Who's Afraid They May Be Porn Addicts?

The idea of porn addiction is highly controversial.  Some experts believe that pornography can be as easily addictive as a drug, or gambling, while others think it’s extremely rare if it even exists at all.  Watching porn does cause a dopamine spike, not unlike addictive drugs, but then again so does petting a puppy.

We touched on this controversy a little bit back in May when we issued a blog post about the psychological effects of watching porn. While our opinion may be slightly biased, the most credible evidence says that porn is only addictive in the same way that certain people with extremely addictive personalities can become dependent on anything - yes, even puppies.

Adding fuel to the controversy, a new study published in the Journal of Abnormal Sexual Behavior claims that concerns over your own porn use have much more to do with your moral stance on porn than your actual viewing habits.  In short, people with a religious or moral objection to porn are the ones most likely to fear that they are addicted. They also watch comparatively little porn, compared to the general population. 

The research surveyed 3500 people over the course of two studies. They found that the people most likely to label themselves “porn addicts” were those who find porn morally repugnant.  It was this guilt and shame that made them feel like they were abnormal, even when their actual porn usage was categorized as average or low. 

The study was comprised of adults who reported intentionally viewing porn at least once in the past year. It included 467 students from Bowling Green State University, where the study was based, 850 people randomly recruited online, and 2,200 people who’s demographics represent the US adult population.  This third group was also recruited online. 

The participants were surveyed on a variety of topics.  They were asked how often they watch pornographic materials and asked a number of questions about their religious and moral beliefs around pornography.  They asked to rate the strength of their agreement to questions like, “even when I do not want to view pornography online, I feel drawn to it,” and “I believe that viewing pornography is wrong.”

Across all 3 categories, people who believe that porn is “bad” are more likely to claim that their use of porn is problematic and that they feel they are “addicted.”  Psychology researcher and lead author of the study, Joshua Grubbs, says, “when people morally disapprove of pornography but still use it anyway, they are more likely to report that pornography is interfering with their lives.” 

The researchers were hesitant to challenge anyone’s belief structure but still were put in a position of having to square these results with reality.   Grubbs issued a statement explaining, “We are not suggesting that people need to change their moral or religious beliefs, but it’s not helpful for someone with a low or normal amount of porn use to be convinced that they have an addiction because they feel bad about it.  However, if someone wants to reduce their porn use because it causes distress, then therapists should work with them in a non-judgmental way that doesn’t induce shame.” 

The church has a long history of demonizing not just pornography, but sex in general.  Ironically, their quest to shame people (especially women) about their perfectly natural desires has driven countless people away from the church and into a life of "sin." Back in October, we brought you a story about a woman who turned away from her Muslim upbringing to become a pornstar.  Just a month later, we penned another story about a sexually repressed Mormon missionary who left the church for the adult industry at age 30.  For many, when the church teachings seem so far removed from basic biological reality, they eventually learn to disregard the church's teachings. 

So is there any merit to The Church's anti-porn crusade? Is porn addiction real or does this study refute its very existence? It can be very tricky for psychologists to tackle this question.  Neither porn addiction nor Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder (CSBD) appears in the DSM-5, which is the primary diagnostic tool used by American psychologists.  This means there’s no official guidance for determining at what point someone’s behavior crosses the line into addiction. 

For his part, Grubbs supports the idea that CSBD is a distinct mental illness, though he realizes that many in his field disagree. He says that the biggest problem in attempting to diagnose CSBD is that it relies on the subjective feelings of the patient, and those feelings likely do not accurately reflect on their behavior.      

The World Health Organization (WHO) shares Grubbs’ stance and has included CSBD in their most recent edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD 11).  They describe CSBD as an “impulse control disorder” and says it includes “a persistent pattern of failure to control intense, repetitive sexual impulses or urges resulting in repetitive sexual behavior.” This problematic behavior must persist for at least 6 months, cause significant clinical distress, and interfere with other aspects of the patient’s life.  The ICD 11 specifically states that the patient’s moral judgment or disapproval of their own sexual impulses are not sufficient on their own to warrant at CSBD diagnosis. 

While CSBD isn’t specific to porn, Grubbs argues that they are connected as 4 out of 5 people with a hypersexual disorder also report excessive porn use. Ultimately, Grubbs believes that officially classifying CSBD as a distinct condition in future editions of the DSM will help psychologists separate those who use porn excessively as part of CSBD from those seeking treatment for porn addiction, merely because they feel guilty about using any porn at all.  Ultimately, it would provide objective criteria for clinicians, which can be beneficial when working with a patient who’s beliefs about their behavior simply do not square with objective reality.