Pornography use has the potential to cause the following problems:

Social Isolation

• Withdrawing from social activity
• Developing a secret life
• Lying to and deceiving others
• Becoming self-centered
• Choosing porn over people

Mood Disorders

• Feeling irritable and defensive
• Feeling angry and depressed
• Experiencing mood swings
• Pervasive anxiety and fearfulness
• Feeling powerless in relation to porn

Sexually Objectifying Other People

• Treating people as sexual objects
• Judging people primarily in terms of their sexual body parts
• Disrespecting other peoples’ needs for privacy and safety
• Being insensitive about sexually harmful behavior

Engaging in Risky and Dangerous Behavior

• Accessing porn at work or school
• Accessing child porn
• Participating in degrading, abusive, violent, or criminal sexual activity
• Producing, distributing, or selling porn
• Engaging in physically unsafe and harmful sex

Unhappy Intimate Partner

• Relationship is marred by dishonesty and deception about porn use
• Partner views porn use as sexual infidelity, ie.“cheating”
• Partner is increasingly upset and angry
• Partner is concerned about the welfare of the children
• Partner feels sexually inadequate and threatened by the porn
• Relationship deteriorates due to lack of trust and respect
• Loss of emotional closeness and mutual sexual enjoyment

Sexual Problems

• Loss of interest in sex with a real partner
• Difficulty becoming aroused and/or achieving orgasm without porn
• Intrusive thoughts, fantasies, and images of porn during sex
• Becoming sexually demanding and/or rough in sex
• Having difficulty connecting love and caring with sex
• Feeling sexually out of control and compulsive
• Increased interest in risky, degrading, abusive, and/or illegal sex
• Growing dissatisfaction with sex

Self-Loathing

• Feeling disconnected from personal values, beliefs, and goals
• Loss of personal integrity
• Damaged self-esteem
• Persistent feelings of guilt and shame
• Feeling controlled by porn

Neglecting Important Areas of Life

• Personal health (sleep deprivation, exhaustion, and poor self-care)
• Family life (neglecting spouse, children, and household responsibilities)
• Work & school pursuits (reduced focus, productivity, and advancement)
• Finances (spending on porn depletes resources)
• Spirituality (alienation from faith and spiritual practice)

Addiction to Porn

• Craving porn intensely and persistently
• Difficulty controlling thoughts of, exposure to, and use of porn
• Inability to discontinue porn use despite negative consequences
• Repeated failures to stop using porn
• Requiring more extreme content or intense exposures to porn to get the same effect (habituation symptoms)
• Experiencing discomfort and irritability when deprived of porn (withdrawal symptoms)