Teenagers in general are often prone to making hasty and impulsive decisions, and this is one of the reasons many teens can develop addictions. Any type of addiction can be a bad thing, but a growing type of addiction with teens today involves pornography. Pornography addictions are very easy to develop and can be very hard to treat and stop. If you have a teenager that has a pornography addiction, you should look into professional help. Here are several things to understand about pornography addictions and teenagers.

Why Teens Are Prone to Addictions

The brain of a teenager is not yet fully developed, and by this time, the judgement part of their brain is not yet developed. Because a teen's brain is still developing, a lot of teens are prone to making bad decisions, and this can happen to any teenager. Teens do not always understand consequences or risks when they make decisions, and this is why teens need rules, guidelines, and boundaries. Without these things, teens can end up in really bad situations.

Why Porn Addictions Are Prevalent Among Teens

Anyone can develop a porn addiction, and teens are included in this. Porn addictions are extremely common today. One study indicated that around 21 million men have an addiction to pornography. While porn is something that has been around forever, it is so much easier to access it today than it was years ago. This is primarily because of the Internet.

According to one study, 25% of all search engine requests are related to pornography to some extent, and 35% of all downloads are pornography related. These numbers are very high, and it is likely because pornography is so easy to access. There are millions of pornographic sites that are free to view, and viewing these sites is something teens do on their phones and computers. Porn is right at their fingertips at any given second of the day.

Many teens start looking at porn simply out of curiosity, but they continue looking because of the way it makes them feel. Each time a person views pornography, it triggers chemical reactions in their brains, similar to reactions people may experience from sex or drug use. Dopamine is released when viewing porn, and this chemical makes a person feel good. To keep feeling good, a person will continue to go back to porn use.

Dangers of Porn Addictions

Looking at porn may seem like an innocent thing to do, but it really is not. There are so many dangers porn use can have, and here are some of them:

• It creates problems with intimate connections—The more a person views porn, the harder it is for him or her to develop close intimate relationships with other people.
• It creates sexual problems—Men who view porn frequently are at a higher risk for developing sexual problems later on in life.
• It can lead to other addictions and situations—In addition, people who are addicted to porn often lose their sensitivity towards sex. Because of this, they may start craving other sexual events, such as homosexual relations or forms of sex that are more violent.

Being addicted to porn offers no good benefits to anyone, yet breaking this type of addiction is not easy to do. If your teenager has an addiction to porn, seek help now. Professional help is the best way to handle this type of addiction, and you can learn more by contacting a counseling center today. Teen pornography addiction treatment centers like Lifeline can help you and your child better understand the problem and get them the help they need to recover.