Pornography addiction is the scientifically controversial application of an addiction model to the use of pornography. Pornography can be considered part of a compulsive behavior, with negative consequences for one's physical, mental, social, or financial well-being. While the World Health Organization's ICD-11 (2022) has recognized compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD) as an impulse-control disorder, CSBD is not an addiction, and the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5 and the DSM-5-TR do not classify compulsive pornography consumption as a mental disorder or a behavioral addiction. The only diagnostic criteria for a behavioral addiction in the DSM-5 are for pathological gambling, and they are similar to those for substance abuse and dependence, such as preoccupation with the behavior, diminished ability to control the behavior, tolerance, withdrawal, and adverse psychosocial consequences. Diagnostic criteria have been proposed for other behavioral addictions, and these are usually also based on established diagnoses for substance abuse and dependence.
A proposed diagnosis for hypersexual disorder includes pornography as a subtype of this disorder. It includes criteria such as time consumed by sexual activity interfering with obligations, repetitive engagement in sexual activity in response to stress, repeated failed attempts to reduce these behaviors, and distress or impairment of life functioning.
According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, some psychological and behavioral changes characteristic of addiction brain changes include addictive cravings, impulsiveness, weakened executive function, desensitization, and dysphoria. BOLD fMRI results have shown that individuals diagnosed with compulsive sexual behavior (CSB) show enhanced cue reactivity in brain regions associated traditionally with drug-cue reactivity. These regions include the amygdala and the ventral striatum. and should be treated as such. Others have detected the increased activation of ventral striatal reactivity in men for cues predicting erotic but not monetary rewards and cues signaling erotic pictures, therefore suggesting similarities between pornography addiction and conventional addiction disorders. with problematic Internet and online pornography use reported to constitute an increasing burden on public mental health since the 2000s, psychopathological models and diagnostic criteria have lacked consensus. The body of evidence on the effectiveness of therapeutic approaches is still scarce.
A 2016 systematic review found that studies have linked self-perceived pornography addiction (SPPA) to increased isolation and relationship breakdowns for both users and their partners. The researchers never say that it constitutes an official psychiatric disorder.
Paula Hall (2018) supports the use of an addiction framework to understand and treat problematic pornography use, and she advocates for recognizing porn addiction as a legitimate clinical issue.
Hunt (2021) stated that porn is part of culture, and therefore, it is difficult to tell what produces harm.
A 2024 review supports a diagnosis of pornography addiction as a public health crisis. It is based upon a page published by the American Psychiatric Association, which in its turn is based upon an MDPI paper<!-- meaning de Alarcón 2019, which was in its turn PLONKed by DSM-5-TR-->, rather than upon the statistical processing of empirical data by the reviewers.
A 2025 systematic review of longitudinal studies on adolescent pornography use found heterogeneous results, with some studies indicating significant associations between pornography use and various outcomes (including sexual behaviors, sexual aggression, and life satisfaction), while other results were inconsistent. The review concluded that methodological differences in how pornography use and problematic pornography use (PPU) are defined and measured undermine its clinical relevance. That is, the existing evidence is of limited use in psychiatry (rather, it is inconclusive for an official diagnosis).
A 2025 public policy research, including about teenagers using pornographic media, says "The evidence to substantiate these assertions remains preliminary" (causality cannot be shown). That is, the existing evidence does not support public policy stances about how teenagers use media. However, the review did not concentrate upon pornography use, and just mentioned it passingly.
Diagnostic status
Pornography addiction is a controversial concept, since it appears to be "largely morally, ideologically, and politically motivated." Empirical support for it is largely missing Julie Sale stated, "No one refutes that clients access therapy for help with sexual behaviours that they feel they have no control over. The issue is how these client experiences are conceptualised and how the clinical formulation informs treatment."
The status of pornography addiction as an addictive disorder, rather than simply a compulsivity, has been hotly contested. Furthermore, research suggests that the use of a pornography addiction label may indicate a socially (as opposed to clinically) driven nosology.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) includes a new section for behavioral addictions, but includes only one disorder: pathological gambling. One other behavioral addiction, internet gaming disorder, appears in the conditions proposed for further study in DSM-5. and "inconsistent".-->
Porn addiction is not a diagnosis in DSM-5 (or any previous version). "Viewing pornography online" is mentioned verbatim in the DSM-5, which is consistent with a large body of research finding similar markers in other kinds of problematic internet users.
The International Classification of Disorders 11 (ICD-11) rejected "pornography addiction".
In November 2016, the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) issued a position statement on sex/porn addiction, which states that AASECT "does not find sufficient empirical evidence to support the classification of sex addiction or porn addiction as a mental health disorder, and does not find the sexual addiction training and treatment methods and educational pedagogies to be adequately informed by accurate human sexuality knowledge. Therefore, it is the position of AASECT that linking problems related to sexual urges, thoughts or behaviors to a porn/sexual addiction process cannot be advanced by AASECT as a standard of practice for sexuality education delivery, counseling or therapy."