Is Pornography Addiction a Disease?

I think we can all agree that Ebola is a disease. It has a variety of violent symptoms, it is clearly communicable, it's universally recognized as one, etc. A disease is something that spreads by sneezing in someone's face, right? Is calling pornography addiction a disease a way to minimize it? As if we're saying, "Satan coughed in my face and I contracted a pornography addiction." Or is calling it a disease a helpful way of thinking about this widely misunderstood topic, including by addicts and their loved ones? Let's look at the definition, so see if we can get a better sense of what a disease is:

a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors

So "infection" is only a small part of what causes a disease. "Poisons" and "toxicity"--according to this definition--both can be factors causing the "disordered or incorrectly functioning" body part. Another definition is more general: "Illness or sickness in general." In this extremely lenient definition, almost any unfavorable, abnormal body function could be considered a disease.

So there's no help in the definition of "disease" that would disqualify addiction. Those who recognize pornography as the driving component of their addiction would probably call it a poison or a toxin. They would certainly conclude their inability to stop was a sign of incorrect function. However, there are many people who don't view addiction this way. As I talked about in a previous post, there is a sizable part of the population who view sexual deviants as those who merely possess a high sex drive and a few unreasonable behavioral expectations. The only thing they would say is abnormal about "pornography addiction" are those who want to fight it.

Back to the dictionary: more interesting than its current use is the root origins. In 14th Century Old French, "disease" was "dis" (without, away) + "aise" (ease). It was used to mean "discomfort, inconvenience." Other words associated with it include  "lack,want; discomfort, distress; trouble, misfortune." I find this so fascinating not because I consider addiction to be a discomfort and an inconvenience, but because I find that discomfort, lacking, trouble, etc to be the root cause of it. It's because of my inability to cope with discomforts and wants that I self-medicate.

The problem I have with calling addiction a disease is that it sounds like we're throwing up our hands--"It's totally not my fault that I contracted it, and there's nothing I can do about it." I think this attitude comes because almost always someone who contracts a disease isn't really at fault. Still, a lot of the Ebola news going on recently (whether or not you think it's ridiculous hype) focuses on people who have put themselves at risk and how those decisions affect them and everyone they come in contact with. There's a focus on agency and choice there that I think is very applicable to this discussion.

If we say that pornography addiction is a disease, I think we need to be very clear what brought this disease on--choices to repeatedly put oneself at risk--and what causes it to continue--more choices to not seek treatment or to not follow the "doctor's orders."

One more factor. There is a growing body of research that indicates that pornography addiction is a real thing that manifests itself physically...in changes in the addict's brain. So regardless of where it came from or what it will take to overcome it, the impairment is real and will not just go away. Andrew from rowboat and marbles compares it to diabetes--asking someone "why don't you just stop looking at pornography already?" is like asking someone with diabetes "why don't you just stop having diabetes already?" That's about as helpful as this psychiatrist (Bob Newhart):


I'm going to say yes, pornography addiction is a disease. It's NOT a disease like the Ebola that a person unknowingly contracts who's next to a person with a fever on an airplane. It IS a disease like the Ebola that a person contracts who intentionally travels to an area, choosing to put themselves at risk (though the reasoning for the analogy--selflessly helping Ebola patients--is clearly different than for pornography addiction--selfishly pursuing pleasure). It's a disease that the sufferer contracted and repeatedly aggravated while putting themselves at risk, whether or not they knew the extent of the danger. It's a disease that is extremely difficult to treat, and has a physical component that won't go away just through will power and positive thinking. But pornography addiction is a disease that can be treated--through following the example of those who have already beaten it into remission, taking advantage of the tools provided through organizations like the Addiction Recovery Program/Sexaholics Anonymous, and by turning to the Master Physician.