Our research shows that cases of porn, sex, and love addictions soared following the pandemic. Between 2020 and 2025, the Rehab Clinic Advisory Service received 1,087 calls for these addictions. Compared to the five years before the pandemic, in which just 149 calls took place, this is a staggering 629% increase!
While not medically registered, all three conditions are generally considered process addictions — a form of addiction that involves compulsively engaging in behaviours that activate the brain’s reward system despite any negative consequences. There can be a lot of crossover with sex, love, and porn addiction, but they can also exist separately.
In this guide, we’ll break down each of these addictions, from common triggers to key signs to look out for and options for treatment.
Table of Contents
The key signs of porn, sex, and love addiction
Behavioural addictions can be harder to identify, as they’re often not formally recognised with clear diagnostic criteria. The objects of these addictions are also natural to enjoy when in moderation, so the line between healthy and addictive behaviour is blurry. It can result in many rationalising or dismissing the actions.
However, most process addictions share similar side effects, such as a strong desire to do something, a lack of control, and an inability to conduct daily tasks. There are also several signs to look out for specific to sex, porn, and love addictions.
What are the key signs of sex addiction?
This form of process addiction involves an obsession with sex — thinking about it constantly, spending excessive amounts of time planning the activity, and persistently engaging in sexual activity, whether on their own or with someone else.
When these urges take over, the individual might lie to hide their behaviours and conduct reckless sexual activity that could harm themselves or others, with little regard.
This behaviour could result in unhealthy relationships with sexual or romantic partners and an inability to carry out other responsibilities, including work. There are also several emotional implications of this addiction, such as feeling guilt and shame around behaviours, as well as experiencing anxiety and depression.
Sex addiction can also create money problems if paying for sexual activities without considering the financial impact. Additionally, it can pose health risks like contracting sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies. In extreme cases, there could be serious legal implications if sexual offences are committed to satisfy urges.
What are the key signs of love addiction?
Love addiction is particularly difficult to assess, as love can cause high emotional responses in most people. However, signs it has become addictive include feeling an intense need for contact with your partner, an overwhelming fear of being alone, and seeking out relationships regardless of the quality. It often comes with erratic behaviour and extreme highs and lows.
A lack of self-identity outside of a relationship is another indicator, as well as basing self-worth and happiness on being with a partner. Someone with love addiction may also hold their partner on a pedestal and engage in people-pleasing behaviour. Alternatively, co-dependent love addicts may have a desire to ‘fix’ a partner and be attracted to someone emotionally unavailable.
This obsession can make it hard to focus at work, conduct everyday tasks, or be present in other aspects of life outside of the relationship. These intense feelings towards a love interest can also influence poor life decisions, prioritising the partner to the point of harming relationships with family and friends.
A preoccupation with relationships and a craving for connection can become intertwined with a sex addiction. These behavioural patterns can lead to toxic or even abusive romantic relationships, causing severe emotional distress. In severe cases, love addiction can also escalate to stalking or violent behaviour.
What are the key signs of porn addiction?
Due to how accessible pornography has become online, unhealthy habits can quickly form. If you’re consuming enough porn that it interferes with daily life and it’s preoccupying your thoughts, it’s likely crossed a line. Those addicted may feel unable to stop watching porn even when they want to and during inappropriate situations. While porn addictions can exist separately, this fixation can also be part of a sex addiction.
Porn may become a coping mechanism or avoidance tactic for when difficult emotions arise. You may lose interest in anything outside of watching porn, as well as finding your sex life unfulfilling. This isolation could make it difficult to form new connections with people and harm existing relationships.
Porn addiction can also result in poor personal care, neglecting responsibilities, and developing guilt, shame and low self-esteem. These feelings can also develop into other mental health issues, like depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.
Causes and triggers of sex, love, and porn addictions
There are several potential causes for process addictions, from psychological and biological factors to life experiences and cultural influences. As there’s often crossover with love, porn, and sex addictions, they all have similar triggers.
Neurological disorders
Neurological disorder is a broad umbrella term for conditions that affect the nervous system, including the brain. Disorders that affect the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, or dopamine pathways can impact impulse control, judgment, emotion regulation, and reward processing.
Types of neurological disorders that can have this impact are listed below:
Brain injuries
In some cases, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can cause emotional dysregulation or attachment issues if the limbic system is injured, which could make it difficult to form or maintain existing healthy relationships.
Neurodevelopmental disorders
Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) are neurological disorders that begin in early development, usually before birth or in early childhood. NDDs are often lifelong but not usually degenerative.
Of the calls to Rehab Clinic Advisory Service related to porn, sex, and love addiction, 485 of the individuals were also diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), either during or after treatment for the process addictions.
ADHD is one of the most common NDDs and can cause intense emotional responses that can lead to quick attachments. People with ADHD can also experience rejection sensitivity, which could create a need for constant validation. Some people with ADHD may experience hyperfocus, too, which could present as fixations on things of interest, such as porn, love, and sex.
Neurodegenerative diseases
Neurodegenerative diseases are progressive neurological disorders that can worsen over time and are often adult-onset.
Certain conditions like Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) can cause hypersexuality, a loss of inhibitions, and compulsive behaviours, which can lead to inappropriate sexual behaviour and excessive porn use.
Patients with Parkinson’s Disease and on dopamine agonist treatment can commonly develop Impulse Control Disorders (ICD), including hypersexuality.
Chemical imbalances
These addictions can also become a coping mechanism for chemical imbalances, which may develop from psychological trauma, mental health conditions, and neurological disorders.
The key chemical imbalances that can contribute to love, sex, and porn addictions:
Dopamine
Many mental health conditions and disorders, including ADHD, depression, and bipolar disorder, can cause dopamine deficiencies. Due to this imbalance, individuals may seek out dopamine hits, such as watching porn, having sex, and chasing romantic partners.
If the activity is pursued repeatedly, the brain may adapt to the dopamine release and require more of the behaviour to produce the same dopamine level. This tolerance may also motivate individuals to begin risky behaviour to achieve the same high.
Serotonin
Low serotonin can cause obsessive thinking and poor impulse control, which can contribute to the development or exacerbation of hyper-fixation and compulsive behaviour.
This imbalance is linked to a range of mental health conditions, including anxiety, chronic stress, PTSD, substance abuse, OCD, sleep disorders and more.
Oxytocin
Oxytocin is released during romantic and physical intimacy, promoting emotional bonding and attachment. Individuals with attachment disorders or trauma may become reliant on this feeling as a way to seek validation through sex and love.
Low oxytocin levels have been linked to depression, the autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and panhypopituitarism, a condition in which the pituitary gland doesn’t produce enough of the hormones it would ordinarily.
Endorphins
The natural opioids are released during orgasms and emotional closeness, which can elevate the mood. People may become addicted to the ‘endorphin rush’ as a form of emotional pain relief to help them cope with difficult emotions.
Those with a low endorphin production — which can occur from stress, depression, substance abuse and more — might be more prone to seeking out this feeling.
Norepinephrine Imbalance
This chemical regulates arousal and can spike during the experience of falling in love and sexual excitement. Too much norepinephrine (NE) can cause impulsivity and emotional reactivity, whereas those with low levels may seek out behaviours to stimulate the chemical.
Causes of low NE levels include ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder, and low blood pressure, and conditions related to high NE levels include anxiety disorders, chronic stress and substance use.
Societal and circumstantial impacts
Media and cultural influences can drive these process addictions, including portraying unrealistic romantic ideals and hyper-sexualisation and normalising pornography use.
Social pressures could contribute to sexual behaviour, and the stigma around addictions and mental health conditions could prevent some from seeking help. Other research found the increase in working from home created a new temptation for those with porn addictions.
Specific life situations can also be a trigger, such as feeling unhappy in a relationship or dissatisfied with sexual activity could lead to porn addiction as an escape. The loneliness many felt during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns also intensified the reliance on porn for intimacy and arousal.
Previous relationships could also trigger abandonment fears, low self-esteem, and a lack of self-love, which can all contribute to a love addiction. Individuals who had a lack of secure attachments in childhood or traumatic experiences may become dependent on compulsive behaviour as a coping mechanism.
Genetic factors
Genes don’t directly cause addiction, but can make people more susceptible to addiction. Genes can shape brain chemistry, impulse control, and emotional sensitivity, which increases the risk.
The most telling sign of a genetic predisposition to addiction is a family history of addictive behaviours. Addiction running in the family indicates a combination of shared genes and a shared environment.
Connection with substance abuse
Both process addictions and substance use activate the brain’s reward system with dopamine. As the brain builds tolerance to this release, it prompts the need for either more of the same or another source of stimulation.
As substances like alcohol and drugs can lower inhibitions, they can also lead to risky sexual behaviours, just as compulsive sex can trigger cravings for substances. Sexual activity and drug use are also commonly present in the same environments, therefore blurring the boundaries between addictions. Both substance and process addictions can also be coping mechanisms for emotional difficulties.
Those in early recovery from substance abuse are vulnerable to developing love, sex, and porn addictions — seeking a replacement ‘high’ and managing the discomfort of withdrawals.
Who is the main demographic?
Due to the various factors that can contribute to addiction, the main demographic can vary, and as research is limited around these conditions, it’s difficult to pinpoint.
However, of the calls to Rehab Clinic Advisory Service for sex, love, and porn addictions, 65% were based in London and home counties, and 82% were aged between 35 and 59 years old.
In a 2023 survey of British schoolchildren between 14 and 18 years old, a fifth of respondents said they watched pornography frequently. Of those students, one in five admitted they had a porn habit and one in 10 felt addicted.
Another study found that Pornhub had the most visits from users based in the United States, with over three billion visits in January 2024 alone. The countries that followed were Indonesia, Brazil, France and the Philippines.
Additionally, 7% of women and 10% of men in the US reported significant levels of distress and/or social impairment associated with compulsive sexual behaviour — significantly more than researchers had previously estimated. In contrast, other studies have found that 8 to 10% of women reported signs of love addiction compared to 3 to 5% of men.
How to treat love, sex, and porn addictions
The recovery goals of these addictions can vary depending on severity. Undergoing treatment with medical health professionals can help you find and work towards appropriate goals that address the behaviour itself, the emotional and psychological triggers, and any underlying conditions.
Psychotherapy
Various psychotherapy techniques can help individuals understand and manage their triggers. Psychotherapy is a form of talk therapy in which a therapist guides you to talk through your issues, with some incorporating exercises, and helps you process any arising emotions. Individuals, couples, and groups can undergo psychotherapy.
Types of psychotherapy include:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): Focuses on replacing negative thoughts and behaviours with healthy coping mechanisms.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Uses acceptance and mindful strategies to change your relationship with thoughts rather than the thoughts themselves.
- Psychodynamic Therapy: Explores the unconscious mind to help you understand how your past shapes current feelings and behaviour.
- Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR): Uses talk therapy and side-to-side eye movements to help you process traumatic memories.
In-patient and out-patient treatment programs
When recovering from an addiction, individuals can seek in-patient or outpatient rehab treatment programs, which have different levels of structure and intensity.
What is inpatient treatment?
This option involves staying in a residential rehab centre for a set duration to focus solely on recovery. It typically involves group or individual psychotherapy alongside mindful activities in an immersive and healing environment with 24/7 supervision.
Although it can be intrusive on a person’s life and more expensive, it reduces the risk of relapse. Inpatient treatment is recommended for individuals with long-standing or severe addictions.
What is outpatient treatment?
Outpatient treatment involves attending regularly scheduled sessions while still living at home. This option allows more flexibility, is often more affordable, and can promote real-life trigger management. It can be effective for those with mild addictions and a strong support network, but it can limit progress as there’s still the opportunity to engage in compulsive behaviour.
Of the Rehab Clinic Advisory Service calls analysed, 43% of the individuals entered residential treatment for these addictions combined with substance abuse. Another 36% took up either face-to-face or virtual rehab therapies.
Support groups
Support groups involve regular gatherings, either in person or virtually, of people with a shared issue to talk about their experiences and offer support.
This option differs from group therapy, which is determined by a clinical diagnosis, conducted by licensed mental health professionals, and focuses on helping people change.
Support groups don’t require a diagnosis, can be led by peer leaders or volunteers, and are often more informal. However, both types of group sessions offer different perspectives and a sense of community.
Medication
While there isn’t a specific medication for these process addictions, medication may be prescribed to treat underlying psychiatric conditions tied to the behaviours. For example, SSRIs for OCD, anxiety, or depression, and mood stabilisers for bipolar disorder or ADHD.
Aftercare
After undergoing formal recovery treatment and the addiction is properly managed, aftercare is a crucial part of maintaining long-term recovery. It’s essential to consult a healthcare professional for an aftercare plan, which may include attending ongoing therapy sessions, support groups, or check-in programs.
Lifestyle changes
As well as treatment, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is an important aspect of managing addiction as it builds a solid foundation for recovery.
To help balance brain chemistry, regulate emotions, and support overall brain function:
- Incorporate regular exercise into your routine
- Eat a balanced and nutritious diet
- Prioritise a solid sleep schedule
- Engage in mindfulness (e.g., meditation, positive mantras, and journalling)
- Drink water to stay hydrated
In early recovery, it’s also helpful to eliminate or minimise exposure to external triggers, which may include screen time, alcohol use, and dating apps. Internal triggers, such as loneliness, sadness, and boredom, will likely occur, but making lifestyle changes can help you respond to triggers in a healthy way that doesn’t cause relapse.
Although sex, porn, and love addictions aren’t as widely recognised, they can cause huge disruptions to people’s lives and lasting damage. It’s important to seek help and guidance if you or your loved one is struggling with these compulsive behaviours.