Pornography addiction
[13][14] Men without CSB who had a long history of viewing pornography exhibited a less intense response to pornographic images in the left ventral putamen, possibly suggestive of desensitization.
[13] Neuropsychopharmacological and psychological researches on pornography addiction conducted between 2015 and 2021 have concluded that most studies have been focused entirely or almost exclusively on men in anonymous settings, and the findings are contradictory.
[14] Despite the fact that pornography is being spuriously[16] indicted as a public health crisis in the United States and elsewhere,[17][18] with problematic Internet and online pornography use reported to constitute an increasing burden on public mental health since the 2000s, psychopathological models and diagnostic criteria have lacked consensus, and the body of evidence on the effectiveness of therapeutic approaches is still scarce.
"[20] Although it is a "nice theory", empirical support for it is largely missing,[21] and the "industry of porn/sex addiction is based on conservative moral values around sexuality that intrude into clinical practice".
[21] Julie Sale stated "No-one refutes that clients access therapy for help with sexual behaviours that they feel they have no control over.
[8] It is worth considering whether the apparent epidemic of self-diagnosed pornography addicts seeking help today perhaps represents the ready uptake of a relatively new way to describe one's problematic behaviour, and not the development of a modern disease entity whose description should dictate its treatment.
[4][33][34] Specifically, the World Health Organization (WHO) wrote: "Based on the limited current data, it would therefore seem premature to include [problematic Internet use] in ICD-11.
Introductory psychology textbook authors Coon, Mitterer and Martini, passingly mentioning NoFap, speak of pornography as a "supernormal stimulus" but use the model of compulsion rather than addiction.
[55][56][57] Sex researcher Alvin Cooper and colleagues suggested several reasons for using filters as a therapeutic measure, including curbing accessibility that facilitates problematic behavior and encouraging clients to develop coping and relapse prevention strategies.
"[56] Studies of those with non-paraphilic expressions of hypersexuality have hypothesized that various mood disorders, as defined in the DSM, may occur more frequently in sexually compulsive men.
[58][59][60] Compulsive sexual behavior has been treated with antidepressants including SSRIs and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, Naltrexone (a medication used to inhibit reward mechanisms in opiate or alcohol addictions), other mood-stabilizers, and anti-androgens.
[65] The study found this identification correlated with male gender, higher frequency of use, and belief that pornography was morally wrong (whether for religious or other reasons).
[69][70][71] Recent peer-reviewed data highlighted considerable levels of misogyny along with a poor understanding of human sexuality and relationships within this online community.
[65] The Daily Dot and Der Spiegel linked NoFap to recent gender-based murders and breeding domestic terrorism.
[77][78] Celebrate Recovery is a Christian inter-denominational twelve-step program with about 35,000 available groups and is open to any person who is struggling with life's bad habits, hurts, and hang-ups.
[82][83][84] According to Addicted to Lust: Pornography in the Lives of Conservative Protestants (2019) written by Samuel L. Perry, professor of sociology at the University of Oklahoma, conservative Protestants in the United States are characterized by a "sexual exceptionalism" related to their consumption of pornography due to certain pervasive beliefs within the Conservative Protestant subculture, which entails cognitive dissonance associated with the unfounded conviction to be addicted to pornography, psychological distress, and intense feelings of guilt, shame, self-loathing, depression, and sometimes withdrawal from faith altogether.
[85][86] Perry's book received widespread media coverage[86][87] and his findings were criticized by Lyman Stone of the Evangelical magazine Christianity Today, which asserted that both the quantitative and qualitative statistical data collected by Perry demonstrate that the consumption of pornography in the United States is significantly lower among church-attending Protestant Christians compared to other religious groups, and declared that "Protestant men today who attend church regularly are basically the only men in America still resisting the cultural norm of regularized pornography use".
[69][88] Various psychologists, medical doctors, and social scientists have contended that traditional Christian concerns over combating sexual thoughts, desires, and activities, including masturbation,[89][90][91][92][93] can be seen as unhealthy and unwholesome.
This may also apply to secular advocacy of anti-pornography and anti-masturbation,[17][18] including 16 U.S. states' legislatures which have declared that pornography is a "public health crisis".
[96] In 2013, American actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt wrote, directed, and starred in the comedy-drama film Don Jon, in which the protagonist is addicted to pornography.
[98] In 2014, American actor Terry Crews talked about his long-standing pornography addiction, which he said had seriously affected his marriage and life and which he was able to overcome only after entering rehab in 2009.
[100][101][102] In 2015, English comedian Russell Brand appeared in videos by American anti-pornography group Fight the New Drug, in which he discussed pornography and its harmful effects.
