Pornography Addiction

You may have a porn addiction if the urge to use pornography feels uncontrollable, despite its negative consequences. Whether you engage in pornography through videos, pictures or text, it becomes the center of your life, taking priority over your relationships, work and finances.

At the KeyStone Center Extended Care Unit (ECU), we understand how scary it can be to feel like you can’t control your addictive or compulsive behavior. Our porn addiction recovery program offers a supportive environment where you can begin to heal.

Do I Have a Porn Addiction?

You may have a porn addiction if you:

• Feel disgusted or depressed about your behavior but can’t stop
• Get angry or irritable when you don’t have access to porn
• Hide your use of pornography from loved ones
• Need increasingly graphic or explicit porn to feel excited or satisfied
• Try to recreate pornographic fantasies or behaviors in the real world, which can result in dangerous or illegal behavior
• Use pornography as a substitute for sex or relationships in the real world
• Can’t get an erection or ejaculate without porn

Is Porn Addiction the Same as Internet Sex Addiction?

A pornography addiction means you’re obsessed with representations of sexual activity in videos, pictures or text, often with the goal of masturbation. An internet sex addiction is an uncontrollable urge to engage in sexual behavior online, such as pursuing sexual relationships in chat rooms or on webcams. An internet sex addiction may or may not include watching porn. The two conditions can overlap.

What Causes Porn Addiction?

A porn addiction can have many causes. Some men start using pornography very early in life, and the problematic behavior escalates as they enter adulthood. In other cases, males grow up with religious or cultural beliefs that sex is shameful or immoral, so pornography seems like the only acceptable way to engage in sexual behavior.

Emotional, physical or sexual trauma can also lead to a porn addiction. Unresolved trauma may make you fear sex, intimacy or relationships in the real world. Porn feels like the only safe way to form connections and cope with the stress and emotional damage of your trauma. A porn addiction can be related to other behavioral disorders, such as an intimacy disorder or substance use disorders.

Porn Addiction Treatment: Why Choose KeyStone Center ECU?

Our intensive porn addiction rehab program for men offers:

• Specialized porn addiction counseling: You work with a team including certified sex addiction therapists (CSATs), a psychiatrist, counselors and coaches who focus solely on sex addiction and sexual compulsivity. This expertise helps us provide you with the care you need to heal.
• Comprehensive treatment: We offer a range of evidence-based treatments for porn addiction, including individual, group and family counseling, a 12-step program, spirituality coaching and trauma recovery. These experts draw on many therapies to build your recovery plan.
• Individualized care: The small size of the KeyStone Center ECU and our 1:1 patient-provider ratio means you receive the attention and personalized care you deserve. You have a care team of four providers dedicated to your needs.