By Study Finds
Published: December 14, 2022
-Study Finds
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.
