this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
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Porn addiction isn't a thing. It's made-up bullshit by people that buy into Judeo-Christian morality regarding sexual "purity". There are reasons that it didn't make it into DSM-V, and won't make it into DSM-VI either. The porn and masturbation isn't the problem, it's how people feel about it, and how they reconcile it with their own beliefs in morality, which is not even remotely the same as being addicted to opiates or nicotine.
The masturbation definitely is not the problem, the porn might be. It just gives a wrong picture of intimacy and sex to inexperienced teenagers.
Still not an addiction. But yeah problematic porn can be an issue.
And some frankly bonkers ideas about what real sex is like.
But when I think about my youth in pre-internet days, when you relied on a trucker flinging his jazz mag into the bushes and being lucky enough to find it before the slugs, I'm not sure learning about real sex was any easier then.
Even if you don't call it an addiction, I still consume an unhealthy amount of porn imo. I worry that I wouldn't be able to get it up for a real person, not that it matters cause I'm too mentally screwed up to try hooking up or dating.
Start slow by starting to masturbate before turning on porn, remembering the last porn you watched. Slowly increase the amount of time before turning on porn. Then over time eventually you might be able to get off entirely by remembering what you've seen before. You can use that skill any time when with someone.
You think you consume an unhealthy amount of pornography, because that's the message that you're hearing from religiously-motivated sources. (Groups like "Fight The New Drug" are funded and staffed by Mormons, which meets all the criteria for a high-demand religion, AKA cult.) It's the way that you conceptualize your use of pornography, rather than your consumption of pornography, that is the problem. When you compare self-described "porn addicts" to average people that do not label themselves as addicts, their consumption is most typically either identical, or slightly below average.
Your anxieties about "[not] be[ing] able to get it up for a real person" are what is likely to cause problems because that's going to interfere with your arousal levels.
Bruh I haven't been brainwashed by religious messaging, I have an archive of like 20 gbs of super niche fetish shit because I've essentially over the past decade shifted what I consider normal way into the deep end. I'm not saying that porn addiction is a thing, just saying that overconsumption can still be a problem.
What do you consider "super niche" fetish stuff?
DM'd you about it. Nothing illegal, not a pedophile, but not comfortable talking openly about it.
Surprisingly, porn use has damages outside of just puritanical BS taboo! Instant gratification, a decrease in drive to meet your needs in other ways, unhealthy associations with sex (because that actually exists outside of puritanical views, believe it or not), some pretty gnarly effects around the whole dopamine release and reward seeking thing...
Cite your sources.
The same "problems" would apply to video games, Facebook/IG/TikTok, etc., and even reading books. It's certainly true for people that are avoidant and use shopping or gambling, and yet those aren't addictions either.
Ya know what I lied, happened to find a pretty decent source for you. Specifically about Internet gaming disorder, another psychological addiction that's present in the DSM-V, and even has withdrawal symptoms associated with it. Here ya go.
...It's present as "a condition for further study", which is not the same thing as an official diagnosis. (source)[https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/here-there-and-everywhere/201407/internet-gaming-disorder-in-dsm-5]
Sure, it's 'present' in the DSM-V, but it's still not a diagnosis.
Social media addiction absolutely exists, is a very recognized thing particularly in younger generations. Same for video games, you can absolutely be addicted to gaming.
As for sources, they're but a Google search away, I'll take care of it for you. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C25&q=pornography+addiction+&btnG=
We're also not in a formal debate, and I'm not writing a paper to be peer reviewed, so that's about all you'll get for me.
See my other comment.
It is not a recognized disorder.
You can only be physically addicted to certain substances but you can be mentally addicted to anything.
There is no such thing as "mental addiction".
You mean, you haven't met someone with a mental addiction yet.
But — you are technically correct, indeed.
In ICD 10 the disorders that are commonly regarded as mental addictions are classified not as addiction, but as eating disorders, habit and impulse disorders and disorders of sexual preference. Don't know whether I missed any.
BTW, Substance-related addiction is classified as mental and behaviour disorder due to psychoactive use. So, technically, "addiction" does not exist at all.
I've met people with behavioural disorders, sure, but not "mental addictions", since an addiction requires a physical component.
I think you can broadly say that a genuine addiction starts because it's pleasant, and then continues because stopping causes you to actively feel bad. E.g., you keep smoking because the withdrawal from nicotine is pretty shitty, and takes a week or so to get past (although the behavioural component to the addiction can take weeks or months). Masturbation and porn use doesn't fall into that model at all; the consequences of not masturbating is that you don't feel something pleasant, not that things start hurting.
It's simply not in the same category as alcoholism, or addiction to nicotine, opiates, etc. People that call it that do so for for moral reasons, not because it's a legitimate medical issue. If you speak to a psychologist that is trained in and specializes in sexual disorders--again, not one that's using a religious/spiritual approach, but one that's evidence-based--you are unlikely to find anyone that regards it as a legitimate disorder unless you're doing things like masturbating at your desk at work 3-4 times/day, or needing to pull your car over on the way to work to compulsively masturbate.
If this is your definition of addiction, a "mental addiction" cannot exist. I am happy to concede I am wrong and improve my knowledge if you would be so kind to point me to sources prooving this is the general accepted definition of the word.
Well – no. Not for all people. While "blue balls" are a myth, bad mood, emotional instability and even aching genitals are at least for some people consequences of sex withdrawal. Craving does exist as well.
That's true.
Well — actually I haven't met any psychotherapist who doubts that there are people with non-substance related addictions. I have no experience with sexual addiction myself – only met a couple of patients who claimed to have overcome it – but I did work with patients with eating disorders, which we viewed and treated as addiction, and with pathological gambling, which is viewed as an addiction as well.
Ok – so far to the existence of "mental addiction".
Regarding "porn addiction", I agree, that a habit has to meet the criteria for addiction. So I agree someone isn't addicted to masturbation/porn
Oh fuck off.
Found the Christian.
Not Christian. An atheist.
And yet you're the one following Judeo-Christian beliefs about morality.
Huh.
Lol. This is a real thing. I suffered from this. Labelling this 'Christian' doesn't make them false.
No, you didn't. You believed you did, because Judeo-Christian fundamentalists convinced you that you did, in order to sell you their cure. You're actively promoting their talking points, as well as the talking points of the alt-right.
How many people can you find that are licensed clinical psychologists, that are trained and specialize in sexual disorders, that use an evidence-based approach to treatment--not a spiritual-based or spiritually-aware approach--that promote the idea that there is "porn addiction"?
You can just ask why the person labeled it as an addiction. What if he was regularly missing work, social gatherings, or other things due to his urge to masturbate? Is that not an addiction? If a person's life is worse because they can't stop doing something that's an addiction.
Found the reductionist! Every problem has to be because of your preconceived enemy figure, doesn't it?