Is Your Teen Addicted To Online Porn?

Doctors say online porn is an epidemic.

Depression, poor school performance, self-isolation and lying. Things that all teenagers go through right? Well, doctors are warning that those may also be the symptoms of a teen suffering from online porn addiction.

"A lot of times the pornography becomes a coping style," says psychotherapist Matt Bulkley in Saint George, Utah, who treats teenagers exclusively. "It becomes a way that they deal with negative emotions in their life, pornography provides a euphoria. It provides a high, of sorts."

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Bulkley says he has treated teens where the addiction has led to some committing sexual offenses to others just being hooked to it, like a drug. He warns that within the next five to 10 years, online pornography addiction among teens will become an epidemic. Why? Because nowadays kids as young as 8-years old are exposed to it, many times accidentally. When that happens, natural curiosity may lead them to looking at more of it as they get older.

ABC News describes online porn addiction by saying:

Viewing pornography is like pushing a button in the brain that releases four pleasure-inducing chemicals -- so you feel good. But here's the catch. The more chemicals released -- the more you want. It's a cycle, and it can get beyond your control. Your brain starts needing even-raunchier images to achieve the same high and it's hard to stop.

[Also Read: Study Says Everybody Is Watching Porn, Alot]