unknown, and crucially – unlike the case with drugs or gambling – it’s unclear to what extent (if any) compulsive use of porn harms lives,” Chris Chambers writes for the Guardian.
And while there is some research that reports on porn addiction, one 2014 study emphasizes that many of these studies have been poorly designed or biased. The authors caution that little evidence supports a causal relationship between pornography use and its purported harmful effects.
The researchers of the study write, “since a large, lucrative industry has promised treatments for pornography addiction despite this poor evidence, scientific psychologists are called to declare the emperor (treatment industry) has no clothes (supporting evidence). When faced with such complaints, clinicians are encouraged to address behaviors without conjuring addiction labels.”
“The American Psychological Association does not recognize porn addiction as a real psychological condition”
A different reaction
The main reason that porn isn’t recognized as an addiction comes down to neuroscience. Despite what we have been told, sexual psychophysiologist and neuroscientist Dr. Nicole Prause, explains that, “pornography does not ‘hijack’ anything in the brain, it does not ‘flood’ the brain with dopamine, it is not a ‘superstimulus,’ and it absolutely is not ‘more addictive than cocaine.’”
She calls these myths about porn addiction “panic language,” and says they show “a basic lack of education in neuroscience.”
While watching porn may activate similar pleasure circuits in the brain as alcohol, experts say that doesn’t mean you can become addicted to watching it in the same way. That’s because addiction to substances changes your brain chemistry so that you no longer feel dopamine as effectively without the help of the drug you’re addicted to.
One 2015 study found that, among participants who reported excessive or problematic viewing of visual sexual stimuli, the usual brain pathways of addiction were absent.
But how much porn is too much?
However, whether or not porn is a diagnosable addiction, it’s clear that some people believe that their porn use is an uncontrollable habit for them.
Online porn, like anything that makes people feel good, can lead to compulsive behavior that leads people to seek it out more than is deemed healthy for them. People can develop obsessive behaviors with many things in their lives, especially if those things help to alleviate stress, anxiety or loneliness. If porn isn’t a positive contribution to your life, then it’s completely ok to stop watching it.
“If porn isn’t a positive contribution to your life, then it’s completely ok to stop watching it.”
Is it porn addiction or is it shame?
There are some big factors to consider when understanding why people feel like they’re addicted to pornography and they mostly come down to shame.
Feeling shame about porn consumption is common. A lack of comprehensive sex education paired with the fact that schools, media, religion and culture tell us that sex and porn are inherently immoral, all contributes to a sense of feeling bad about watching porn. Plus, watching porn is often done in private, which leads people to think it’s a dirty and secretive act.
A meta-analysis of research on pornography concluded that porn use itself doesn’t predict problems with porn, but that religiosity does. The researchers suggest that problems with porn due to moral incongruence appears to be the cause of many people who report dysregulated, uncontrollable, or problematic pornography use. They explain that even though many people who grew up in religious, sexually conservative households have strong negative feelings about pornography, many of those people continue to watch porn and then feel guilty, ashamed, and angry at their behavior.
Therefore, what people think is porn addiction, is actually a conflict of values that makes you feel ashamed.
A 2020 study by the APA supported this notion and found that people’s cultural, moral, or religious beliefs may lead them to believe they’re addicted to porn, even if they don’t actually watch a lot of it.
Another 2015 study found that perceived addiction to Internet pornography, but not pornography use itself, was uniquely related to the experience of psychological distress. This suggests that simply believing yourself to be addicted, and the very idea that porn addiction exists could be a major cause of the anxiety that some people experience when viewing porn.
Nicole Prause explains, “the best predictor of distress about your own porn viewing is having a conservative or religious upbringing, and this distress appears to disappear on its own without intervention in longitudinal studies (i.e., people tend to grow out of their worry naturally as they understand sexuality better).”
First, is it affecting your daily life?
If you’re questioning your relationship to porn, the first thing to ask yourself is, is it affecting your daily life?
The Kinsey Institute survey found 9 percent of porn viewers said they had tried unsuccessfully to stop – do you think you could stop if you wanted to?
Porn may be considered a problem if…
- It’s jeopardizing your personal relationships
- You’re engaging in risky behavior to watch it, such as watching it at work
- It’s negatively impacting your ability to have sex with your partner
- You feel like you can’t stop watching it, despite wanting to
- You neglect personal care to watch porn
- You lose interest in other activities
“The very idea that porn addiction exists could be a major source of the anxiety that some people experience when viewing porn”
If you think you’re watching too much porn
While for most people, watching porn has little negative effect. For others, watching porn can trigger an internal conflict and personal struggles.
If your relationship to porn is interfering with your daily life, goals, or values, there are a number of things you can do.
Examine your values around porn
As discussed, one of the biggest problems for some porn users is shame. For this reason it’s important to first consider your values and if the adult content you’re watching aligns with them.
If you believe that porn is inherently wrong, immoral, sexist, objectifying, unethical, etc. then it’s unsurprisingly going to leave you feeling guilty or bad after watching it. Perhaps porn makes you feel uncomfortable because you’re not completely sure under what conditions the film was made in, or you don’t know the ages of the performers. Maybe you’re not sure what genre of porn you like to watch, but wading through the free tube sites leaves you feeling uncomfortable. Changing your porn viewing habits to match your wider values may help you overcome these feelings.
Ask yourself the following:
- Is the porn you’re watching compromising your values in some way?
- What are your sexual values? What type of sex do you want to see on camera?
- Do you believe that sex work is work? If so, are you willing to pay for your porn?
- How else are you learning about sex? Are you reading, watching, and absorbing from a wide range of sexual materials?
- Do you feel as though you need to watch porn in secret or hide it from your partner?
Feeling shame causes distress, not porn itself. If you recognize that watching porn is a fun form of entertainment and a way for you to get turned on, then it shouldn’t have any negative consequences for your mental health. Read our guide to ethical porn to learn more about watching porn that aligns with your values.
Learn how to masturbate without porn
If you feel like you are reliant on porn to self-pleasure, it may be time to develop a mindful masturbation practice.
Start watching pornography but turn it off after a few minutes. Continue to masturbate using your imagination to finish the scene or think about other erotic scenarios. Gradually reduce the minutes that you watch porn for during your masturbation practice until you feel less reliant on it and can self-pleasure using your imagination only.
Another great practice for this is a mindful guided masturbation. Try the guided masturbations on afterglow.
Try the Pleasure Your Pussy guided masturbation on afterglow
Set a limit
Set a daily or weekly limit on your porn use. This could mean setting a 30-minute timer when you start watching porn to stop yourself being sucked into video after video – especially important on the tube sites where the algorithm may serve you up a video that they think you’ll be interested in. You could also set a two-hour limit for the week, or only watch porn on weekends. There’s no one right answer, so experiment with different guidelines and see what works for you.
Think about your feelings before you start watching
We watch porn for a lot of reasons. The most obvious being because we’re horny, but there are more complex reasons too such as when we’re feeling angry, sad, lonely or frustrated. Before you start watching porn, do a check-in with yourself to see why you’re watching it and if there is another feeling you’re trying to bury. If you suspect there is, then take some deep breaths and think if there is another way to soothe the feeling. Can you call a friend or take a walk? You could try setting a ground rule for yourself that you’ll only watch porn when you’re in a good mood.
Speak to a therapist
Consider reaching out to a trusted clinician, mental health professional, or sex therapist who may be able to help you.
Be wary that therapists too hold varying views on pornography, so you should aim to choose a therapist whose values align with your own. You can interview the therapist about their beliefs and values before committing to treatment. AASECT offer a list of certified sex therapists who conduct sex-positive and research-based treatment.
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