The level of youth addiction to online pornography is off the charts

Men are more likely to suffer from problematic porn consumption

New research shows that nearly two-thirds of young people are addicted to and addicted to online pornography.

According to a leading mental health and addiction clinic, almost two thirds of young people are now addicted to online pornography, writes the Daily Mail.

The Paracelsus Recovery clinic said studies of patients referred for treatment showed pornography addiction was significantly more common than official figures suggest.

According to a recent study by England’s Children’s Commissioner, children are exposed to online pornography from the age of nine on average, the Daily Mail recalls.

A quarter of 16- to 21-year-olds first saw online pornography in elementary school. By the age of 13, 50 percent of youth and adolescents had become familiar with it.

But Paracelsus Recovery, a clinic based in Zurich and London, warned that between 2019 and 2023 the number of people receiving treatment for porn addiction increased by 150 per cent.

The company’s chief executive, Ian Gerber, said: “It is clear from our research that porn addiction is significantly more common than official figures suggest. We estimate that one in two men suffer from problematic porn consumption that would meet diagnostic criteria for addiction, and one in four women Among those under 18, the rate is even higher, at about 60 percent.”

As the Daily Mail notes, the United Kingdom has the second-highest number of online pornography searches in the world, with an average of 16,600,000 pornography searches each month. It is estimated that the adult film industry generates more than £15 billion a year.

The government’s Internet Safety Act, passed last year in the UK, aims to force porn sites to use age verification software to deny access to those under 18. Similar technology is already used by gambling websites, the Daily Mail recalls.

Regulator Ofcom is consulting with the porn industry on how the scheme will be rolled out next year.

One 27-year-old British man receiving treatment at Paracelsus Recovery said he became addicted to pornography after starting watching it at age 12. He said: “I lost all control over my behavior. I sat in my room smoking weed and watching porn movies from morning to night. I had no friends, it ruined my education and I felt hopeless. I can’t even articulate it.” , how disgusting and ashamed I felt, and only other people who have struggled with porn addiction can understand the depth of that despair.”