Is Pornography Addiction A Sexual Addiction?

“It can snatch any kid out of the home…It snatched me out of mine 20 years ago.” (Final Interview, 2:54-3:02 minutes). The addiction to pornography is often likened to that of a drug, “One should become addicted to it, and I look at this as kind of like an addiction. Like other kinds of addictions…you keep…I would keep looking for more potent, explicit, more graphic kinds of material. Like an addiction, you keep craving something that’s harder…something…which gives you a greater sense of excitement.” (Final Interview,

To begin, pornography has addictive characteristics and because of those characteristics intimate relationships often suffer. Today, men and women tend to become addicted to watching pornography and use it to masturbate. It has been proven that “problematic pornography is characterized by a predominant urge for behavioral engagement, referred to as a craving” (Allen 67). If both parties of a relationship have this urge or craving for pornography, this could cause their relationship to suffer. The sexual act lacks love and intimacy and becomes mechanical or second natured. Pornography has been compared to addiction and people who are addicted enable each other. Therefore, there is no

Mark Lasser’s book “Healing the Wounds of Sexual Addiction” there are 4 major themes being explored, Part One: What is Sexual Addiction? Here Dr. Lasser explains what sexual addiction is, and what the three building blocks of sexual addiction are “Sexual Fantasy, Pornography, and Masturbation”. (Lasser, 2004, pp 28)Lasser expands on the different types of sexual addiction, and give us understanding of the different characteristic of the addiction. Major theme part 2: “The Roots of Sexual Addiction”, here Lassser gives the roots of sexual addiction and explains the reasons

Another information I learned from organizations that want pornography to be abolished created porn addiction as a deterrent for online pornography viewing. They created these diseases as abstinence for sexual behaviors, which made abstinence even more

These behaviours are often used as coping mechanisms to manage dysphoric affect, as they lack the ability to cope with the emotional pain and shame caused by their behaviour (Carnes, 1999; Kennedy & Pendley, 2002). Greiner and Carroll (2008) found that sexually addicted men had higher levels of anxiety, were more likely to have an insecure attachment style, and were distant and avoidant in their close relationships. The mean age of onset is 18.7 years, however, sufferers are most likely to seek treatment during their forties and fifties (Kafka, 2010). Common comorbidites associated with sex addiction include other addictive disorders such as gambling and substance abuse (Kaplan & Krueger, 2010), major depression, anxiety and ADHD (Bancroft, 2009).

A full functional analysis of Leader X’s feeling, thoughts, events and behaviors both preceding and following his use of pornography will be conducted. As well as exploring the function that pornography is playing in his life. By doing this I will be able to determine what is causing Leader X to use pornography, for example if he is using it to escape stress or using it as a way to feel better about himself or even as a way to escape from a situation. Leader X will be taught stimulus control strategies which will involve destroying and removing all pornography he has and in addition to this he will be taught how to use imagery. By teaching Leader X imagery he will he will be equipped with a way to survive his urges to use pornography as well as learn that if he resists his urges they will subside.

Over time, the addict usually has to increase the addictive behavior to achieve the constant same results. But unlike drugs, alcohol and gambling, those substances or activities have no necessary relationship to human survival. Anybody can go through life without ever sipping a drink or playing a slot machine, but sexual activity is different. Human sexuality is a natural impulse in our biological system and even a necessary habit for human survival. According to the internet article “What is Sexual Addiction” by Michael Herkov, Ph.D. He states that “Although some people are celibate some not by choice, while others choose celibacy for cultural or religious reasons healthy humans have a strong desire for sex. In fact, lack of interest or low interest in sex can indicate a medical problem or psychiatric illness.”(Herkov,

To these people, their continuous sexual urges feel unmanageable and overwhelming and often lead them into situations resulting in poor physical health, loss of family, friends and/or spouse, financial burden, extreme guilt and shame, major loss of time, and legal action against them. Sexual addiction is indiscriminate and affects men and women, Christians and non-Christians, and people from all different cultures and backgrounds. Unifying factors are often past emotional, physical, sexual, or spiritual abuse, abandonment, and poor sexual education. It is my hope that as sexual addiction gains more recognition, more people will be able to identify harmful sexual behavior patterns, explore recovery and experience freedom from the sexual obsessions and compulsions that have overrun their lives

Sexual addiction is a complex disorder that has received a lot of attention in the past couple of years, largely due to celebrities who sought treatment for it after their extra-marital affairs were exposed. Many people assume that a sexual addiction involves an out-of-control drive to have sex (i.e. intercourse or oral sex) with a variety of different partners. While this may be true in many cases, there are actually many different types of sex addiction. In other words, this particular addiction can manifest in a variety of ways besides what most would deem “traditional” sexual activity. This is one of the things that sets sexual addiction apart from addictions like alcoholism and

The issue that will be addressed in this paper is the controversial debate regarding the underlying nature of problematic sexual behavior and if major addictive processes can best understand these behaviors. The primary focus for both sides of this debate is the conceptualization of sexual addiction and its diagnostic criteria. Research pertaining sexual addiction is very limited and professionals in the psychiatric field have expressed many different opinions on this concept. Sexologists most commonly do not believe in sex addiction and view the term as conservative and have dismissed it as a sex-negative paradigm. However, there are many psychologists that do believe in the concept of sex addiction and view it as a disorder or cause for

My name is Jimmy Baker and I am addicted to pornography. Some consider sex addiction to be an excuse for inappropriate behavior, which from the viewpoint of an outsider is a reasonable misconception. However, these outsiders are unable to comprehend the incessant craving for sexual activities. A sex addict has often been defined as ‘a person who is obsessed with some type of sexual behavior, and whose behavior is compulsive and is continued despite significant adverse consequences’(@).(Question 1) Day to day life as a sex addict consists of activities that are common to most middle aged men of this era like watching football on Sundays or taking my dog for a walk with the exception of sex dominating your waking thoughts.(Question 7)

What starts out as accidental exposure to sexual media can become a full-blown addiction (Kistler & Lee, 2010; Ouytsel, Ponnet, & Walrave, 2014). Early use of pornography is correlated with higher compulsivity as an emerging adult (Giordano, & Cashwell, 2017; Stinson, 2010; Willoughby, Carroll, Nelson, & Padilla-Walker, 2014; Willoughby, Young-Petersen, & Leonhardt, 2018; Ybarra & Mitchell, 2005). Virtually every individual who lives in modern society will be exposed to sexual media; even those who say they abstain still have a 20% likelihood of seeing pornography and sexual media incidentally (Willoughby, et al.,

Mark Lasser’s book “Healing the Wounds of Sexual Addiction” there are 4 major themes being explored, Part One: What is Sexual Addiction? Here Dr. Lasser explains what sexual addiction is, and what the three building blocks of sexual addiction are “Sexual Fantasy, Pornography, and Masturbation”. (Lasser, 2004, pp 28)Lasser expands on the different types of sexual addiction, and give us understanding of the different characteristic of the addiction. Major theme part 2: “The Roots of Sexual Addiction”, here Lassser gives the roots of sexual addiction and explains the reasons why it happens, these reasons as listed are Unhealthy Family Dynamics, and Family abuse,

Another point to be made is that when high arousal occurs, our bodies emergency system is triggered. A person's vitals can be differentiated by observing them look at a Times magazine and then look at a Playboy magazine. If a person's vitals are obviously changed, the person has a normal sense of arousal; but if the response to both magazines is similar, a level of desensitization has occurred (Reisman 21). The latter response usually takes place after prolonged exposure to pornography. When the brain adapts to a specific sensation, arousal is dramatically reduced, leaving the user with the compulsion to seek out more to reach the

Before one can begin to understand the complexities of sexual addiction it must be adequately defined. The National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity has defined sexual addiction as “engaging in persistent and escalating patterns of sexual behavior acted out despite increasing negative consequences to self and others.” (Herkov) It is important to note that this means that sexual addiction isn’t just the desire to have sex more than normal but also that the addict engages in activities regardless of and consequences. The addict must also escalate their behaviors over a period of time in order to be considered an addict. This doesn’t mean escalating it to illegal actions but merely increasing the rate at which they engage in the