Anon breaks his chains
Anon breaks his chains
If it just takes a month to break, it’s not an addiction. It’s a habit.
Really hate the way that the word addiction is watered down by people who just look at porn a lot.
I’d like to agree with you, but I don’t think there are fixed periods where stopping something turns it from being addiction into habit.
Addiction is an inability to stop using a substance or engaging in a behavior even though it may cause psychological or physical harm.
I think porn can come within that definition, just as much as smoking or drinking can be called a habit.
And I’m saying that what’s described in the OP is a habit, not an addiction.
‘Addiction’ is very overused when it comes to porn because people don’t have any concept of what addiction actually is. Half the time the harm doesn’t come from looking at porn, it comes from the purity culture that we’re inundated with in western society. Being abused by puritanical ideology does not make looking at porn an addiction. Neither does having a strong sex drive that makes us want to engage with sexual content.
And I’m saying that what’s described in the OP is a habit, not an addiction.
‘Addiction’ is very overused when it comes to porn because people don’t have any concept of what addiction actually is. Half the time the harm doesn’t come from looking at porn, it comes from the purity culture that we’re inundated with in western society. Being abused by puritanical ideology does not make looking at porn an addiction. Neither does having a strong sex drive that makes us want to engage with sexual content.
Porn addiction is real, and watching porn can have more harm than just puritanical bullshit. Most people that I’ve watched looking at porn don’t just find a video a watch it start to finish. They watch multiple videos, fast forwarding to their favorite parts. Delayed gratification is good for you. Also, porn doesn’t accurately depict what sex is like. It can give you fucked up expectations of what sex should be.
If you watch so much porn that you can’t have an orgasm without watching it, if you are only aroused by porn that can’t exist in real life, if you stop having sex with a partner to instead only masturbate to porn, if you find yourself constantly watching porn even at inappropriate times, if the amount of porn you watch decreases your quality of life… That’s addiction.
I think that masturbating is healthy and good for human sexuality, but I think a lot of people could benefit from masturbating differently. Try reading or using your imagination or even just masturbating meditatively, focusing on sensations.
Didn’t take me more than a month to quit smoking, is that just a habit rather than a real addiction in your eyes?
You’re going to have a tough time arguing that compulsive behavior that the individual has difficulty stopping and often performs when they otherwise didn’t intend to isn’t addiction, just because they found a way to stop.
Again, I’m not saying porn addiction doesn’t exist.
I’m saying that the use of ‘addiction’ with porn is extremely overused and most people who claim to be addicted aren’t.
And for what it’s worth, I quit smoking after three years of up to 2 packs a day in a single day. Just made the decision and never craved them again. Every body handles substance dependencies differently. But porn addiction is different and the comparison is apples and oranges.
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.
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.
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. scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C2…
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.
…It’s present as “a condition for further study”, which is not the same thing as an official diagnosis. (source)[psychologytoday.com/…/internet-gaming-disorder-in…]
Sure, it’s ‘present’ in the DSM-V, but it’s still not a diagnosis.
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.
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.
an addiction requires a physical component.
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.
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.
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.
It’s simply not in the same category as alcoholism, or addiction to nicotine, opiates, etc.
That’s true.
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
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
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 you have to ask, it’s too often.
Every time you jerk off jesus weeps.
If you have to ask, it’s too often.
What is this comment of yours referring to?