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Internet and Pornography Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Presumed Impact and What Can Be Done

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause an immense psychosocial strain worldwide. Excessive use of the internet during these psychologically trying times, fueled by physical isolation as a result of lockdowns, has translated into dysfunctional behaviors. A growing body of evidence suggests an unpre...

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Autores principales: Awan, Hashir Ali, Aamir, Alifiya, Diwan, Mufaddal Najmuddin, Ullah, Irfan, Pereira-Sanchez, Victor, Ramalho, Rodrigo, Orsolini, Laura, de Filippis, Renato, Ojeahere, Margaret Isioma, Ransing, Ramdas, Vadsaria, Aftab Karmali, Virani, Sanya
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8007884/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33796031
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.623508
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author Awan, Hashir Ali
Aamir, Alifiya
Diwan, Mufaddal Najmuddin
Ullah, Irfan
Pereira-Sanchez, Victor
Ramalho, Rodrigo
Orsolini, Laura
de Filippis, Renato
Ojeahere, Margaret Isioma
Ransing, Ramdas
Vadsaria, Aftab Karmali
Virani, Sanya
author_facet Awan, Hashir Ali
Aamir, Alifiya
Diwan, Mufaddal Najmuddin
Ullah, Irfan
Pereira-Sanchez, Victor
Ramalho, Rodrigo
Orsolini, Laura
de Filippis, Renato
Ojeahere, Margaret Isioma
Ransing, Ramdas
Vadsaria, Aftab Karmali
Virani, Sanya
author_sort Awan, Hashir Ali
collection PubMed
description The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause an immense psychosocial strain worldwide. Excessive use of the internet during these psychologically trying times, fueled by physical isolation as a result of lockdowns, has translated into dysfunctional behaviors. A growing body of evidence suggests an unprecedented increase in internet use and consumption of online pornography during the pandemic, and possibly even directly caused by it. In this review, the authors report data from relevant sources to show the rise in pornography use during lockdowns in different countries worldwide. In addition to a brief overview of the neurobiology of internet addiction broadly and problematic online pornography use specifically, similarities with substance use disorders are explained. Further, the current status of the debate about defining diagnostic criteria is discussed. Finally, the review sheds light on the potential detrimental outcomes during the future post-pandemic “re-adaptation,” while simultaneously offering preventative and management strategies for harm reduction. The authors conclude that foresightedness with utilizing existing tools and therapies and exercising appropriate amounts of caution could go a long way in addressing the challenges that lie ahead in the post-pandemic era.
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spelling pubmed-80078842021-03-31 Internet and Pornography Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Presumed Impact and What Can Be Done Awan, Hashir Ali Aamir, Alifiya Diwan, Mufaddal Najmuddin Ullah, Irfan Pereira-Sanchez, Victor Ramalho, Rodrigo Orsolini, Laura de Filippis, Renato Ojeahere, Margaret Isioma Ransing, Ramdas Vadsaria, Aftab Karmali Virani, Sanya Front Psychiatry Psychiatry The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause an immense psychosocial strain worldwide. Excessive use of the internet during these psychologically trying times, fueled by physical isolation as a result of lockdowns, has translated into dysfunctional behaviors. A growing body of evidence suggests an unprecedented increase in internet use and consumption of online pornography during the pandemic, and possibly even directly caused by it. In this review, the authors report data from relevant sources to show the rise in pornography use during lockdowns in different countries worldwide. In addition to a brief overview of the neurobiology of internet addiction broadly and problematic online pornography use specifically, similarities with substance use disorders are explained. Further, the current status of the debate about defining diagnostic criteria is discussed. Finally, the review sheds light on the potential detrimental outcomes during the future post-pandemic “re-adaptation,” while simultaneously offering preventative and management strategies for harm reduction. The authors conclude that foresightedness with utilizing existing tools and therapies and exercising appropriate amounts of caution could go a long way in addressing the challenges that lie ahead in the post-pandemic era. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-03-16 /pmc/articles/PMC8007884/ /pubmed/33796031 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.623508 Text en Copyright © 2021 Awan, Aamir, Diwan, Ullah, Pereira-Sanchez, Ramalho, Orsolini, de Filippis, Ojeahere, Ransing, Vadsaria and Virani. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Awan, Hashir Ali
Aamir, Alifiya
Diwan, Mufaddal Najmuddin
Ullah, Irfan
Pereira-Sanchez, Victor
Ramalho, Rodrigo
Orsolini, Laura
de Filippis, Renato
Ojeahere, Margaret Isioma
Ransing, Ramdas
Vadsaria, Aftab Karmali
Virani, Sanya
Internet and Pornography Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Presumed Impact and What Can Be Done
title Internet and Pornography Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Presumed Impact and What Can Be Done
title_full Internet and Pornography Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Presumed Impact and What Can Be Done
title_fullStr Internet and Pornography Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Presumed Impact and What Can Be Done
title_full_unstemmed Internet and Pornography Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Presumed Impact and What Can Be Done
title_short Internet and Pornography Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Presumed Impact and What Can Be Done
title_sort internet and pornography use during the covid-19 pandemic: presumed impact and what can be done
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8007884/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33796031
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.623508
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