Porn Is Not Addictive

Over the years, the excessive consumption of pornography has come to be seen as an addiction. According to this view, pornography, like cocaine or smoking, is addictive, and those who suffer from it need similar treatment. Many argue that pornography encourages sexual violence and harms relationships.

However, a recent study finds that pornography is not addictive. The study looked at the brain activity of so-called ‘porn addicts’ and found that in comparison to cocaine, smoking and gambling addicts, the readings look the exact opposite. According to them, ‘porn addiction’ and ‘sex addiction’, as we understand them, may not be real.

The study, which was conducted by neuroscientists from University of California, Los Angeles, and published in Biological Psychology, asked 122 men and women a set of questions about their relationship with visual sexual stimuli. Some of the participants had difficulty controlling their pornography consumption, while others claimed they watched porn but did not have problems with their viewing habits. Their brain waves were measured as they were shown a variety of images, from sexual to non-sexual ones.

The researchers examined each participant’s late positive potential (LPP), a common measure for the intensity of the brain’s emotional response at a given moment. The results were clear: subjects who reported experiencing problems as a result of their pornography use did not display characteristically addictive brain activity while viewing sexual images.

It has been scientifically established that those who suffer from addictions, for instance cocaine, always experience increased LLP while viewing pictures of the substance of their abuse. As neuro- scientists say, it is one of the clearest indicators of psychological addiction. But in the current study, the subjects, even those who lacked control over their porn consumption, did not experience the same LLP pattern while viewing sexual images. As the researchers found, they experienced decreased brain reactions when shown sexual images, rather than heightened activity.

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