What is Pornography Addiction?

By John Teng

Like any addiction, when a man or women is viewing pornography to the extent that it has a negative impact on their friends, family, and work, it’s an issue that needs to be addressed.

Pornography addiction is the need to view pornographic material, at the point that it can interfere in one’s life. For example, they must watch a video, hence they are late to work. Or, perhaps they’re talking about porn at work, where it may be frowned upon. Perhaps they’re charging up their credit cards so that their financial well-being may suffer. Pornography may also affect relationships with their partners or spouses.

Since pornography is essentially sexual fantasy, there may be impossible assumptions placed on the shoulders of spouses or partners. Or, perhaps pornography is a substitute to having a healthy relationship with another person, to the point that the other person feels neglected or abused.

Pornography addiction can be a more serious problem in today’s computer world. There are millions of porn sites for the addict to visit. It may even become an issue that the addict never wants to leave home, relying on delivery services to provide food.

Porn addiction can also cause depression, such as drugs or alcohol abuse might. It can cause social isolation—from staying at home all the time—or from friends or family who are horrified that their loves ones are spending all their time with pornography.

This addiction may also hinder their interaction with others. They may subscribe to stereotypes, causing alienation in social situations. Friends may no longer ask them out due to prior embarrassing situations.

The porn-addicted person may even suffer a job loss, caused by decreased productivity at work. Certain careers, such as in schools or law enforcement may frown upon an employee actively participating in pornography viewing, hence the employee may be fired if they’re found to have pornography in their possession.

Men and women may be drawn to pornography as a way to escape the stressors in their lives. They may actively avoid over-eating, and know that drug and alcohol abuse is bad. Instead of reaching for a healthy hobby, they choose pornography instead.

Pornography is easily accessible online. In the past, a person would have to visit a store to purchase a magazine, or visit an X-rated theater to watch a film. Since this access was more difficult, sex addiction wasn’t such an issue a few decades ago. But now, turn on your computer, and a search may bring up some form of pornography.

It may not be chemical abuse, but pornography can also have a negative impact on a person’s life. For the needy person, they may not realize at first that they’re harboring an addiction that can negatively impact their lives.