Statistics About Porn Addiction and Its Treatment
When it comes to porn addiction and overcoming it, understanding the current statistics can help enormously. Below, we've compiled a list of researched, credible facts, quotes, and figures to help you comprehend this addiction and where you can continue your research.
Global Consumption Trends
The porn industry is one of the largest in the world, and global consumption trends show just how many people watch this explicit content. America ranks the highest for consumption of pornographic sites, with some of the top-ranked sites in the world totaling some impressive site views.
Amazon TikTok OpenAI Linkedin Netflix The Weather Channel | 700 million 900 million 1.1 billion 1.3 billion 1.5 billion 1.8 billion |
According to The Journal of Sex Research, the top-ranked pornography site in the world had:
The fact that pornography sites are visited more every month than legacy household-name brands is astonishing! Even more fascinating, pornographic websites also experienced lower bounce rates than non-pornographic sites, meaning that people are more likely to stay on the website than leave to find an alternative source of entertainment (Source: The Journal of Sex Research)The age of first exposure to pornography averages 13.37 years
Accidental Exposure
43.5%
Intentional33.4%
Forced17.2%
What Age Are People First Exposed to Porn?
The age at which people are first exposed to this explicit content ranges, but according to the American Psychological Association in 2017, the age of first exposure to pornography averages 13.37 years of age for men, with some as young as five years of age and as old as 26 years of age experiencing their first exposure to the content.Of these men, 43.5% said it was accidental exposure, 33.4% said it was intentional, and 17.2% said it was forced. The same study showed that the younger a man was when he saw porn for the first time, the more likely he was to want power over women. On the contrary, the older a man was, the more likely he was to want to act more like a playboy.Time Spent on Adult Content Platforms
The average duration of the most extended pornography viewing session was more than two hours for more than 86% of participants in one study, but many more report choosing to enjoy short, episodic views of adult content as opposed to lengthier viewing sessions.
What Demographics Watch Porn?
While many people assume that only men watch porn, statistics pulled from The Journal of Sex Research indicate that only 79.96% of visitors to these sites are men. In fact, 20.04%, or roughly 1 in 5 adult content viewers, are women.
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The Psychological Impacts of Porn
What many people do not realize about their adult content consumption is how it impacts their brains. For those who use pornography regularly, studies on students show that 13.5% of them report extreme or severe depression, anxiety, stress, and more...
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The Societal Impact of Watching Adult Content
As one might expect, watching adult content can affect one's relationships and intimacy, as well as human trafficking and exploitation of individuals.
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The Economic Impact of the Porn Industry
Despite the potential negative impact of adult content as an industry, it is a rather significant sector in terms of its financial power. As of 2018, The Guardian reported that porn revenue in the US alone totaled $9 to $97 billion...
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Tech and Accessibility Regarding the Porn Industry
As the world continues to modernize, VR and streaming platforms have made adult content even more accessible, immersive, and idealized for individual users. Platforms like Snapchat and Instagram are making it easier...
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Challenges Regarding Regulation and Accessibility Trends
As it stands today, several countries have made porn more regulated and less accessible. For example, in the UK, the Online Safety Act 2023regulates pornography and makes it harder to access.
According to The 19th, even some states in the US have made it required to provide ID and age verification to block younger demographics from viewing pornographic content. In the US, the main barrier to regulation is the debate between whether it is a state or federal issue, which many believe should be delegated to the states in this regard today.
What is the Best Method to Overcome Porn Addiction?
Today, there is no one conclusive method for solving porn addiction, but researchers have worked hard to try and identify successful methods. Paroxetine, a type of medication, is less successful than other therapies because new compulsive behaviors appear after three months on the medication (Source: Journal of Behavior Addiction).
Abstinence, perhaps one of the most well-known, is also not as successful, as there have been studies showing higher levels of problematic porn usage only after four weeks of abstinence. However, the Indian Journal of Psychiatry states the most successful treatments for porn addiction involve both pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy to provide both medication assistance and counseling to patients struggling with this challenge.
Explore Solutions to Your Porn Addiction
Understanding these statistics can give you a greater understanding of the nature of this addiction as well as your next steps to free yourself from this struggle. If you're looking for a solution to help overcome your porn addiction or would like to connect with sponsors, get MindMolt today to start your recovery.