What is pornography and sex addiction?

       The National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity has defined sexual addiction as "engaging in persistent and escalating patterns of sexual behavior acted out despite increasing negative consequences to self and others." In other words, an individual who is addicted to a sex behavior will continue to engage in these behaviors despite facing potential health risks, financial problems, shattered relationships or even arrest.  Not all persons are equally vulnerable to sexual addiction such as the habitual use of pornography. For example, Dr. Victor Cline, Clinical Psychologist at the University of Utah identified four stages of pornographic addiction following initial exposure. They are:
• Addiction - The desire and need to keep coming back for pornographic images.
• Escalation - The need for more explicit, rougher, and more deviant images for the same sexual effect.
• Desensitization - Material once viewed as shocking or taboo is seen as acceptable or commonplace. 
• Acting out - The tendency to perform the behaviors viewed, including exhibitionism, sadistic/masochistic sex, group sex, rape, or sex with minor children. (Pornography effects: Empirical and clinical evidence. University of Utah Department of Psychology, 1988)
        The term "sex addict" refers to those individuals who progress through the stages of addiction. In a similar way as a alcoholic becomes addicted to alcohol, a sex addict becomes addicted to a sexual behavior. The sexual behavior may include compulsive masturbation, the extensive use of pornography or phone or computer sex services. For others, addiction can involve illegal activities such as exhibitionism, voyeurism, obscene phone calls, child molestation or rape. Sex addicts do not necessarily become sex offenders.

How do I know if someone has a sexual problem?

        Sometimes, it's difficult to know whether someone close to you has a problem with pornography or some other sexual behavior. Those individuals who have become addicted typically hide his/her addictive behavior or you might not know the warning signs or symptoms. The following behaviors are characteristic of individuals that have a problem with pornography or some other sexual behavior:
• Stay up late to watch television, talk in Internet chat rooms or surf the Web
• Look at pornographic material such as magazines, books, videos and clothing catalogs
• Always have a good reason for looking at pornography
• Frequently isolate themselves from spouses or other family members
• Get angry if someone shows concern about a problem with pornography or other sexual behavior
• Fail to account for increasing number of toll -- 800 or 900 -- calls
• Frequently rent movies with nudity and sexual themes
• Hide pornography at work or home
• Frequently use sexual humor
• Are increasingly dishonest and secretive
• Spending money for online or phone sexual material
• Frequently engaging in more sex and with more partners than intended
• Wanting to cut down and unsuccessfully attempting to limit sexual activity
• Continually engaging in the sexual behavior despite negative consequences, such as broken relationships or potential health risks.
More generally, those individuals with sexual problems tend to organize their world around sexual themes in the same way that an alcoholic organize theirs around alcohol.