[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Tens of millions of Americans regularly visit porn sites to view adult content as part of a healthy sex life, but approximately 200,000 of these viewers have become so consumed with pornography it has severely impacted their lives.These people watch so much porn they have classified themselves as porn addicts, even though the medical field has still not reached a consensus on whether the condition is an addiction at all.
There is a crucial difference between occasionally looking at porn, which can be a normal part of healthy sexuality, and becoming so consumed by the explicit fantasy scenarios that sex with a real-life partner loses its luster or a person finds themselves needing to watch an explicit video in the middle of the work day.
Porn is not like alcohol or drugs and many mental health and addiction experts say that because it is not a substance, nor does it alter a person’s brain chemistry, people cannot get hooked on porn itself.
Rather, some experts say it’s a person’s own personal conflicts toward sex, such as shame, that convinces them they are addicted.
Still, there is a neurological foundation to support arguments that, like alcohol and stimulants, compulsive pornography viewing inundates the brain with feel-good chemicals that leave people wanting more.
Millions of people watch porn as an escape from their daily anxieties or relationship problems, but it becomes a problem when the user has abandoned their normal responsibilities, whether professional or personal, and when relationships, such as with a monogamous partner, become strained.