Dr. Robert Weiss LCSW, CSAT

In today’s world, porn is accessible to and viewed by just about every demographic. Thanks to digital technology, pretty much any person who wants to look at porn can do so—anytime, anywhere, free of charge. In addition to porn sites, which provide a seemingly endless supply of images and videos, we’ve got sexting, virtual reality sexual encounters, sexualized social media, online sex games, deepfake technology, and more. All of which can be easily and anonymously accessed by anyone who’s interested. And it seems that people of all ages, genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities, religions, and cultural backgrounds are indeed interested.

Younger people, in particular, are taking advantage of the ever-expanding online sexual wonderland. Boys seem to be especially susceptible to the allure of online porn. For evidence, consider the tribulations of Canadian researcher Simon Lajeunesse. When Lajeunesse tried to conduct research on the effects of pornography on adolescent males, he was unable to do so because he couldn’t find any potential test subjects who weren’t already using porn. Without a control group of non-porn using boys, there was no way to compare and contrast.

Females are also susceptible to pornography’s allure, though they are generally more likely to seek out erotica focused on romance and intense love experiences than purely sexual porn. Generally, hardcore, highly objectified porn caters to a male audience, while romance novels and movies, which tend to focus more on relational connection than actual sex, cater to a mostly female audience. That said, plenty of men opt for romance-oriented erotica, and plenty of women choose hardcore porn.

Of course, not every person who uses pornography struggles. Recognizing this, we delineate three basic categories of porn users.

1. Casual Users: These are individuals who find pornography fun and sexually stimulating but ultimately not important. They use porn occasionally but not compulsively. Often, their use of porn is driven by curiosity and novelty. For instance, they might use porn to learn about sex during adolescence. Casual porn users find porn enjoyable but not as satisfying as real-world sexuality. As such, their interest in porn is not sustained.
2. At-Risk Users: These are individuals who go through periods of intense engagement with pornography, perhaps, at times, using it as a distraction from emotional discomfort and other life issues. However, their porn use does not reach the point where it creates problems. In fact, they will stop using porn if they start to experience (or even see the possibility of) porn-related problems.
3. Addicted Users: These are individuals who use porn compulsively, regardless of potential or actual consequences, nearly always to emotionally numb out. Typically, they find themselves leading a double life, keeping their porn use separated from the rest of their life—maintaining secrets, telling lies, and justifying their behavior to make it OK in their own mind.

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If you or a loved one are struggling with sex, porn, or substance/sex addiction, Seeking Integrity can help. In addition to residential rehab, we offer low-cost online workgroups for male sex addicts and male porn addicts new to recovery. Click HERE for information on our Sex Addiction Workgroup. Click HERE for information on our Porn Addiction workgroup.