LONDON — The number of people seeking professional help for porn addiction has tripled since the start of the pandemic, according to new figures.
In the United Kingdom alone, a study finds more than 36,000 people sought support for porn addiction with UK Addiction Treatment Group (UKAT) — Britain’s biggest private rehab provider — in 2021. This is up from around 10,500 in 2020, a rise of nearly 250 percent.
The proportion of women seeking help rose from 25 percent to 38 percent during this period. Major cities like London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, and Leeds had the highest figures in the country. However, nearly all areas covered in the UKAT data saw their numbers at least double.
With that in mind, the company says they can no longer meet the demand for therapy.
What does porn addiction look like?
One patient, “Tom,” told BBC Radio Newcastle he spent over $124,000 on a cocaine and pornography addiction and was watching sex videos for up to 15 hours a day.
“Once I got cocaine I just had to watch porn for that rush,” the patients says, according to a statement from SWNS. “It really affects your libido in real life, sometimes nothing happens because you’re so anxious.”
“It affected me being with women, because I was so used to watching porn. Addiction is a disease, it’s an illness. I was just a mess, just absolutely broken,” Tom adds. “One night I spent £2,000 in lockdown on escorts and cocaine – that was my worst night but over the years it’s well over £100,000 on the drugs and porn.”
The figures in the new study relate to the number of people visiting support pages for porn addiction on UKAT’s website during 2020 and 2021.
Excessively watching pornography is more common than you think
Pornography is now the second most common addiction men seek therapy for behind alcohol, officials at UKAT say.
“The first thing I say to clients is that this is not always about sex, this is about learning how to deal with emotions in a way that is less destructive,” UKAT Director Simon Stephens tells SWNS.
“Availability of this material that allows people to create a stimulus that creates dopamine in the brain, one of the effects of that is to suppress feelings,” Stephens adds. “We can offer a small amount of help but in no way can we meet demand.”
UKAT, which treats over 3,000 people at its clinics every year for a variety of addictions, says increased time in isolation during the pandemic fueled several types of online addictions, including pornography.
“Self-isolation and restrictions had a big impact on people, on their well-being and mental health and we can’t lose sight of that, living on fear and uncertainty sees addictions grow – and porn for some was a coping mechanisms, especially as couples in some cases, could not be together with space for intimacy,” Nuno Albuquerque, a treatment consultant from UKAT, tells SWNS.
South West News Service writer Martin Winter contributed to this report.
I have washed a lot of DNA down the drain over the years
No doubt where it belongs. Darwin scores another one!
I believe that that Porn is Demonic. I would not view it because I have a fear that Satan may enter my soul or even were I reside….People who watch this stuff b=est beware.
I’m a demon and I live in your attic. That creaking you hear sometimes at night is me coming down and checking things out, raiding your fridge, etc.
Boooooooooooo.
Next time please don’t drink straight out of the milk container. Glass is right there 😉
Wait, are you a demon or a ghost? That Booooo thing is a little confusing.
My wife’s boyfriend is addicted to porn and he still has sex with my wife daily.
If a person has an addictive personality then the “drug” can be anything. Shopping, gambling, wanking, tattoos, booze, sex, etc….
I can crank one off to this. Doesn’t mean I have a problem.
Well since it now affect women, something will be done with actual compassion.
Good Lord Jimmy….stop that banging!
I don’t like porn, but I am chronic masturbater.
““One night I spent £2,000 in lockdown on escorts and cocaine – that was my worst night but over the years it’s well over £100,000 on the drugs and porn.”
and this is in any way WORSE than spending $3,000 on a seat in the first class section of an airplane? Actually, I can’t think of a better use of $2,000 .. especially since it was with more than one escort.
Overcome sexual sin by the power of GOD, the Blood of Jesus, and His Holy Spirit, not man’s philosophy: that is what got everyone in trouble with pornography in the first place. In fact, those masturbating to pornography are suffering from homosexuality as it is one and the same. It is true an entire generation has been held hostage to sexual sin.
Teaching from Heaven: https://www.highwayofholiness.us/overcoming-sexual-sin/
And that is why I only masturbate when I read the Bible. This also encourages me to read the Bible more.
There is one aspect to watching porn that might actually be considered as beneficial.
There are lots of sexual fantasies that bounce around inside our heads, but if you are ever actually presented with an opportunity to experience those fantasies in a real life situation, I think most people who aren’t actually degenerate humans – will chicken out, and realize that most of those kinkier fantasies are best left inside one’s head. They can be useful to fantasize about and get your motor running with a partner that you’ve been with for a long time and where you might be experiencing less thrill and excitement.
But, you can see total strangers acting out those fantasies in a porn video instead of you doing them and then having to deal with the embarrassment or guilt feelings afterwards. You also avoid the risk of catching an STD.
This is not to say that being addicted to porn is a good thing, or that it is a suitable substitute for forming a male-female relationship. But, there are factors that are driving this porn addiction epidemic that are seldom mentioned in articles about this topic. Such as women setting impossible to met requirements that men must meet to even have a date invitation accepted and then there is the explosion of obesity among young females, who seem to no longer care about exercising and healthy eating habits or about keeping their figures in shape and desirable to men. Believe it or not, the owners of our mainstream media are even encouraging young women to not be concerned about keeping the weight off and from what I see whenever I am out in public – this brainwashing is working. I can go weeks without seeing a single young female who I find physically attractive.
What I see instead are obese, disgusting, ugly tattoo covered slugs with metal studs piercing their noses, lips, eyebrows and probably other parts of their ugly anatomy that are concealed by their clothes. Do these horribly unattractive women actually believe that men are turned on by any of that grotesque stuff?
This is the wonderful way in which God keeps these disgusting and dangerous individuals out of the gene pool. Celebrate! You dodged a bullet.
For those who actually want to quit porn (some people don’t want to quit despite the negative consequences), I recommend the book Power Over Pornography. Its simple use of mindfulness and other cognitive behavior methods really works.
And somehow, all the “experts” and public health officials did not see it coming — along with dozens of other kinds of negative impacts on physical and mental health — Or they knowingly didn’t include it in any cause benefit analysis, if any such had been done to begin with. These impacts, which include a distraction left in the wake of millions upon millions of bankruptcies, will haunt us for years and like the flu virus. This was a crime against humanity, and anyone who doesn’t see it yet is intellectually handicapped. The best we can do, is ignore the so-called experts next time they try to fix things on a massive scale.
Not see it coming? Hell, they PROMOTED it! Where have you been the last 60 years?
And somehow, all the “experts” and public health officials did not see it coming — along with dozens of other kinds of negative impacts on physical and mental health — Or they knowingly didn’t include it in any cost-benefit analyses, if any such had been done to begin with. These impacts, which include destruction left in the wake of millions upon millions of bankruptcies worldwide, will haunt us for years, unlike the flu virus. This was a crime against humanity, and anyone who doesn’t see it yet is intellectually handicapped. The best we can do now is completely ignore the so-called experts next time they try to fix things on a massive scale.
Hey it takes more than a thimble full to repopulate the Earth. A life long ambition, I have no time to be yanking my Yankee. After all somebody needs to take care of these women, that Porn Addicts are ignoring. Will I ever succeed in this ambitious undertaking? No! But I’ve proven it does take a lot more than that infamous thimble full to repopulate this planet. It’s only a scientific experiment with measurable results, in hard time’s. And Yes a Minute is a long time & my number one obstacle in this endeavor. Theres just not enough time to be Jerking Off. When I can have more than eye candy. Also must thank you all for ignoring your women. A guy can’t get enough of a good thing. Besides haven’t you heard you can go blind yanking on off. Then what will you do after wearing it out?
Companies like PornHub are clearly in violation of federal obscenity laws and should be both prosecuted and banned from the internet just like any other terrorist or criminal organization. Democrats support sexual perversion and so refrain from prosecuting these disgusting individuals (Biden FBI eliminated child porn prosecution team).