What is Porn Addiction?
Porn addiction, sometimes referred to as pornography addiction or pornography abuse, is a commonly used term for Compulsive Sexual Behaviour Disorder (CSBD).
CSBD describes persistent, repetitive sexual behaviours – including porn use – that feel out of control and continue despite negative consequences. Porn addiction occurs when a person develops a compulsive reliance on viewing porn.
Being addicted to porn can interfere with relationships, work, education, and overall mental wellbeing.
Many people underestimate the impact of porn addiction, but CSBD is estimated to affect around 5% of the global population. It can cause long-term psychological and social consequences.
Signs You Might Be Addicted to Porn
A porn addict may struggle to control their pornography use despite negative effects. Common signs include:
- Spending increasing amounts of time viewing porn online
- Neglecting responsibilities at work, school, or home
- Feeling guilt, shame, or anxiety due to the amount of time spent viewing porn (at the expense of other activities)
- Feeling the need to view more novel content to achieve the same effect (content you may not actually want to view)
Recognising these signs early is critical for seeking help and preventing further damaging consequences due to porn addiction.
Harmful Consequences of Porn Addiction
The consequences can be severe, affecting multiple areas of life:
- Mental health: Anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.
- Relationships: Intimacy problems, trust issues, and communication breakdown.
- Work or education: Reduced focus, procrastination, and performance decline.
- Sexual difficulties: Dysfunction, reduced arousal and low libido.
Understanding the impact of porn addiction helps motivate individuals to seek treatment before issues worsen.
Side Effects
Mental health issues
Depression, anxiety and low self-esteem, social withdrawal or isolation.
Relationship challenges
Difficulty forming real-life connections and increased conflict in existing relationships, erectile dysfunction or sexual desensitisation.
Escalation
Escalating to spending more time watching porn and viewing more novel content, even though you don’t enjoy it or want to.
How to Get Help for Porn Addiction
If you are struggling with pornography use, there are several options for porn addiction help:
Getting Confidential Help
Accessing confidential help like Pivotal Recovery or The Laurel Centre.
Treatment Options
Effective porn addiction treatment may include:
- Individual counselling or therapy sessions with a trained professional
- Structured online recovery programmes for guided support.
- Peer support groups and accountability partnerships.
Each person’s journey is unique, so treatment is often tailored to individual needs. It’s important that treatment not only addresses the unwanted behaviours, but also the underlying issues such as depression, anxiety or trauma. Porn addiction is often a symptom of deeper issues.
Take the First Step Today
Recovery is possible. By recognising the signs, understanding the negative consequences, and seeking the right support, you can regain control of your life and relationships.
Reach out today for confidential support and explore our proven treatment options.
Understanding Porn Addiction
Technically, “porn addiction” is not a recognised medical diagnosis. The term most professionals use is Compulsive Sexual Behaviour Disorder (CSBD), which is listed in the ICD-11 as an impulse control disorder. CSBD describes persistent, repetitive sexual behaviours – including pornography use – that feel out of control and continue despite negative consequences.
That said, many people still use the term porn addiction because it captures their lived experience: feeling hooked, unable to stop, and caught in a cycle that damages relationships, self-esteem, or day-to-day life.
Research into how pornography affects the brain and whether it should be classed in the same way as other behavioural addictions is still ongoing. So, while “porn addiction” isn’t a formal diagnosis, the struggles people describe are very real, and the term remains a useful way to talk about a genuine problem.
Signs include increased viewing, neglecting responsibilities, escalating to more novel content, emotional distress, and difficulty stopping despite negative consequences. Symptoms can include relationship difficulties, anxiety, depression, social withdrawal, sexual dysfunction, inability to control usage, and obsessive thoughts about pornography.
Porn becomes an addiction when it is compulsive, interferes with daily life, and persists despite negative consequences. Frequency alone does not determine addiction; a key factor is loss of control. Ultimately, porn becomes a problem when it isn’t enjoyable anymore. The behaviours are unwanted and despite wanting to stop, you find you aren’t able to.
There is no single “cure,” but treatment options include therapy, structured recovery programmes, support groups, and lifestyle changes. It’s absolutely crucial that any underlying issues are also addressed, as well as behaviour change. Recovery focuses on reducing compulsive use and building healthier coping strategies.
Yes. Being addicted to porn can affect your personal and professional life, mental health, and relationships. Seeking help is important for long-term recovery.
Many people watch porn on a semi-regular basis and experience no problems. But for some, it can develop into addiction which comes with negative consequences including mental health and relationship issues. Ultimately, it is bad if you are unhappy and it is having a negative impact on your life.
Common side effects include social isolation, decreased motivation, emotional distress, sexual dysfunction and desensitisation to sexual stimuli. Many report problems in their relationships including conflict and difficulty forming new connections. It can also escalate compulsive behaviours over time.
Estimates vary, but research suggests 5% of the global population and 4.6% of the UK population meet the criteria for CSBD. Exact numbers are hard to determine due to stigma and underreporting.
It’s important to remember that while some people may meet the diagnostic criteria for CSBD, many others who are at the milder end still struggle with problematic or compulsive porn use.
Porn addiction is a compulsive reliance on pornography that interferes with daily life, relationships, and mental health. It is characterised by an inability to control viewing despite negative consequences.
Effects of porn addiction can include relationship difficulties, social withdrawal, anxiety, depression, sexual dysfunction and reduced productivity at work or school. It may also impact self-esteem and emotional wellbeing.
Research suggests that porn can be addictive due to the influence of dopamine in the brain’s reward centre. Furthermore, online algorithms appear to manipulate and strengthen these pathways fuelling addictive behaviour.