Signs of a Porn Addiction
Addictions to pornography can be very challenging to identify because viewing the material is usually a solitary activity. Someone in your life might have a serious problem with pornography if they:
- Spend an excessive amount of time viewing porn. This person might watch porn for many hours each day.
- Cannot function as they previously did because porn is consuming their life. Rather than going to work or school, they are staying at home watching porn.
- View porn in public. These people may start viewing porn nonchalantly in bars, restaurants, or clubs without thinking this behavior breaks social norms.
- Watch porn at work. Usually, even a person engrossed in the life of porn can see viewing the material at work is never appropriate, so a person engaging in this behavior will be addicted to porn.
- Choose porn over their real relationships. An addicted person will begin to value their rituals and time with porn over real-life relationships.
- Cannot see how porn is negatively affecting their life. With a strong sense of denial, they may think you are making a big deal about nothing as they are convinced porn is not a problem.
- Decrease their ability to take care of themselves. People addicted to porn may put less energy toward eating well, exercising, hygiene, and sleep resulting in a decline in health and physical appearance.
- Start viewing more illicit or deviant porn variations. Some people with excessive porn viewing will tire of standard videos and seek the exhilaration of more violent, aggressive, or unusual stimulation.
- Increase their secrecy. To avoid having their behaviors detected by family, friends, and coworkers, porn addicts will be vague and secretive to hide their viewing habits.
- Are often late or fail to follow through with plans completely. Watching porn forces people to lose track of time, leading to decreased punctuality and increased forgetfulness.
Unfortunately, there is no standardized test to determine the presence or intensity of the pornography addiction. One must look at the above signs and decide for themselves if addiction is a problem for their loved one.
Ask questions of your loved one and their viewing habits, but just remember, the urge to minimize their behaviors in an attempt to maintain their patterns will skew their reports. You may need to take additional action to find out more about their use.
Am I Addicted to Porn? Self-Identifying a Porn Addiction
So, you have been watching porn. How do you know if you have crossed the line separating appropriate from inappropriate?
In many ways, noting your own porn addiction is even more challenging than discovering the addiction of others. When reviewing your symptoms, you must aim to be as open and honest as possible without unintentionally deceiving yourself.
You may have a porn addiction if you resemble any of the previously listed signs. You should also look out for:
- Feeling detached, disconnected, or bored with relationships in your life
- Strong feelings of guilt and shame that come during or immediately after your viewing
- Attempts to cut back or completely end your porn only to relapse and start viewing again
- Frequent arguments, lying, or deception with your loved ones regarding your porn use
- Making excuses or finding ways to justify your porn use to yourself or others in your life
- Spending tremendous amounts of money on pornography content or subscriptions
- Viewing or attempting to view anything that is illegal
Understandably, the process of identifying and accepting your addiction is complex. Because of this, it is always helpful to consult with an honest and trusted friend throughout the process.
Letting someone know your concerns can help to decrease the secrecy of the addiction and add and another perspective to help gather information. Your loved one may do a lot to confirm or deny pornography is a problem in your life.
The Stages of Porn Addiction
You might think something as serious as porn addiction will have a number of separate and easily identifiable stages, but this is rarely the case. Each person’s journey from first use to complete addiction is individualistic and unique.
One person may take only a few weeks to become addicted to porn. What was first born out of curiosity quickly begins to take control of this person’s thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Another person might take a much slower progression from first use to full-fledged addiction. Perhaps this person began watching pornography in his teen years but only began to experience symptoms of addiction after his divorce.
Since addictions are difficult to identify, there is always a fine line between behavior that people would consider “normal” and behaviors considered “abnormal.” Comparing the behaviors of yourself or a loved one to others with porn addictions may only complicate matters.
Rather than getting overly focused on the stage of porn addiction, consider the impact porn is having on the person’s life. If porn is an issue, it could mean addiction.
