What are the consequences of watching pornographic films on the Internet? Why do some people tend to watch them and what is the reason for this? Is their depression and anxiety caused by their addiction to watching such scenes?
According to researchers at the Department of Psychology at Western Reserve University, the findings show that previous concerns by psychiatrists about the ill effects of online pornography on people’s mental health were not unreasonable.
The researchers’ research shows that feeling addicted to pornographic images on the Internet causes depression, anger, and anxiety in people, but just seeing these images does not show such side effects.
John Grabs, one of the researchers, called the study “Understanding Internet Addiction to Pornography and Psychological Disorders: Examining the Current and Future Relationships between the Two Phenomena.” The study is published in The Psychology of Addictive Behavior, part of the Journal of the American Psychological Association.
According to Grabs, viewing pornography online is becoming more common among adult men than women of the same age. This study, of course, was not performed on young people. The study information in the first group was provided by participants who agreed to work with the research team on condition that their names be protected. In order not to disclose the participants’ letters, they were given numbers and paid to cooperate with the researchers. The second group consisted of psychology students at three different universities in the United States. A score was considered for the participation of these students. The researchers continued their research on the cases of these two groups for a year.
“Our findings show that addiction to pornographic images, rather than to the images themselves, causes some mental disorders,” says Grabs. Understanding that one is addicted to something leads to negative beliefs about oneself, including that I am addicted and have no choice. “Many studies to date have shown that if we think something or a habit is holding us back, we become distressed.”
“Even if one does not feel so bad about oneself, one is not immune to the harmful psychological effects of constantly viewing pornographic images on the Internet. Such people may be excluded from society or embarrassed, their marriage may be in trouble or they may be fired, and all of these factors can lead to psychological distress in a person. “We only think that some kind of internet connection is bad, but we do not think that this bad connection can turn into an addiction and a harmful factor.”
Source: Science Daily
