Porn addiction can hamper mental health

Are you hooked on to porn in a way that you feel you cannot control the urge to watch it? If yes, the mere idea of porn addiction can make you sick, says a new study.

While some say porn is a healthy form of sexual expression, others believe it is an evil that leads to unrealistic expectations and addiction.

The new study from Case Western Reserve University suggests that the mere idea of porn addiction can have adverse effects on a person's mental health, medicaldaily.com reported.

The researchers found that those who believed they had an addiction to pornography also experienced psychological issues, like depression, anger, and anxiety.

However, this was not a result of watching porn itself, but rather it was a result of the feeling that watching porn was becoming an uncontrollable habit.

"It does not seem to be the pornography itself that is causing folks problems, it is how they feel about it," said lead study author Joshua Grubbs.

"Perceived addiction involves a negative interpretation of your own behaviour, thinking about yourself like, 'I have no power over this' We know from many studies that thinking something has control over you leads to psychological distress," Grubbs said.

Grubbs added that psychological distress does not always come from a sense of guilt about viewing pornography.

In fact, some people have no problem with the porn itself, but instead worry more about what will happen if they watch too much of it.

"Someone can be called out and publicly shamed, a marriage can become troubled, or maybe you are caught at work and get fired. Any of these causes psychological distress," said Grubb.