There are so many things that a person can get addicted to. It’s not just drugs or alcohol. The list includes food, shopping, sex and even certain kinds of behavior. Then there’s porn.

Porn works just like a drug. It’s an addictive substance, though few people recognize it for what it is. And that’s what makes it dangerous: the fact that it is considered normal. People who stay away from drugs may not do the same for porn; in their eyes it’s harmless. Most people, especially guys, defend porn by saying that there’s nothing wrong with it and they need it. But just like people turn to drugs to fill a void, guys may view porn as a means to getting the intimacy and acceptance they crave, or because it allows the person to step into a world where he has control.

According to Dr. Victor Clive, a clinical psychologist, there are four stages in pornography addiction: addiction, escalation, desensitization, and finally acting out. It is just the same with drugs. A person might get hooked onto porn, find himself more and more attracted to it, till it eventually rules their life. At first a small dose is good, but then the user gets addicted to it and needs more and more of it to get to the same level of high. A porn addict may end up watching porn all night and during the day as well, switching from soft porn to something more hard core and perverse. He becomes oversexed and left dead inside.

Drug addiction can be overcome but porn shapes the way one thinks, and those images are left in the mind forever. If a person is watching something day after day, he will obviously get influenced by it. Thus a porn addict can never fully remove this from his system and ends up losing his self respect. He continues to view the world through porn tinted glasses.

The porn industry is now a multibillion dollar industry, with over 70,000 websites just waiting to trap people. The sick, derogatory images all portray women as sex objects. Porn projects the idea that women are less than human with no emotions or thoughts- just pieces of flesh meant to be fucked. They are always shown as ‘eager to please’ and begging for more, making men believe that they should treat women like that. The pornographic world is a place where men find themselves in control, with women as their willing servants. And worst of all, guys start to think that the more women they ‘bang,’ the more manly or capable they prove themselves. The distorted view of beauty that is portrayed is against what most women look like. Porn seems to suggest that women should be judged according to their bra size alone. It continues to shape a person’s thoughts, presenting all sorts of twisted ideas till he is completely influenced.

Porn affects society as a whole, resulting in broken lives and broken marriages. A person who is watching porn excessively will start to perceive it as reality, and might act out deviantly as a result. Men who watch porn frequently develop a higher tolerance for sexually abnormal behavior. This could even lead to rape in some extreme cases, because porn trivializes such obscene acts.

The saddest part is that porn is considered a norm. People don’t think that it is wrong, since ‘’everyone watches it’’ or ‘’all guys watch it.’’ In fact guys who don’t watch it are considered to be gay or weird. People lack awareness. Peer pressure and curiosity leads them into this seemingly harmless mess, and they get addicted without even realizing it. Some parents might try to block porn sites, but few actually explain why it is harmful. While drugs like heroin and coke cost money, porn is free and easily accessible. But eventually, the porn addict has to pay a huge price. Even guys who do not get addicted to that extent might start to act out in callous ways.

Another extremely sickening fact is that some guys watch porn together, and are proud of it. Porn is their form of entertainment; something to watch and discuss at parties. It reflects in the way they talk about women, with comments such as “look at her ass” or “I’d love to f*** her.” Most of the guys I know all talk like this. Whether they admit it or not, porn has a huge influence on them.

Some people might ask what’s wrong with porn. But the real question is, "what’s right with it?"