Viewing erotic content like porn and pornographic images is on the rise. In 2019, alone, one of the world's leading porn sites, PornHub, received on average 115 million visits per day.
All that free, readily-accessible on screen erotic content has got some folks thinking they're addicted to it. But is porn addiction real?
Sex addiction has been used in the past by perpetrators of sexual violence as an explanation for their acts of agression. This has been debukned by mental health professionals as this article will go on to discuss.
Is pornography addictive?
Pornography addiction is not recognized by the American Psychological Association (APA) as a mental health problem or disorder, like drug or alcohol addiction.
Moreover, according to the DSM-5 (Manual of Mental Disorders β the world's authoritative guide on psychological disorders) pornography and sex addictions are not a psychological disorder. Some disorders the DSM-5 does recognize are addictions to gambling, alcohol, drugs, and most recently, online gaming.
The reason for this comes down to neurochemistry. While watching porn may activate similar pleasure circuits in the brain as, say, alcohol or heroine, most experts agree that doesn't mean you can become addicted to watching porn in the same way.
That's because addiction to substances, for example, not only activates your brain's pleasure circuits, it actually changes your brain chemistry so that you can no longer release feel-good chemicals like dopamine as effectively without the help of the drug you're addicted to.
Pornography addiction is not real according to leading psychologists β here's when porn can be unhealthy
All that free, readily-accessible on screen erotic content has got some folks thinking they're addicted to it. But is porn addiction real?
Sex addiction has been used in the past by perpetrators of sexual violence as an explanation for their acts of agression. This has been debukned by mental health professionals as this article will go on to discuss.
Is pornography addictive?
Pornography addiction is not recognized by the American Psychological Association (APA) as a mental health problem or disorder, like drug or alcohol addiction.
Moreover, according to the DSM-5 (Manual of Mental Disorders β the world's authoritative guide on psychological disorders) pornography and sex addictions are not a psychological disorder. Some disorders the DSM-5 does recognize are addictions to gambling, alcohol, drugs, and most recently, online gaming.
The reason for this comes down to neurochemistry. While watching porn may activate similar pleasure circuits in the brain as, say, alcohol or heroine, most experts agree that doesn't mean you can become addicted to watching porn in the same way.
That's because addiction to substances, for example, not only activates your brain's pleasure circuits, it actually changes your brain chemistry so that you can no longer release feel-good chemicals like dopamine as effectively without the help of the drug you're addicted to.
Pornography addiction is not real according to leading psychologists β here's when porn can be unhealthy
