If you’ve struggled with an addiction, it can often be hard to assess what is actually happening to your brain or body as your condition develops. The same rings true for porn addiction. Because porn addiction is only just beginning to be understood, there appears to be less concrete research into the effects that it has on the body and brain. Research regarding substance and drug addiction has helped people better understand their conditions and the potential impact of their problem
Fortunately, there are a few instances of good research that has been conducted on pornography addiction. This has helped us better understand the true impact of porn addiction. It’s important to consider this research when you first begin looking at your porn addiction. As you will see, there is clear evidence that overexposure to porn creates serious problems in people’s wellbeing.
While pornography addiction continues to remain without an official addiction designation by most major medical bodies, the results of many studies are clear – overconsumption can lead to a form of addiction. Let’s take a look at this information in further detail throughout this article.
Topics Covered
Research Examples
In this portion of the article, we’re going to take a deeper look at some research that has been conducted on those who feel they suffer from porn addiction. Make sure to check out each example to better understand different ways porn may be impacting your body or brain.
Brain Triggers
In 2014, researchers at Cambridge University conducts a study in which they compared the activity of the brain between different forms of addiction. They monitored how drug addicts’ brains reacted to drug intake, as well as how porn addicts’ brains reacted to viewing pornography. What they found was astonishing – it appears that the two different brain triggers reacted very similarly across both forms of addiction.
While this alone is not enough proof to designate porn addiction as a clinical addiction, it does help us better understand the very real effect that porn has on the human brain. It also helps us better understand why so many people find it next to impossible to quit consuming porn.
Shame (Self-Assessment)
Another recent study also found that those who watched pornography found their consumption to be ‘problematic.’ A survey of college aged men found that 20-60% thought their pornography consumption was an issue. While this doesn’t tell us anything about how the brain reacts to porn, it does indicate that people feel uncomfortable with the amount of porn that they’re consuming.
One of the biggest problems that prevents substance and drug addicts from beating their addiction is the shame that comes with it. This study indicates that shame is also a by-product of porn addiction. This level of shame can result in people leading secret lives in order to consume porn. It can also result in individuals feeling depressed or anxious about their consumption, which can in turn have negative health consequences.
SADDness comes from the acronym SADD – sexual attention deficit disorder. The research behind this term indicates that people who consume large amounts of porn eventually have to increase the volume and graphicness of the porn they watch. In this instance, subjects appear to become sexually dissatisfied with previous forms of porn. They are in effect chasing a high that they cannot reach. This eventually leads to sexual dissatisfaction and a range of other problems that carry serious consequences. We have more information on this topic in another one of our blog posts.
Societal Issues
Witherspoon Institute ran a study that looked at the potential issues that may end up resulting from the widespread problem of porn addition. They assessed the amount of porn American were consuming and took information from around 50 different studies to come to a series of conclusions about the potential societal impacts this phenomenon might create.
The findings are extremely troubling. Some of the more notable conclusions are discussed below:
Increase in Hostility in Younger Men
There are indications that increased porn use in young teenagers is resulting in aggression, violence, and a range of other behavioral issues that may result in serious issues for those around them.
Increase in Expectations from Women
The findings indicate that women in the modern era face higher levels of sexual expectation than previous generations. This includes ‘hard-core’ sex and other demeaning acts that may leave women feeling uncomfortable. These types of changes in sex can have serious societal consequences.
Relationships Harder to Maintain
There is also an indication that pornography may eventually be at fault for many broken marriages and relationships. There is often the potential for people to feel dissatisfied on both ends of a relationship if it involves pornography.
Verdict
As you can see, there is a serious amount of hard research that has been conducted on pornography addiction. Addiction specialists have begun to take this problem very seriously – the internet has made in a national problem. While much of this research is still preliminary, it does show that there is considerable reason to take your porn addiction seriously. Whether or not it is classified as an addiction officially should not be a concern of yours. If you’re addicted to porn, you know how much of an impact it is having on your life.
Hopefully more research continues to be conducted to help those who suffer from porn addiction better understand the disease. In addition, if it is eventually classified as a true illness, more healthcare resources will be devoted to helping those who have porn addictions. Drug and substance abuse has been the focus of many studies for decades, which means it currently has more of a solid ground to stand on.
If you need more information on porn addiction, make sure to have a look through the rest of our site. We’ve compiled a ton of interesting information that can help you better understand the problems you’re facing. It’s not worth trying to combat this issue alone. Our blog posts cover a range of different useful subjects.