Watching porn isn’t really all that bad. But when you’re already addicted to it, you can end up suffering a lot. Just like with any other addiction, porn addiction can also result in various psychological, social, and physical consequences that can do you a lot of harm.

Porn addiction is actually a form of compulsive sexual behavior disorder, which means you’re no longer able to control the intense urge to watch porn. Read on to find out how you can spot porn addiction and what it can do to you.

What Causes Porn Addiction?

Dopamine, more popularly known as the feel-good neurotransmitter, plays a huge role in porn addiction. Whenever you’re watching porn or actually having sex, your body releases a flood of dopamine, which is why you feel a lot of pleasure when engaging in both activities.

But aside from making you feel good, dopamine also makes you feel a sense of craving. This makes you want to do it again and again. Plus, your body also releases norepinephrine which makes you feel alert and focused on the object of your sexual pleasure.

Vasopressin and oxytocin are also released, and they strengthen your mental association of porn and sexual pleasure. And if you do masturbate while watching porn, you’ll feel a wave of pleasure coursing through your body as endorphins are released when you orgasm. This actually makes the association between porn and sexual pleasure stronger.

There are also psychological factors at play. Those who are most at risk of becoming addicted to porn are the ones who watch it in order to avoid or escape from negative emotions and memories like sadness, traumatic memories, unhappiness, loss, or loneliness.

What are the Common Symptoms of Porn Addiction?

Addiction actually has several stages, and they apply to porn addiction as well. At first, there’s initiation, followed by experimentation. As you get more and more used to it, you do it more regularly. Regular use is then followed by problem use, and dependence is the last stage.

People who watch porn but are not addicted to it usually fall under the first two stages. You’re in the first stage when you’ve experienced watching porn, but it doesn’t really any significant bearing to you. Stage two is when you begin to feel more curious and interested in watching porn, but it still doesn’t have any significant effect on your life.

Stage three is when problems may start cropping up because that’s when you start feeling compelled to do it. And as you feel more compelled to watch porn, soft porn no longer gives you as much satisfaction and you start craving for hard porn.

Exposure to more extreme forms of pornography happens during stage four. And this is also the stage when sexual fantasies start to affect your daily functioning and everyday life. If you’ve experienced coming to work late because you stayed up too late watching porn, you may already be in the fourth stage.

People who are in the fifth stage of porn addiction are aware that there’s already something wrong with their behavior. This is the stage when they try to stop themselves from watching porn because they know it’s already impacting their daily lives. Unfortunately, at this stage, the withdrawal symptoms are also taking a toll on them.

If you can’t break free from porn addiction when you’re already at stage five, then there’s a good chance that your addiction will worsen, and so will your symptoms and the effects of porn addiction in your daily life.

At stage six, your behavior, social life, and personal relationships will suffer because your life will already be dominated by porn. You no longer care about interacting with others or spending time with your family and friends because you just want to devote all your time to watching porn. And you even forgo sleep, so your physical health suffers as well.

At the most extreme end of porn addiction, stage seven is when you regularly watch extreme forms of pornography, including illegal forms of pornography. When you’re already in this stage, you no longer care about any legal consequences that may result from your behavior.

Of course, as a disorder with numerous negative consequences, it’s best to seek treatment, so you can get help with your addiction. You should also consider that porn addiction can make you impotent, which is another reason why you should get treated.

How Does Porn Addiction Cause Erectile Dysfunction?

Normally, an erection occurs as a result of physical, emotional, and mental sexual stimulation. However, when you’re addicted to porn, it can interfere with how your brain processes sexual stimuli, thus preventing you from getting an erection.

If your brain only associates sexual pleasure with pornography, then your nervous system may fail to respond when someone is actually trying to stimulate you sexually. Even if your partner is caressing your penis or giving you oral sex, your brain may fail to recognize that as something that’s pleasurable, so it won’t send the signals to initiate an erection.

Even if you don’t feel any distress over it, imagine how your partner would feel if she can’t get you to become erect after all her hard work, and she has to wait for you to become hard as you masturbate while you’re watching porn. That can cause distress for your partner and put a lot of strain on your relationship.

If you feel like you can only get a hard-on with your partner when you’re watching porn, that could already be a sign of porn addiction. More importantly, you could already be suffering from psychogenic erectile dysfunction.

Treatment Options

As with any other type of dependence, porn addiction can also be treated. Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most common form of treatment for porn addiction. If you feel that you’re already having problems controlling your urge to watch porn, or if the time you spend watching porn is already affecting your daily life, it’s best to consult a therapist.

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