<p>Here's a small-sample study suggesting some efficacy for acceptance and commitment therapy:</p>
<p><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27157029/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Crosby, J. M., &amp; Twohig, M. P. (2016). Acceptance and commitment therapy for problematic internet pornography use: A randomized trial. Behavior Therapy, 47(3), 355-366.</a></p>
<hr />
<p>and a review that cites this study among others:</p>
<p><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29069616/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Sniewski, L., Farvid, P., &amp; Carter, P. (2018). The assessment and treatment of adult heterosexual men with self-perceived problematic pornography use: A review. Addictive Behaviors, 77, 217-224.</a></p>
<hr />
<p>This paper interviewed clinicians about their observations and impressions of treatment efficacy with problematic pornography use:</p>
<p><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27345497/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Short, M. B., Wetterneck, C. T., Bistricky, S. L., Shutter, T., &amp; Chase, T. E. (2016). Clinicians’ beliefs, observations, and treatment effectiveness regarding clients’ sexual addiction and internet pornography use. Community mental health journal, 52, 1070-1081.</a></p>
<p>I'd summarize this one as the psychologists interviewed used the therapy techniques they're familiar with and found it worked moderately well, as with those techniques applied more broadly.</p>
<hr />
<p>In general, there isn't nearly as much scientific research on pornography addiction relative to, say, drug addiction. Of course I haven't referred to anywhere near all the papers published in this area, but you're not going to find one that says &quot;aha, this is the magic treatment that's been missing so far!&quot; If someone presents themselves as having such a magic cure, I think you can be certain that they are acting as a salesperson rather than a clinician.</p>
<p>It seems that someone who thinks they have a problem with pornography should proceed pretty much the same way someone with any other behavioral problem that isn't going to cause any immediate permanent harm to themselves or others: if attempts at self-control are unsuccessful, seek the assistance of a professional psychologist/therapist. Those folks are professionally trained in therapy strategies that work for all sorts of addictions and behaviors. There's no particular reason and no sufficient literature to suggest that excessive pornography use is special or different from anything else.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-25T14:29:38.303Z
2024-04-25T14:29:38.303Z
Bryan Krause
<p>Nowadays a lot of people look at pornographic content on the internet. But sometimes it became an addiction and if you google &quot;how to stop watching porn&quot; you'll get a ton of blogs, most of which are not, in my opinion, scientific. Is there a scientific way to stop watching porn? Is there any reference, any books specially or an article about it?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-23T23:49:57.940Z
Try searching on Google Scholars. It will cut you the fluffs
Ooker
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-23T23:51:50.317Z
Perhaps start your researches (we're required to show those when posting a question) by looking at general strategies for addiction management, then narrow down to porn.
Jiminy Cricket.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-30T13:57:02.337Z
Post more here? This place can also be addictive, LOL. (There's a saying that the sum of vices is constant or something like that, heh. There is a little of scientific truth to the latter, but it's pretty debated too. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230505-is-there-such-a-thing-as-an-addictive-personality https://www.nature.com/articles/522S48a)
got trolled too much this week
<reference-request><sexuality><addiction><self-control>
How to stop watching porn?
mohamadi_arch
# How to stop watching porn?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-04-23)

Nowadays a lot of people look at pornographic content on the internet. But sometimes it became an addiction and if you google "how to stop watching porn" you'll get a ton of blogs, most of which are not, in my opinion, scientific. Is there a scientific way to stop watching porn? Is there any reference, any books specially or an article about it?

**Tags:** reference-request, sexuality, addiction, self-control

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Try searching on Google Scholars. It will cut you the fluffs  
> **username_2**: Perhaps start your researches (we're required to show those when posting a question) by looking at general strategies for addiction management, then narrow down to porn.  
> **username_3**: Post more here? This place can also be addictive, LOL. (There's a saying that the sum of vices is constant or something like that, heh. There is a little of scientific truth to the latter, but it's pretty debated too. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230505-is-there-such-a-thing-as-an-addictive-personality https://www.nature.com/articles/522S48a)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2024-04-25. Score: 3

Here's a small-sample study suggesting some efficacy for acceptance and commitment therapy:

[Crosby, J. M., & Twohig, M. P. (2016). Acceptance and commitment therapy for problematic internet pornography use: A randomized trial. Behavior Therapy, 47(3), 355-366.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27157029/)

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and a review that cites this study among others:

[Sniewski, L., Farvid, P., & Carter, P. (2018). The assessment and treatment of adult heterosexual men with self-perceived problematic pornography use: A review. Addictive Behaviors, 77, 217-224.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29069616/)

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This paper interviewed clinicians about their observations and impressions of treatment efficacy with problematic pornography use:

[Short, M. B., Wetterneck, C. T., Bistricky, S. L., Shutter, T., & Chase, T. E. (2016). Clinicians’ beliefs, observations, and treatment effectiveness regarding clients’ sexual addiction and internet pornography use. Community mental health journal, 52, 1070-1081.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27345497/)

I'd summarize this one as the psychologists interviewed used the therapy techniques they're familiar with and found it worked moderately well, as with those techniques applied more broadly.

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In general, there isn't nearly as much scientific research on pornography addiction relative to, say, drug addiction. Of course I haven't referred to anywhere near all the papers published in this area, but you're not going to find one that says "aha, this is the magic treatment that's been missing so far!" If someone presents themselves as having such a magic cure, I think you can be certain that they are acting as a salesperson rather than a clinician.

It seems that someone who thinks they have a problem with pornography should proceed pretty much the same way someone with any other behavioral problem that isn't going to cause any immediate permanent harm to themselves or others: if attempts at self-control are unsuccessful, seek the assistance of a professional psychologist/therapist. Those folks are professionally trained in therapy strategies that work for all sorts of addictions and behaviors. There's no particular reason and no sufficient literature to suggest that excessive pornography use is special or different from anything else.


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