Wondering how much porn you can watch before it is considered a porn addiction?

Or are you worried that you already are addicted to porn?

So, what's the answer here? How much porn means an addiction?

Let's jump in and take a look...

How Much Porn Means That I Have An Addiction?

Scandinavian Bob here, hi. 

I often get asked the question, what does porn addiction mean in terms of the amount of porn I watch? If I watch “X” number of hours a month, does that mean I’m not addicted?

Well, here’s the deal guys...

Assessing addiction goes beyond measuring the amount of use.

The amount of porn you use does not dictate whether you're addicted or not...

This is because even though addiction generally means that people start escalating and using more, some people can still be addicted and not use that much. And vice versa, some people can use quite a lot and not have a real addiction.

I mean just think about it, let’s say we have John here who is a porn addict, and has been trying to quit for 5 years now, and he has started to do better and better, and so the last 6 months he has only had 7 relapses. 

A porn addict can use a small amount of porn and still be addicted...

Then one day he happens to mention to his friend that is trying to give up porn because, you know, he has struggled a bit with addiction to it. 

And so his friend says, “How much have you watched the last 6 months?” 

And John says ,”I don’t know, maybe about 7 times or so.”

And his friend goes, “Dude, only 7 times i 6 months?, you are clearly not addicted!”

But this is not true, because John has been trying so hard to completely quit, and  it’s precisely because of the fact that he is addicted that he still relapses. 

A better way to determine if you have a real porn addiction is by using The four C's...

To assess an addiction experts often use what they call the four C’s…

And they are

1. Cravings
2. Compulsion
3. Control
4. Continued use despite negative consequences.

Cravings to use porn...

Ok, so I don’t think I need to explain ‘cravings’ to anyone.

Compulsion...

Compulsion is perhaps a bit more unclear, but in short one could say that compulsion is a pathological pursuit of relief.

You know, it's like you feel that “Eeeh, it’s not good right now, and you just have to have something right now!!”.

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Control - Loss of control...

Control, obviously means a loss of control over your use. 

And continued use despite negative consequences is perhaps one of the strongest indicators of an addiction.

Consequences - Continued use despite negative consequences...

I mean, you have probably all heard about for example gambling addicts who have used up all their partners' money, and perhaps gambled away their child's education money, even though they love their child.

So, yeah, clearly they know what they are doing is bad, but  lost control and they continue to do it despite all those negative consequences. 

How much porn means an addiction? A bad question...

So again, we can’t use the amount to assess an addiction, and I mean you have all heard about for example some guys can drink quite a lot of alcohol recreationally without being addicted to it and who would have no problem taking a break from it for a whole year if they so decided. 

It’s the same thing with porn.

Some people can use a lot of porn without being addicted....

Some people can use it quite often without running into any trouble, and some get into trouble even with modest use.

For example, I never watched porn more than once or twice a week myself.

Not even in the midst of my deepest addiction, but my addiction still escalated in terms of the length of my sessions, and I developed a desensitized dopamine system and got affected by all kinds of negative symptoms, such as mild PIED (see article, how to tell if you have porn induced erectile dysfunction), just to name one example.

Are you able to control your porn use? Could you quit using porn if you wanted to?

And here’s the deal, after I found out that my sluggish boners were caused by my porn use I of course tried to put an end to my use right away, but I could not do it.

Even though I knew porn was killing my libido I kept relapsing for 7 years, before I was able to pull it off. I.e. that was continued use despite negative consequences.

And also, loss of control, and yes, when I went a couple of weeks without the adult sites I started experiencing cravings and compulsion as well.

Ok, so I hope this gave you some clarity and that you now understand that we can’t really use the amount alone if we want to know whether we have an addiction or not.

Related articles...

• How do I know if I have a PMO addiction? (7 signs right here)
• How do you know you have A REAL porn addiction?