Watching pornography is common throughout the world. Some people talk openly about it, and others keep it to themselves. Regardless of how openly it is discussed, the adult entertainment industry is, by some reports, worth about US$97 billion, making it one of the largest media sectors in the world.
People from all walks of life consume porn, and many of these people have healthy sex lives. Many couples even integrate porn into their real-life intimacy.
That said, many people struggle with porn addiction. They consume more porn than most other people, and they can’t stop or even control their urges.
Recovery from porn addiction is possible, and Liberty Home Clinic can offer patients the intense care that a person needs to support them on their recovery journey.
Liberty Home’s treatment options are split between two centres, each focusing on a different part of the recovery journey.
Our primary treatment centre in Cape Town, South Africa, is a residential treatment facility. Patients receive intense treatment and stay for at least 28 days or up to 8 weeks if necessary. We provide first-class treatment that is cost-effective compared to other luxury rehab centres. Our upmarket clinic offers a range of amenities, although patients are only allowed internet access during designated tech slots.
Our secondary centre in Belgium is not a residential treatment facility. Rather, it is a sober living home where residents can learn how to navigate the world without their addiction. For security purposes, the facility is locked down between 22:00 and 7:00 every night, and residents must first complete inpatient care at a different facility. Unlike our South African facility, residents will have consistent access to the internet.
Treating pornography addiction requires a comprehensive treatment plan to help a person change their behaviour. Some of the aspects of our treatment include:
Problematic pornography is the excessive consumption of pornographic material, which can result in negative impacts on an individual’s life. It is characterised by an inability to stop watching porn, even if a person suffers adverse consequences as a direct result.
This behaviour can interfere with a person’s day-to-day life, relationships, and responsibilities. This interference can cause significant distress. People struggling with porn addiction can often escalate their use, and an increase in explicit material is sought to achieve the same level of satisfaction.
Excessive porn consumption can also bring about feelings of guilt and shame, particularly if the person viewing pornography grew up in a sexually conservative environment.
Over time, using pornography can dominate a person’s life, and they may begin to prioritise it over other things such as work, school, and real-life intimacy.
One major cause of porn addiction is how easily available it is. Online porn can be found easily, and much of it can be consumed for free. A person often does not even need to log in to a website. They can just click on a video and watch it.
Aside from its availability, a person’s environment can also play a role. If a person is in an environment wherein the consumption of porn is normalised, then that can make them more likely to develop an addiction.
Like many other forms of addiction, porn addiction may be caused by mental health issues. Some individuals who struggle with their mental health may consume pornographic material as a means to cope. These issues can include low self-esteem, trauma, or loneliness.
Genetics can also play a role. Addictive behaviours can run in some families, which can increase the likelihood of people within that family developing an addiction of some kind, including one to porn. A person who has a preexisting substance use disorder, such as drug addiction or alcohol addiction, is also more likely to develop a porn addiction than the general population.
It can be hard for many people to realise they need to seek treatment for porn addiction. In most cases of addiction, it’s up to a person’s family and friends to come together and stage an intervention. However, people generally watch porn by themselves, so it can be hard for loved ones to know if a person has a pornography addiction.
But there are some signs that a person can look out for that may indicate that they need to get help for porn addiction. One sign is escalation. A person can start out viewing mainstream pornographic content, but they’ll develop a tolerance for this and begin to seek out more niche or extreme content.
Another sign that porn use has gotten out of hand is when it causes financial strain. Internet pornography is widely available, and a lot of it is free, but most of that is mainstream porn. The niche or extreme content mentioned above usually has to be paid for.
Even if a person does not seek out extreme or niche content, there are many people online who create pornographic content. Many of these creators have subscribers who pay monthly fees and pay even more money on top of that for exclusive content. As such, there are numerous ways in which a person can strain finances by viewing porn.
Yet another indicator that a person’s porn consumption has gotten out of control is when it affects their self-esteem. The people and acts in porn are often not representative of the reality of intimacy, and viewers can feel inadequate in comparison.
Another sign that porn addiction has got out of control is when it begins to impact a person’s real-world relationships and sex life. The acts in porn are meant to be visually stimulating, but not all of them are pleasurable or comfortable in real life. As such, trying to imitate these acts can cause issues with intimacy and real-life sexual relationships, such as dissatisfaction and an inability to perform.
For a lot of people, the urge to watch porn can be overwhelming. It also doesn’t help that there is a lot of porn available. Some people might think that a person who has a porn addiction is just some lonely, desperate person who can’t be intimate with anyone in the real world, but that is not the case.
Many people who struggle with porn addiction are just ordinary people who have to deal with an external stressor, and porn consumption just happens to be how they cope with it.
Regardless of its origins, porn addiction is still a condition that needs to be treated, and Liberty Home Clinic is here to help you, or your loved one, overcome behavioural addictions such as addiction to pornography at our upmarket clinic in South Africa.
They are related, but no, they are not the same. Porn addiction refers to the urge to consume porn, whereas sex addiction refers to the urge to be intimate with other people.
No, a porn addiction is not normal. While the consumption of porn is normal, becoming preoccupied to the point of addiction is not.
Signs of addiction are struggling to control urges, needing increasingly frequent or extreme content, neglecting responsibilities, experiencing relationship issues, feeling guilt or anxiety, or becoming restless when unable to consume porn.
Yes, a porn addiction is considered a behavioural or process addiction. This is when a person is addicted to a certain behaviour or process as opposed to a substance.
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