GENEVA. Despite press reports of a wave of pornography addiction and a lucrative industry of psychological remedies to combat this addiction, no scientific study has proven that people can become addicted to pornography.

Addiction to sex or pornography is not listed as a mental illness by major psychiatric associations and health organizations. However, if someone has experienced or seen their partner engrossed in pornography, they know there is a problem.

The phrase “porn addiction” appeared in the 1970s in the United States due to the conservative Christian Puritan movement. The leaders of this ideological movement believe that pornography threatens the purity of marriage, according to Deutsche Welle.

Addiction or regret?

Bowling Green University psychologist Joshua Grubbs explains that those who consider themselves addicted to pornography find it morally wrong to watch pornography. These people suffer not from their addiction, like drug addicts, but from the regrets caused by their voyeuristic pleasure.

Contrary to what proponents of outdated moralistic positions claim, pornography and sexual harassment are real and harmful phenomena that can affect personal and professional life. Psychiatrist Isabella Hauser of the Charite Hospital in Berlin says that although pornography addiction usually occurs in men, women are not immune to it.

The sex addiction defense line was used by the lawyer of convicted rapist and former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. However, research on this condition remains limited, mainly due to the stigma that accompanies this addiction.

“We have known for millennia that for some people, excessive and uncontrolled sexual behavior can create serious problems in their lives. “Whether compulsive behavior can be called an addiction is another matter,” says Dr. Grubbs. The medical world believed that human dependence is possible only on chemicals. However, in the 1990s, psychologists sought to expand the registry to include “behavioral addictions,” such as sex or pornography.

mental addiction

Today’s psychologists argue that a person can become addicted to the Internet, digital games, sex, gambling, exercise, food, or shopping. However, modern psychiatric science does not consider these actions, even in their excess, to be addictions. “Persistence in behavior that has negative consequences and creates psychic addiction is my definition of addiction,” notes psychologist Dr. Grubbs. “He, however, is not generally accepted. I know very important researchers who will say that the topic of addiction is irrelevant. Still others, whom I equally respect, will say that this is the only important element of addiction, ”continues Grubbs.

However, most agree that obsessive behavior becomes addiction when it begins to cause real harm to the patient and those around him. Addict experts insist that the choice of the correct terminology is not important, but the accurate and timely diagnosis of harmful obsessions and their treatment is important. While diagnosing porn addiction is difficult, if someone watches porn 18 hours a day and systematically ignores their romantic partner, they should seek help.