If a man chooses not to view pornography, it is easy to become fixated on avoiding the habit. This fixation might consume his thoughts and become a central focus of his life. The previous article in this series established that managing urges is an important pillar to stopping any habit. However, in the long term, […]
Previous articles in this series have established that pornography addiction is not an official diagnosis. However, applying a diagnostic label to identify and treat problematic behaviour is unnecessary. An individual can view a behaviour as a problem in their life, even if it does not have an official diagnosis. For example, social media addiction is […]
Pornography viewing is common among men, with various studies offering statistics on its prevalence. One study concluded that 80% of American men viewed pornography at some point in their lives (Miller et al., 2020). The same study also found that 44% of men viewed pornography every week. High pornography viewing rates were also consistent across […]
The previous articles in this series established that pornography viewing is not an officially recognised addiction and that habitual viewing does not mirror the process of development of substance-based addictions. However, a man does not need to have a pornography addiction diagnosis to decide that it is a problem for him. And the job of […]
The previous article in this series established that pornography addiction is not an official diagnosis in the mental health field. In the absence of an official diagnosis, some mental health researchers and professionals have attempted to apply other models of addiction to pornography viewing. One common model is the substance dependence model of addiction, which […]
There are as many definitions of pornography as there are categories of the subject in question. These definitions range from artistic expressions of what it means to be human, to depictions of depraved acts that should never see the light of day.
Popular approaches, even apparently common-sense ones, do not always work, and in some cases may be harmful. Even researchers can fall into the trap of mistaking widely-held, albeit incorrect, ideas as “scientific”.
Instead of focusing on porn use, a better approach is to treat the root cause of distress surrounding porn use. As discussed in the first article in this series, distress regarding porn use does not exist in isolation. There are thoughts and beliefs that are related to how men view porn that ultimately result in a negative experience.
In May 2016, 60% of all men (ages 15 plus) in Canada used the Internet to watch porn at least once.
I do a lot of work with men who are working through sexual addiction and porn addiction.