What would drive a man to chop off his son’s palm while he is asleep?
What would drive a man to beat his wife so mercilessly that she has to be rushed to an Intensive Care Unit for treatment?
The answer, in one word, is porn.
Two recent cases in Hyderabad have shone the light on the rise of porn addiction to a scale where it is no longer an individual or domestic problem, but has magnified into a social issue.
“Every day, we have four or five walk-in cases of addiction. We treat them in OPD (out patient department) and counsel them. Many cases are that of young software engineers who realise that they have a problem and come here for treatment,” says Dr V.A. Prasad of Hope Clinic, which also runs a ‘Sex Anonymous’ programme.
A study carried out a few years ago by Bengaluru-based Service for Healthy Use of Technology of NIMHANS revealed that 8.3% in a sample of 2,755 people said they accessed porn.
“It was more among single and single parenting group. The pornographic addiction was 0.2% (5/2750; 0.3% male; 0.1% female),” informs Manoj Kumar Sharma of SHUT clinic about the study carried out in 2013.
The figures can easily be imagined with the rise of smartphones where 420 million Indians have access to the Internet.
“Porn can seriously affect social life. Abstinence from porn can lead to stress or distress. It requires changing schedule and psychological therapy for management of co-morbid psychological issues, i.e., personality/mood related issues,” says Dr. Sharma throwing light on the trigger for violence in the two cases.
According to a 2018 study published in Asian Journal of Psychiatry, “Internet was accessed at workplace for pornography, interactive chatting and playing games”. The study analysed ‘Internet addiction at workplace and its implication for workers’ lifestyle: Exploration from Southern India’.
“Sex is a natural urge. We cannot limit it. There is the age factor and hormones. We are now living in a society where the normal biological cycle of man-woman relationship has been disrupted. Men used to marry at 21-22, but now they are marrying in their early 30s. Girls used to get married at 17 or 18 and now, they are marrying when they are 25-26. Money, job and security are key considerations, but the natural behaviour cannot change. That is the reason for rise in porn addiction and violence,” says Dr. Prasad.
The key age group for porn addiction is from the most productive age group. “We have been getting seven to eight cases since 2014. They are in the age group of 20-25 years. People come for consultation only when there are issues with their partner or when they notice increased craving leading to avoidance of other important needs of life,” says Dr. Sharma.
