Pornography addiction

The term pornography addiction is used primarily by anti-pornography campaigners to refer to obsessive viewing of pornography without regard to negative consequences.

Not everyone believes that pornography addiction exists, or that the harmful effects ascribed to it are real. The concept of "pornography addiction" is rejected by many libertarians, who argue that the concept is based on unproven ideological assumptions that pornography consumption is bad. Usage of the term is mainly associated with those who believe that pornography is immoral, or that it is having a negative effect on society, such as social and religious conservatives and some feminists.

An Adult Video News article by Lawrence G. Walters, for instance, claims that the phenomenon has been exaggerated to promote a conservative agenda[1].

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of pornography addiction is usually informal. Some groups have created checklists or self-tests by which a person can examine themselves for "signs" of this alleged form of addiction (for example, this one). Common points include:

• Looking forward to one's next on-line session with hopes of attaining sexual arousal
• More interest in masturbation than sexual relations with one's spouse

Dr. Victor Cline mentions a model of pornography addiction with 4 assumed progressive steps:

• Addiction – A person compulsively views pornography.
• Escalation – As time progresses, the addict requires more extreme, more deviant material to get the same effect and satisfy the compulsions.
• Desensitization – The addict loses their perception of what is socially acceptable. Illegal material or those considered taboo, immoral, or repulsive seems "normal."
• Acting out sexually – "...an increasing tendency to act out sexually the behaviors viewed in the pornography, including compulsive promiscuity, exhibitionism, group sex,voyeurism, frequenting massage parlors, having sex with minor children, rape, and inflicting pain on themselves or a partner during sex." (www.setfreeporn.com/progression.htm)

Overcoming addiction

According to the University of Texas at Dallas Student Counseling Center self-help library page on pornography addiction, "One of the great rewards of overcoming a pornography addiction is the ability to be fully committed to another person in a loving way, having nothing to hide and enjoying great sex" [2]. Many pornography addicts have recounted stories of trying to quit, and then, believing they had overcome the addiction, deciding to sample it one more time. For a true addict, one image can be enough to trigger an escalating pornography binge lasting several hours[3].

Numerous websites have been founded to provide support to pornography addicts. Convenant Eyes Internet Accountability, for instance, has created software that allows addicts to link up with an accountability partner, who will automatically receive an emailed report of his internet activity (www.no-porn.com/ce.html). E-cards are also available to help addicts' significant others say, "Please get help for your pornography addiction"[4].

Online pornography addiction

Online pornography addiction is a type of pornography addiction in which the user obtains the pornography through the Internet.

Those who believe in the concept of online pornography addiction argue that it is stronger, and more addictive, than ordinary pornography addiction because of the easy, wide availability and privacy of online pornographic material.

Some proponents of this concept have proposed criteria for "self-diagnosis" of a pornography addiction. One such criterion is this: the user has repeatedly tried to stop viewing online porn for periods of several days, but has been unable to do so for a period of 30 days. Supporters of pornography argue that such a person is afflicted with unnecessary and unnatural shame at a normal and healthy activity, and that their difficulty in quitting is a sign of the difficulty of living against one's natural desires.

Another proposed criterion for diagnosis of online pornography addiction is that the user masturbates in front of the computer, while viewing the online porn. Others argue that this shows great naïveté among advocates of the "addiction" model, since the main use of online pornography, as with all previous types of pornography, is as a masturbation aid.

Allegations of connections between pornography and violence

It has been claimed that a small number of people who view pornography develop addictions which lead to violent and anti-social behavior. Pornography addictions have been linked to the enactments of serious crimes, notably in the cases of Ted Bundy and David Berkowitz. However, these links are highly suspect, since they come primarily from the criminals themselves, who have a vested interest in shifting the blame for their actions. No reputable study has uncovered a link between pornography and violence, including some which hypothesized and expected to prove such a connection, such as those of the Meese Commission.

See also

• addictive behavior
• pictophilia
• philosophy of sex
• sexual addictions
• Celibacy
• Sexual morality
• Craving

Further reading

• The Skinner Box Effect : Sexual Addiction and Online Pornography, Thomas M. Grunder, ISBN 0595093248

External links

• Breaking Pornography Addiction
• Free e-cards for pornography addicts and the people who love them, Fires of Darkness.
• Treatment and Healing of Sexual and Pornographic Addictions – Dr. Victor B. Cline
• Can Intimacy be Found Online? – from pornography recovery website PureIntimacy.org
• Differential Diagnosis of Addictive Sexual Disorders Using the DSM-IV by Richard Irons, M.D. and Jennifer Schneider, M.D., Ph.D.
• The Harmful Effects of Pornography by Paul J. McGeady describes Dr. Victor B. Cline's stages of porn addiction in more detail.
• How I Broke My Sexual Addiction, Exchanged Life.
• The Science Behind Porn Addiction: Senate Counter-Arguments, Lawrence G. Walters, Adult Video News Online, Dec. 2, 2004.
• Alvin Cooper et al.: Sexuality on the Internet: From Sexual Exploration to Pathological Expression
• Overcoming Pornography Addiction, University of Texas at Dallas Student Counseling Center.

For "online pornography addiction":

• Can Intimacy be Found Online? – from pornography recovery website PureIntimacy.org
• Moderated newsgroup: alt.sex.addiction.recovery.moderated
• Toxic Porn, Toxic Sex: A Real Look at Pornography
• Free information about porn and sexual addictions.
• Big Online Business Becoming Big Problem for Many
• The cures for pornography addiction by Rick Doder.
• The Porn Addiction Cycle
• The Porn Factor