Increase in porn addiction amid work from home culture –report

File photo: According to experts, the temptation, which is only a few clicks away, has caused some casual porn viewers to develop addictions and made those who already had issues worse. Picture: AP

File photo: According to experts, the temptation, which is only a few clicks away, has caused some casual porn viewers to develop addictions and made those who already had issues worse. Picture: AP

Published Aug 24, 2022

Share

London - Amid the rise of work from home culture due to the pandemic, remote working has contributed to an increase in porn addiction in the UK, media reports said.

Since remote working became popular during the epidemic, the number of UK citizens seeking medical attention for the problem has virtually doubled, according to experts, the Daily Mail reported.

According to experts, the temptation, which is only a few clicks away, has caused some casual porn viewers to develop addictions and made those who already had issues worse.

Porn addiction is a type of sex addiction in which users develop an addiction to the pleasurable sensation or “high” associated with sexual activity.

The Laurel Centre in London, the largest sex and porn addiction clinic in Britain, said it was now treating some remote workers who watch up to 14 hours of porn a day.

Paula Hall, the centre’s clinical director, said WFH meant people were now spending more time than before alone in front of their computers.

“It means you have got more opportunity, you do not have to wait until you get home at night, you can be more impulsive during the day,” she was quoted as saying to MailOnline.

The Laurel Centre had seen about 750 porn addicts in the first six months of this year alone, compared with 950 for the whole of 2019, the report said.

Hall mentioned that patients coming to the clinic this year “need more intensive treatment”.

According to the report, therapists at the London clinic spend about 600 hours a month helping people with porn addictions now compared with just 360 hours per month in 2019.