Porn addiction is thought of as a behavioral addiction that makes people want to keep looking at pornographic content or material, and there are a few surprising porn addiction signs to look out for.
When someone had an addiction to pornography in the past, the primary way they would satisfy their cravings for pornographic content was to watch or store pornographic videos, magazine articles, and photos. Now technology makes accessibility easy and immediate.
It is good to understand the signs of porn addiction for anyone or even other addictions so you can catch it and treat it before lots of the negative consequences show up in your life. There are lots of helpful resources available to give you tools and direction in overcoming your struggle.
What Is Pornography Addiction?
Pornography addiction is a strong desire to see pornography, even though it can be bad for you.
Professionals in health and psychiatry don’t think that compulsive porn use is an “addiction.” However, the signs and symptoms are often very similar to those of behavioral addictions.
It is the negative consequences of the behavior that makes a person addicted to porn.
For people who have porn addiction, they spend a lot of their time watching porn instead of talking to people or doing important things.
Here’s one of the best resources available to help you identify the root cause of your addiction so you can properly treat it.
Typical Signs and Side Effects of Porn Addiction
Having a porn addiction causes problems in a relationship. Yet, many medical and psychiatric professionals don’t think that a strong desire to see or use pornographic material is an addiction.
However, signs and symptoms of porn addiction are like an addiction to drugs or alcohol.
People who have a porn addiction will show different symptoms or signs.
For example, how much pornographic material is available, how long pornography has been a compulsion, and how bad the addiction is will all play a role.
Some symptoms are common in people who are looking for treatment.
Warning signs of porn addiction can include:
- When you keep using porn even after you try to stop (with or without porn addiction treatment), even though you have tried many times.
- Having a strong desire to feed your online porn addiction. People addicted to porn are like people addicted to alcohol, substance abuse, and have urges to watch porn.
- Irritation or anger when told to stop using porn from loved ones, family members, or when seeking professional treatment advice.
- Porn addiction leads to secrecy in relationships, which is bad for people.
- Feeling like one is living a double or secret life because of porn use makes one think they are. As a result, they may feel guilty or ashamed and try very hard to hide their porn viewing from other people.
- You continue to watch porn even if you fall into an unhealthy relationship and break up with someone or lose your job because of it.
It’s hard to keep track of time. Other things are less important than the porn you are watching. It is also possible to find many porn addicts suffer mental health, like reliance on alcohol, substance abuse, and mood disorders, such as depression or anxiety.
Compulsion vs. Addiction
People who work in mental health aren’t able to say for sure that someone is a porn addict. Porn addiction is like a drug addiction. It’s hard to stop watching pornography when you’re addicted to it.
The craving stage is when you’re thinking about or looking forward to watching porn. Treatment centers often view porn as an addiction, as they plan rehab and recovery programs.
Research shows that an addiction to porn can change brain changes in similar ways as does substance abuse.
Here’s a bit more in-depth of the signs you can find when a person has become addicted to porn.
You Can’t Stop
You can’t stop using or viewing pornography, even though you try.
If you can’t stop, you might notice that you spend more and more time on the internet even though people wish to connect to you.
You Want More
It is possible that you will want to see more or that you will crave porn if you haven’t seen it for any length of time.
Your partner might not notice that you’re leaving the room. It’s possible that when you’re asked about your behavior, you’ll come up with an excuse or defend yourself.
You Become Demanding or Angry
Porn addiction might make you think about sex in a way that isn’t real. It’s possible that you’ll become more demanding in the bedroom, get angry easily, or start to break up with your partner.
Many people get angry at their partner when they see big changes in their personality and think they’re not the same person they used to love.
You Feel Physical Pain
You may feel pain because of your porn addiction. This can happen because you keep doing the same physical moves for a long time, or because of the stress that comes from too much computer use.
You might say that your wrist, neck, and back hurt all the time, or that you have headaches.
Distraction
It may be because you have an addiction if you keep getting distracted from different parts of your life. The thought of porn might come up when you’re with friends and family, or if you’re at work.
This can have a big impact on personal and professional life. Sometimes it can make you not want to connect with your partner.
Your Romantic Partner Loses Self-Esteem
When a partner sees their partner isn’t spending as much time with them as they used to, they can feel bad about themselves.
The partner of someone with this hypersexual disorder might wonder about their ability to have sex, what their partner likes, and how they could improve in other areas.
You Lose Satisfaction From Sex
A person who spends a lot of time looking at the bodies and intimate relationships of other people isn’t unusual to compare them. Soon, they may think that their looks and sexual abilities aren’t as good as those of professional sex workers.
Dissatisfaction can also be directed at their partners, who may compare themselves to actors their partner likes to watch, and this can make them unhappy.
People who are addicted to porn may also put a lot of pressure on themselves when they are having sex. This can make their sexual experience very different. While they’re always watching people have sex, this person may find that their sex lives don’t feel as good and there is no sexual satisfaction without viewing porn.
It Can Encourage Mental Health Disorders
Having a heightened appetite for erotic material has been associated with anxiety disorders. In addition, this hypersexual disorder may also cause mood disorders and even substance abuse challenges.
While this is merely speculative, there have also been links drawn to excessive pornographic consumption and erectile plus other sexual dysfunctions.
Sex Addiction and Hypersexual Disorder
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) tried to include porn and sex addiction in its fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which is used by mental health professionals to diagnose and treat mental health problems.
As part of hypersexual disorder, the American Psychological Association (APA) said that it should be added as a subcategory. There was, however, still not enough evidence to back up the diagnosis, so the scientific board came to that conclusion.
Porn addiction isn’t a separate condition, but it has some of the same symptoms as addiction. People who are addicted to porn may have at least two of the four clinical conditions that are linked to addiction.
An activity that makes you want to do it as well as failed attempts to cut down on or control the activity show impaired control. You can also find they cannot finish major jobs or projects or give up trying to do so.
Are Addictive Behaviors Real Addictions?
Some psychiatrists aren’t sure if pornography use addicts should be treated like a person with drug or alcohol addiction. It has both a physical and a mental part, they say. They say that there are changes in brain activity that are very similar to what people who use drugs go through.
Considerations When Choosing Professional Help
The best form of treatment for pornography involves eliminating triggers and urges for porn so there isn’t a constant battle.
Eliminating Your Triggers and Urges to Watch Porn
The best type of individual counseling focuses on helping men effectively deal with their triggers, because without knowing how to identify and eliminate them, you’ll always be vulnerable to another relapse.
For example, let’s say you see an attractive woman at the gym and it triggers you to think sexual thoughts about her. Later on at night it can turn into scrolling on your phone looking at pictures, which eventually leads you to porn. Before you know it, it’s already too late because the temptation is so strong and you mess up again and feel guilty about it.
The key to finding freedom after you’ve identified the trigger is to reprocess it internally in a way that eliminates the power it has over you. You might have any number of different triggers, but the process is the same.
Developing the ability to remove the intensity or emotional pull of your triggers is the only way to become free, because you can’t just avoid triggers of stress at work, quit going to the gym or grocery store, stop watching TV or seeing attractive women when you’re out. So if those external triggers don’t stir up the urge or desire to watch porn or compulsively pursue sex, you won’t ever begin the search in the first place.
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Sam Tielemans, has developed a unique approach to help men reprocess their triggers to eliminate their urges and cravings for pornography, which is often the reason why men end up relapsing, despite their best efforts to stay strong.
If you want help identifying and reprocessing triggers so you find freedom from your compulsive urges, this podcast episode outlines the steps to this approach so you can try it for yourself.
There is Hope!
Many men struggle with pornography, but getting the tools and support you need will help you to overcome it once and for all.
It’s not your fault if you haven’t gotten the right tools if you’ve tried multiple times and have failed because most of the traditional approaches to treating addiction are very ineffective. So make sure you find someone who is qualified to treat addiction so you can get the proper help to find freedom.
