Having an addiction to porn means an unhealthy relationship has grown between an individual and the sexualized media they consume. Here are some other things to know about porn addiction:
Porn Is Easily Accessible
It doesn’t take a shady trip to a darkened store front purchasing items in black plastic bags to buy porn anymore. Porn is everywhere. Porn can be accessed from any connection to the internet on a laptop, computer, smartphone, tablet, or any other device. Porn is a multi billion dollar industry.  All it takes is an email address and an age verification to access porn. Like stumbling into a first drink or hit of drugs, porn can just happen to people out of curiosity.
While Porn Addiction Isn’t A Diagnosis, Many Experience It As Real
Recently, there has been controversy as to whether or not porn addiction is real. Clinical psychologists and the American Psychological Association has concluded that sex addiction and porn addiction are not clinical diagnoses. However, to the thousands of people who struggle with sexually related impulses, the addiction feels very real. The obsessive need to watch porn can take over someone’s life, causing problems in relationships, jobs, and more.
Porn Addiction Is Non-Gendered
Stereotypically, porn addiction is stigmatized to be a male-centric disorder. However, plenty of women suffer from porn addiction as well. Porn has a lengthy list of categories, appealing to many kinds of people.
Porn Addicts Can’t Have Real Sex During Their Addiction
The fantastical world of pornographic sex is unrealistic in many ways. Consuming an excess amount of porn makes it difficult for porn addicts to relate to real life human partners in real life human sex. Physical and emotional intimacy simply does not feel as pleasurable.
Recovery From Porn Addiction
Recovery from any kind of sex related addiction requires a complete overhaul on one’s relationship with sex. A loved one will have to deeply analyze what sexual activity has meant to them and what they want it to mean to them in the future. Their habits and behaviors have caused them to develop a certain sexual identity which they now realize they have the power to change. For some, recovery from porn addiction might require time spent abstinent in regards to sex.
Recovery from any sex related addiction does not mandate sexual abstinence. It is entirely possible, and is often the goal, for someone with porn addiction to be able to have regular, healthy, intimate, sex again. Porn is often a coping mechanism for deeper underlying issues.
Treatment and therapy can help with discovering what lies beneath the obsessive and impulsive need for porn and heal the addiction. Avalon By The Sea offers primary care treatment for process addictions including porn addiction. For a private consultation and more information on our residential treatment programs, call 1 888-958-7511.
