Is porn addiction for people who have low self-esteem?

I mean, other than men being said majority, I couldn't really say. I don't consider myself having low self esteem, but I've been trying to kick this habit since 2017. I think you're also thinking of the term "incel" (involuntary celibate).

The only cliche I've ever seen about it is that men usually watch porn. Which isn't untrue.

 

I was young when I first got addicted to porn and it was ultimately because I was horny and wanted to look at naked women. I was a little shy and socially awkward but I still don't blame that for my addiction. I was going through puberty and I had access to the internet...it was a recipe for disaster.

 

Well, I’d venture to say that guys with high self esteem might want to have the real thing and won’t indulge as much as a guy with low self esteem who thinks he can’t get any girlfriends. So yea I mean I guess it makes sense that lonely or low self esteem type guys become porn addicts because they don’t internally believe there is anything better they are capable of experiencing

 

Except that most of you become addicted long before you meet a partner. My husband was using porn to masturbate by age 11. He had girlfriends long before he met me, but still pmo. Then he married me and literally told me something was wrong with me because I liked, wanted, and initiated sex. I told him he was the one with the problem and normal people liked sex. How do you explain all the addicts who started well before their teen years and who cannot stop even when in a relationship? Married men end up divorced because their addiction takes precedence over their relationship. I don’t think the men are marrying women they don’t like. The vast majority are addicted long before they meet their partner.

 

People who start pmo at an early age would have a poor prefrontal cortex and n immatured brain, which all result in low self esteem

 

I would say in my case poor self esteem played a part. Lack of friends and poor body image added all to it. So it was easier (and safer) to gravitate towards PMO.