Is Porn Addiction Real?

Sasquatch, the Tooth Fairy, the Loch Ness Monster, porn addiction. Are any of these actually real? While some things on this list may be suspect, if you’re watching porn over and over again and can’t seem to stop, the thought of having a porn addiction may feel very real. In fact, Googling “is porn addiction real?” likely brought you here. 

You may be wondering how you got to this point. After all, it’s just porn. It’s not like you’re binge drinking or doing drugs. Is porn addictive, for real? It’s time for actual answers. If you’re compulsively watching porn on a regular basis, you need to know why—and what you can do about it.

Is Porn Addiction Real? YES

Do a little internet research and you’ll find articles out there that say porn addiction isn’t real. If you look up the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR), compulsive porn consumption isn’t officially classified as a mental disorder or behavioral addiction. 

However, as technology evolves and science begins to grasp porn’s prevalence in society today, there is an ever-growing body of research showing that porn addiction is a very real struggle, shares Fightthenewdrug.org. Porn consumption has become much more ubiquitous in the United States with the internet and smartphones permeating our daily lives. In fact, over 28,000 people are watching porn this very second as you’re reading this, explains Covenant Eyes. 

So, is porn addiction real? At Integrative Life Center, we’ve seen firsthand how porn addiction can take hold of people’s lives. It may start out as watching porn content here and there. But after a while, it can become a regular habit—so much that people become dependent on porn in their daily lives. Soon, they’re saying no to hobbies, the people they love, and their personal and work responsibilities in favor of watching porn all the time. They may try to learn how to stop watching porn on their own, but they can’t—because their porn consumption has evolved into compulsive sexual behavior and a real addiction. 

Why is Porn Addictive?

Exactly what causes porn addiction? While you may think it’s the pornographic content itself, the answers to why is porn addictive go much deeper than that—well into our brains and how they work, as well as the trauma from our pasts.

The various types of trauma we experience in our lives is often at the root of any addiction, from drugs and alcohol to eating disorders and porn. Yet it’s what we do to cope with that trauma that really entrenches our addictions in our brains. 

When we experience trauma, whether it’s a negative outcome that happens to us in the moment or a traumatic memory from our past (even adverse childhood experiences), we seek relief by engaging in activities that make us feel better. Those feel-good activities feel good to us because of the chemical our brains release, called dopamine (also known as the pleasure chemical). When we do something that causes us to release dopamine in our brains, we perceive it as enjoyable and want to seek out ways to do the activity again. When trauma resurfaces in the future, we seek out those pleasurable activities to find relief from it—and the cycle continues.

This trauma-dopamine connection works the same in drug and alcohol addictions as it does with a sex or porn addiction. Your brain on porn is regularly flooded with dopamine. As you watch porn, your brain releases dopamine and associates pornography with pleasure, so you want to watch it again. 

When Dopamine is Too Much of a Good Thing

What do you do the next time you’re stressed, sad, or angry? You’ll reach for the convenient activity that gives you lots of dopamine. And because of technology, it’s so easy to watch porn, making it the preferred choice for your “feel good” experience over and over again. Yet dopamine can end up being too much of a good thing. So the more you watch porn, over time, the less dopamine rush you get. So you end up needing to watch even more porn to achieve the same feel-good experience or “high” you used to early on. Before you know it, you’re addicted to porn and watching it all the time to get that dopamine hit you need to deal with your trauma. 

To recap—is porn addiction real? Yes. And what causes porn addiction? Trauma and dopamine. But how can you know if you’re addicted? 

Porn Addiction Symptoms: What to Look Out For

Watching porn doesn’t mean you’ll become addicted. But it can happen, even when you don’t expect it. If you’re concerned that your porn consumption may have become porn addiction (also known as hypersexuality disorder), here are some common porn addiction symptoms to look out for:

• All-consuming thoughts of watching pornography
• Excessive time spent consuming porn
• Struggles with depression, anxiety, shame, insomnia, and other mental health disorders due to your porn consumption
• Watching porn (or masturbating) in risky environments, such as at work, in school, or in public places
• Neglecting responsibilities and relationships in favor of porn
• Continuing to watch porn in spite of any negative consequences
• Trying to quit porn but being unable to stop, especially due to porn withdrawal symptoms

The Fallout of Porn Addiction

While it’s tough to be asking is porn addiction real when you’re in the throes of it, the ramifications of porn addiction go beyond the addiction itself. If your porn addiction continues long-term, you could deal with a variety of difficult consequences, including:

• Relationship Challenges: As your porn addiction grows, you can prioritize it over your spouse, family, and friends, ignoring their needs. The shame of porn addiction can also isolate you, leading to love avoidant tendencies and fear of intimacy. 
• Sexual Dysfunction: Porn and erectile dysfunction is a real thing. The more porn you watch, the more desensitized you get to sexual stimuli, leading to lower satisfaction with your sex life. 
• Missing Out on True Pleasure and Joy: When stress comes your way, you choose porn over activities that can bring you meaningful pleasure, like your favorite hobbies or spending time with a loved one. Before long, happiness feels unfamiliar. 
• Violence Normalization: Today’s pornographic content often features sexual violence of some kind. That means the more you watch it, the more this kind of violence becomes normalized, to the point where you perceive it as typical, real-life behavior.  

Quit Asking Is Porn Addiction Real and Find Real Recovery Instead

It’s easy to say porn addiction isn’t real or to continue to question it as an actual possibility in your life. But if porn is controlling your life on a daily basis, it’s a very real addiction, so don’t put it in the same category as Sasquatch. Instead, you need to take action and discover how to stop porn addiction for good—and you can accomplish this by seeking professional help.

At Integrative Life Center in Nashville, TN, we take an individualized, comprehensive approach to porn addiction treatment. Combining traditional and experiential therapies, we utilize trauma-informed care to directly address the root causes of your addiction. With our help, you can be empowered to take back your life on your terms—with porn addiction well in the rearview mirror. To get started, complete our porn addiction quiz as a first step or contact our team today. 

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