The impact of 30 years of the internet’s graphical user interface on pornography addiction worldwide is showing up in a most unusual place: the Catholic Church. Caritas Lithuania, the Catholic Church’s social welfare agency in Lithuania, has added counseling in pornography addiction due to a “marked surge” of parishioner demand.

Simon Schwarz, an addiction counselor for Caritas Vilnius, told the Catholic News Agency (CNA), “For the last seven years, people suffering from compulsive sexual behavior disorder [CSBD] have been coming to Caritas for help.” Over those years, the profile of people seeking help changed dramatically. CNA explains:

Most of those early clients were well-educated married men between the ages of 35 and 55, employed in respected professions. But once the initiative became more widespread and local parishes began referring individuals, the profile shifted dramatically. Today, nearly half of the clients are between 18 and 20 years old, with some already facing severe psychological consequences after years of pornography use beginning in early puberty.

A lengthy and detailed assessment of compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD) was published in the journal Sexual Medicine Reviews in July of 2024. Researchers divided the subject into several sub-disorders, including:

• hypersexual disorder
• sexual addiction
• porn addiction
• sexual compulsivity
• out-of-control sexual behavior

Regarding pornography addiction, researchers distinguish it from pornography use in that, like other addictions, sufferers feel unable to control their behavior and wish to change their behavior, but find themselves incapable of doing so without help. Further, their use of pornography causes negative impacts on their lives.

The researchers describe the impacts of pornography addiction:

[They] masturbate compulsively [and] become unable to gain or sustain erections to their partners or indeed to previously utilized pornography vignettes. Instead, they seek out new pornography vignettes or partners that they find exciting enough to induce erection and allow masturbation or sexual activity.

More than 80% of the people seeking treatment for CSBD report problematic pornography use, according to the researchers, making it the most-studied compulsive sexual disorder. However, it is not the frequency or quantity of pornography use that distinguishes the pornography addict but the control problems. Interestingly, about 12% of people who believe they have pornography addiction have “very light use” of pornographic materials, according to the meta-analysis.

Back in Vilnius, Lithuania, Schwarz, who is head of the Convicted Prisoners Counselling Centre, completed specialized training in treating CSBDs. Caritas Lithuania offers free screening, and sufferers are offered access to online self-help and the community of people in recovery at Sexaholics Anonymous (SA). Those who can afford to contribute to their counseling costs can receive in-person therapy.

Treatment begins with developing a plan to halt the compulsive behavior. It advances to treat some of the deeper issues revealed, including stress, anxiety, and loneliness. Caritas Lithuania provides counseling for the partners and families of sufferers, and counseling for both men and women.

Kristina Rakutienė, a Lithuanian social activist involved in raising awareness about the harms of pornography, says she hears from women who suffer. Rakutienė told CNA, “[M]any women tell me they face this struggle too, or that they feel betrayed when their spouses enjoy porn.”

Just as the goal in treating eating addiction is not to stop eating, the goal in treating pornography addiction is “not to renounce sexuality,” according to the meta-analysis. “The goal of treatment,” say researchers, “is for the patient to achieve a satisfactory balance that supports the control of sexual fantasies and compulsive behaviors to reduce the risk of self-harm or harm to others and to reduce distress associated with CSBD.”

Researchers recommend better assessment instead of relying on self-assessments, which are often inaccurate. They recommend screening for comorbidities, which are other addictions such as substance use disorder.

The recommended therapy includes identifying “triggers” that increase “cravings” to engage in abuse. Patients identify “maintenance factors” that support the pornography habit, including routines, contexts, and relationships.

Patients who have experienced sexual abuse may be referred for further therapy. Patients in a relationship are often encouraged to attend couples therapy. The researchers conclude:

CSBD is recognized as an impulse control disorder that manifests itself sexually. It deeply affects sexual well-being and the ability to form and maintain satisfactory emotional and sexual relationships; therefore, it should be treated with a transtheoretical and multimodal approach to provide more holistic and individualized therapeutic care.

For more information about treating CSBD, see our collection of articles on sex addiction here at AddictionNews.

Written by Steve O’Keefe. First published December 22, 2025.

Sources:

“Caritas Lithuania launches program to help those struggling with pornography addiction,” Catholic News Agency, December 13, 2025.

“Assessment and treatment of compulsive sexual behavior disorder: a sexual medicine perspective,” Sexual Medicine Reviews, July 2024.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, used under Creative Commons license.