​Scientists have not been able to get much definitive information on porn brain and the veracity of addiction, but new research elucidates why some Internet users might feel distressed about the thought of it, and why the thought of a porn addiction has direct (sometimes adverse) effects on mental health—more so than the porn itself. In a Psychology of Addictive Behaviors study published online last week, Joshua B. Grubbs of Case Western Reserve University​ ​polled roughly 2,000 adults about their porn habits, negative emotions, and the concept of addiction. His results were interesting, as Science of Us notes:

People who believed they were addicted to porn also experienced more psychological distress—depression, anxiety, anger—than those who didn't feel as if they were addicted to porn.

"Collectively, these findings suggest that perceived addiction to Internet pornography, but not pornography use itself, is related to psychological distress, which runs counter to the narrative that many people have put forth. It doesn't seem to be the pornography itself that is causing folks problems, it's how they feel about it," Grubbs said in a statement. "Perceived addiction involves a negative interpretation of your own behavior, thinking about yourself, like, 'I have no power over this' or 'I'm an addict, and I can't control this.' We know from many studies that thinking something has control over you leads to psychological distress."

In other words, if you think the amount of porn you're watching is in excess, you might be self-imposing unhealthy emotions that don't need to be there. In SoU's report, Melissa Dahl points out that Grubbs published another study earlier this year that concluded that users who think they've lost self-control likely have religious or moral hang-ups tied to sex. Why is this important? It's less the porn that causes the problems, according to the study, and more external pressures stemming from society—a line of thinking that subverts the commonly held idea that porn can be dangerous. Dahl elaborates:

Taken together, the studies suggest that it's not something inherent to the XXX-rated content itself that's the problem; it's the viewers' own attitudes toward it, and their perceived ability to control how much of it they watch, that seems to matter most.

You can check out the full study here.

[H/T Science of Us]