What Is Porn Addiction Withdrawal? Symptoms, Signs & Help

Is porn addiction withdrawal real?

One of the criteria for measuring a substance addiction or behavioral addiction is feeling withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, restlessness, and mood swings when the stimulus is taken away or use stops suddenly. Porn withdrawal symptoms present much the same way when use stops, often categorized by an underlying issue such as cravings or behavioral changes.

Watching porn, whether masturbating to it or not, affects the brain’s reward system by flooding it with dopamine. For some people, watching pornographic material is a harmless form of gratification that can relieve sexual frustration or be a fun addition to a healthy sex life.

But for others, it can become a dependence that forms part of an overlying mental health condition or sexual dysfunction. People who become addicted start chasing the dopamine rush that porn gives them and are unable to find the same level of pleasure with other activities or interests. While porn addiction, like other forms of sexual addiction, is not clinically recognized as a condition, many medical professionals class compulsive behavior and dependence on it as containing the criteria for addiction.

Those who have a relationship with porn that outweighs other parts of their lives or that they cannot control may be considered to have an addiction to it.

Porn addiction withdrawal symptoms

These are the most widely reported withdrawal symptoms experienced by those with porn addiction.

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Stress
• Sexual aggression
• Feelings of loneliness
• Uncomfortable emotions
• Mood swings
• Relationship issues
• Loss of libido
• Restlessness/trouble sleeping
• Panic attacks
• Lethargy toward real life