Porn Addiction Is A Real Thing, And We Should Know About It

It is the middle of the night and you are suddenly overtaken by the urge to indulge in some "self love" and help yourself to some pornographic movies. You satiate yourself. After a while, you are overtaken by the urge again, even if you decide to not masturbate this time. It is a compulsive, all consuming desire to simply watch some porn. A part of your brain doesn't understand why this is happening, but you can't care more because you are already on the search tab.

Many of us don't even realise when the shift happens - the shift from watching porn for entertainment (for the lack of a better word) to watching porn as a compulsive obsessive need , sometimes inexplicably.

And we don't realise when we go into the zone where we classify as porn addicts. In simple terms, porn addiction is when you are drawn to watch pornographic content compulsively. The degree may vary from person to person but the addiction is characterised by an irresistible urge to watch porn so much so that it hampers other aspects of your life - social commitments, relationships, work, etc.

Porn addiction also brings along with it a shame of the actions and isolation from the society which then leads to falling apart of other relationships.

There is lack of interest in other activities in life. One finds it hard to concentrate in things because the mind is elsewhere. The addiction also affects your regular sex life, in the fact that you are sometimes not aroused by a partner, aren't able to reach an orgasm, or prematurely ejaculate.

All in all, your life becomes dysfunctional.

The motivation to watch all this porn may not even be sexual; most of the times it is to fight some emotional instability in life that people turn to this idea of "letting loose". They may be suffering from depression, low self esteem, anxiety, and the likes. Watching porn releases dopamine, oxytocin, adrenaline, serotonin, and endorphins - biochemicals that contribute to mood elevation. That is how porn addiction works as a way to ease the emotional pain and not to end it.

So how does one treat it?

The first step, like every other such emotional and mental issue, is to accept that you have a problem. Thought patterns and behaviours need to be changed, and therefore cognitive behavioural therapy is used to treat porn addiction by many professional therapists.

Now there are also phone applications that help you prevent and fight porn addiction.

So in case, you think you may be suffering from porn addiction or know someone who might be, like any other mental health issue it needs to be addressed.

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