Porn addiction saw a rise amid WFH culture, say experts

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.

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, as per 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 is now treating some remote workers who watch up to 14 hours of porn a day.

Paula Hall, the centre's clinical director, said that WFH meant people are now spending more time than ever 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 2022 alone, compared to 950 for the whole of 2019, the report said.

Hall mentioned that patients coming to the clinic this year "need more intensive treatment". As per the report, therapists at the London clinic spend around 600 hours a month helping people with porn addictions now compared to just 360 hours per month in 2019. (IANS)