Dr. Anna Lembke

Oh my gosh.

Yes. Yeah. So I do think that pornography addiction is one of the biggest addictions and the most silent and the most shameful addictions that we have now in the modern world. We will not infrequently have a patient come in to the clinic who claims to have other problems, and it's not until visit three or four that they finally fess up, I'm really here for a pornography addiction.

Yes. Yeah. So I do think that pornography addiction is one of the biggest addictions and the most silent and the most shameful addictions that we have now in the modern world. We will not infrequently have a patient come in to the clinic who claims to have other problems, and it's not until visit three or four that they finally fess up, I'm really here for a pornography addiction.

There's so much shame around it. It's so incredibly shameful for people to admit that they are spending their time looking at these images often associated with compulsive masturbation. Some people, their addiction manifests by actually pursuing partners. So dating apps are highly addictive and meetups. All of this is related to sex and orgasm, which releases dopamine in the reward pathway.

There's so much shame around it. It's so incredibly shameful for people to admit that they are spending their time looking at these images often associated with compulsive masturbation. Some people, their addiction manifests by actually pursuing partners. So dating apps are highly addictive and meetups. All of this is related to sex and orgasm, which releases dopamine in the reward pathway.

But it's not just the moment of orgasm. It's all of the rituals and the buildup and the searching that's related to it. Women can get addicted to pornography as well as men, although I would say that men outnumber women probably, you know, in my clinical experience, I don't know, 10 to 1. Women, however, are much more vulnerable to love addiction, which is also real, right?

But it's not just the moment of orgasm. It's all of the rituals and the buildup and the searching that's related to it. Women can get addicted to pornography as well as men, although I would say that men outnumber women probably, you know, in my clinical experience, I don't know, 10 to 1. Women, however, are much more vulnerable to love addiction, which is also real, right?

The pathological compulsive falling in love with partners, right? And then getting into these relationships that are really dramatic and not healthy and then falling out of love and then pursuing another love partner. So these addictions are real. They are very harmful for people who get addicted. Ultimately, they're not even about sex.

The pathological compulsive falling in love with partners, right? And then getting into these relationships that are really dramatic and not healthy and then falling out of love and then pursuing another love partner. So these addictions are real. They are very harmful for people who get addicted. Ultimately, they're not even about sex.

They're about human attachment and the desire for human attachment and also just as a way to self-soothe and escape our own everyday suffering. And I'm particularly concerned about girls and boys who now have access to all kinds of sexual images that – Would not have been possible for them to get access to a generation or two ago.

They're about human attachment and the desire for human attachment and also just as a way to self-soothe and escape our own everyday suffering. And I'm particularly concerned about girls and boys who now have access to all kinds of sexual images that – Would not have been possible for them to get access to a generation or two ago.

And now, you know, a child of five with an iPad can accidentally end up on a site that has very graphic sexual images and videos.

And now, you know, a child of five with an iPad can accidentally end up on a site that has very graphic sexual images and videos.

Well, there's a lot of potential harms. One of the harms, especially if combined with, you know, compulsive masturbation, is that it's just simply addictive, which means that the more people do it, the more they want to do it, then they have the comedown where they don't feel good.

Well, there's a lot of potential harms. One of the harms, especially if combined with, you know, compulsive masturbation, is that it's just simply addictive, which means that the more people do it, the more they want to do it, then they have the comedown where they don't feel good.

And then pretty soon it becomes like a compulsive, repetitive loop where they're spending large amounts of their day engaging in this activity. And that in itself is highly debilitating. But other harms I think that are significant are it really does change a person's conceptualization of what sex is and what sex is for.

And then pretty soon it becomes like a compulsive, repetitive loop where they're spending large amounts of their day engaging in this activity. And that in itself is highly debilitating. But other harms I think that are significant are it really does change a person's conceptualization of what sex is and what sex is for.

And I don't want to get into the whole thing of like, you know, sex is exercise or sex is recreational fun compared with sex, you know, as something that's maybe more sacred because I'm not here to judge any of that.

And I don't want to get into the whole thing of like, you know, sex is exercise or sex is recreational fun compared with sex, you know, as something that's maybe more sacred because I'm not here to judge any of that.

Except to say that if a main pathway for a young person to learn about sex is through watching pornography, that's going to give them a very distorted view of what, you know, real sex is like. Not to mention what relationships are like, right, and how sex becomes a part of an intimate relationship.