Olympic Athlete Overcomes Addiction to Pornographic Content

Former British Olympic diver Freddy Woodward realized he was addicted to watching pornographic content during his teenage years. “Even when I tried to study, I felt the urge to open those websites,” he recalled. According to him, he began regularly visiting adult websites from the age of 12. Even after starting his professional career and representing his country at the Olympics, he would watch adult content multiple times a day. Now at 30 years old, the Olympic athlete says he has finally overcome this habit thanks to a personal transformation. “If you try to quit this habit, it’s possible. You need to identify yourself as someone who does not watch porn. This requires a lot of effort,” he explained.

How can one recognize when the habit of watching pornographic content is out of control, and how can it be addressed? “We know many people face problems related to pornography,” says sexual and relationship specialist psychiatrist Silva Neves. She has noticed an increasing number of patients with such issues at her private clinic. Experts do not unanimously agree on whether this should be categorized as an addiction similar to drug dependency. According to researcher Campbell Ince from Monash University in Australia, most doctors agree that people watch porn more than necessary, but there is no clear definition of its symptoms and treatment.

Some specialists view it as ‘Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder’ as defined by the World Health Organization. Psychotherapist Dr. Paula Hall, who works at a center specializing in distinguishing sexual and porn addiction, states that stress can increase when a person feels a lack of control over their sexual behavior and repeatedly fails to regain control. Neves emphasizes that the impact of this habit is better measured by how much harm it causes in one’s life, rather than by “how often or how long” one watches pornographic content.