So, you were somehow drawn to the topic of this post: “pornography addiction”!!! Remember that pornography, in itself, is not new to the world, nor did it initially bring any harm to human beings.
It is a human expression, appropriate or not, it is a human expression. People who are into certain fetishes like big ass ebony XXX, BBW, or more unusual fetishes like sex attraction to old ladies are basically acting out their sex fantasies. While they can’t satisfy that in real life, they can satisfy it in a lot of porn.
However, what has changed from the past to the present day is the easier access to this type of material and the speed at which the variety of pornographic stimuli is presented.
It was the internet that made this easy, fast, and varied access to pornographic content possible. And, this, combined with a human trait, which we will reveal throughout this post, is what brought about pornography addiction.
To understand this psychological disorder, it is first necessary to understand what pornography is. Pornography, according to Wikipedia, can be defined as any material that arouses sexual thoughts in a vulgar and explicit way.
It is estimated that the phenomenon of pornography has existed since the Paleolithic period, with the statuettes of Venus. And today, pornography is an industry that makes around 100 billion dollars a year.
Remember the data above that states that the porn industry makes a lot of money. And, of course, it is important for it to maintain avid and constant consumers, who spend hours connected to sites with a “varied menu”.
Therefore, to understand a little more about the addiction that mainly affects men, continue reading the article.
What is pornography addiction?
Today, there are no men or women who have never seen pornography. This is due to the easy access that the internet offers us to this type of content.
However, excessive consumption of this material is considered a behavioral addiction. Pornography addiction is characterized by the constant and irresistible search for consuming more and more pornographic content, to the point of causing psychological, physical and social damage.
The classification of pornography addiction as a pathology is highly controversial among psychologists. This is simply because it has not yet been diagnosed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V).
However, a survey conducted in 2014 by the Kinsey Institute in the United States showed that 9% of pornography users said they wanted to stop, but were unable to do so. Despite the small percentage, when the number of people who consume pornography is shown, the number is quite high.
In addition, in a survey conducted in 2000 by American researchers David L. Delmonico, Ron Burg and Al Cooper, 17% of people who access pornographic content on the internet have signs of sexual compulsion.
And most alarmingly, some experts say that when searching for people who have not consumed pornography to serve as a control group in some studies, none of them appeared. In other words, there is no one who has not consumed pornography on the internet.
Causes of pornography addiction
First, it is necessary to understand how addiction works and how it affects the brain.
When a person is addicted to something, their brain releases dopamine, the pleasure hormone, to feed this addiction. This neurotransmitter gives the feeling of freedom, pleasure and satisfaction.
However, in any type of addiction, the more the consumption of the “drug” is repeated, the more stimulus the person needs to maintain the pleasure. This can lead to a search for an increase in the frequency of consumption, varying stimuli so that it brings the same sensation offered at a previous moment.
In this way, everything that happens in the body of a person addicted to alcohol or illicit drugs also happens to the person addicted to pornography.
In addition, we humans have an evolutionary trait that makes us sensitive and easy targets for the porn industry: the Coolidge effect.
Pornography addiction and behavioral therapy
People who have developed an addiction to pornography can seek treatment, as can parents and guardians who are concerned about the frequency of access to pornographic sites by young people. The best way is to seek help from psychologists, sexologists and support groups. Within the scope of psychology, behavioral therapy can be a good help in the treatment of pornography addiction. This therapeutic approach finds effective ways for the client to leave the addiction. This is done through the development/training of social skills, learning and relearning new sources of pleasure that exist, creating goals and self-control tactics. In addition, other types of treatment related to behavioral therapy that are indicated for pornography addiction are: cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy.
