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Here are a few SHOCKING truths about modern porn addiction that everyone should know.
By Compulsion Solutions — Written on Dec 14, 2020
When you’re at work, at the gym, the subway, on an airplane, look around, there are most likely people nearby who need porn addiction help.
They could be friends, co-workers, relatives, or even your teenage children.
And what about you? Are you sure you don’t need porn addiction therapy?
Here are a few shocking porn truths everyone should know:
1. Porn Is Everywhere …
Technology today makes porn easy and accessible 24-7. It's porn on demand—anywhere, anytime, anyplace — any kind of extreme sex act that can be imagined.
And it can be viewed secretly. The guy sitting across from you looking at his cell phone could be watching porn.
It's no longer necessary to surreptitiously slip into a sleazy movie house or porn theater to find porn. You don't have to creep into the backroom of a video shop or "adult" bookstore.
According to George Collins, internationally recognized expert on sex and porn addiction and president of Neulia.com, a porn-addiction treatment website, "the crazy, easy access to porn on computers, tablets, and cell phones makes it ridiculously simple to fall into the destructive land of compulsive porn viewing."
2. … And (Just About) Everyone Is Watching
Today’s reality is this: more than half of American men look at porn regularly. A study puts that number at 64 percent. International studies have cited porn usage ranging from 50 to 99 percent among men and 30 to 86 percent for women.
According to neuroscientists Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam in their recently published A Billion Wicked Thoughts, there were fewer than 90 porn magazines published in the U.S. in the 90s prior the wide public usage of the Internet.
By 2008, approximately 100 million men in North America were logging onto the Internet for porn. Just since the beginning of 2015, there have been over 1.1 billion searches (yes, BILLION) for pornography.
Women are viewing porn too. According to a Pew Research Center report from 2010, 2 percent of women said they watched adult videos online.
More recently, that figure was up to 8 percent.
Still, men are 543 percent more likely to look at porn that women are, meaning it’s usually guys who need porn addiction help.
And it’s not just grownups who are at risk: 93 percent of boys and 62 percent of girls are exposed to Internet porn before the age of 18. Have you checked your teen’s Internet use lately?
It's statistically likely that you or someone you know, even your child or teen, may be a candidate for porn addiction therapy — and you don’t know it.
3. Porn Is TOTALLY Addictive
Of course, not all of the millions of Americans who regularly view porn will become sex or porn addicts.
But studies have concluded that a large percentage of men will gradually be unable to control their porn use.
For example in a recent survey, 77 percent of men admit to watching porn at work and 10 percent of all adults admit to having addiction to online porn.
And just like some alcohol and drug users, a frequent porn viewer can become desensitized and end up needing more and more (and more graphic) stimulation to achieve the same amount of pleasure as when he first started.
4. Porn Use Can Become a Coping Mechanism — Satisfying An Emotional Need
With porn addiction, typically there's an emotional need that's coped with through watching pornography — a need that can't truly be addressed by watching porn.
Like all addictive behaviors, “You can’t get enough of what won’t satisfy you,” says sex addiction expert George Collins.
The natural pleasure of having an orgasm and of connected, intimate sex gets co-opted and used as a distraction.
But the distraction never lasts. Porn and orgasm get used to avoiding dealing with fear, shame, pain, self-doubt, judgment, criticism, and/or anger.
And the user ends up utterly miserable. What often happens is that the “dosage” gradually increases and the user becomes afflicted with a sexual addiction.
5. Porn Addicts Get Caught In A Shame Spiral
Of the millions who have a porn addiction problem, most are plagued by guilt and shame.
They can’t control their porn usage, and they feel bad about how much time and/or money they waste on it.
To reduce the feelings of shame and guilt, the individual turns to, yes, porn. So a cycle is created. The only way to end this cycle is with porn addiction help.
Help Is Available, And It Works!
Pornography addiction help comes in a few forms: There’s private counseling, in-person group meetings, and online courses.
There are some distinct advantages to online porn addiction therapy, including convenience, total privacy, and cost-effectiveness.
For example, a spouse or even a teenage son can complete online treatment with no one at work or school knowing.
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George Collins is the founder and director of Compulsion Solutions. An acknowledged national expert on sex addiction and porn addiction, George knows sex addiction first hand. He lived "the life" and got over it. Author of a best-selling book on sex and porn addiction, Breaking the Cycle: Free Yourself From Sex Addiction, Porn Obsession, and Shame.
This article was originally published at neulia.com. Reprinted with permission from the author.