Signs of an Internet Sex Addiction

Do you use internet the internet compulsively to satisfy your sexual needs? Is your use of internet pornography normal?

With hundreds of millions (perhaps billions) of sexually explicit internet pages available for view online, men, and women, certainly do use the internet for sexual reasons. Some people, though, use internet pornography in a more compulsive and possibly harmful manner.

Here are some of the warning signs/behaviors of an internet sex addiction (compulsive sexual behaviors via the internet).

Internet Sex Addiction Warning Signs

• Do you spend a lot of time online each week engaged in sexual activity (viewing sexual images or videos or reading sexual content, engaged in sexual chat, sexual role play, etc.)? Do you spend more time each week involved in this type of activity than you had planned on?
• Do you maintain online sexual relationships?
• Do your online sexual behaviors lead to offline consequences? For example, failing to meet responsibilities due to time spent engaged in online sex?
• Do you feel guilty or ashamed about the way you use the internet for sexual gratification?
• Do you prefer online sexual gratification to real life sexual encounters?
• Do you view illegal or taboo content online? Have you required an escalation in the explicitness of imagery to feel the same level of arousal?
• Have you tried to cut back on the amount of time you spend engaged in online sex, or to stop looking at certain types of content, and failed to do so?
• Do you spend time offline planning a subsequent online sexual period
• Do you continue to use the internet sexually despite having been harmed by your use (a damaged personal relationship, for example)?
• Do you look at internet porn at work, or in other places/times where you might get caught in an embarrassing situation?
• Do you view content online that is illegal?

The compulsive use of internet pornography can have very damaging personal consequences. If you feel that you cannot control your use of the internet for sexual engagement, you should consider seeking professional help to do so.