The Problematic Pornography Use Scale (PPCS) is a self-report tool that evaluates a person's pornographic consumption and any potential detrimental effects. The elements in the scale measure how frequently pornography is consumed, how it affects a person's relationships and daily life, and how troubled they may feel as a result of their pornographic use. Numerous research studies have employed the PPCS to evaluate problematic pornography use and the potential harm it may cause to people.

Minimizing our problems might seem like an effective way to deal with them but, in reality, all it does is prevent us from finding solutions. If left unchecked, minimization can lead to negative thinking patterns and damage our relationships with others. If you find yourself using minimization as a defense mechanism, there are steps that you can take to overcome it—the first being acknowledging your feelings about the situation. With acknowledgment comes clarity and with clarity comes power—the power to take control of the situation and resolve it once and for all. Sex Addiction, Porn Addiction, Boston, Blair Bisher, BPB Counseling

Super quick way to self-identify addiction. Isolation, negative consequences and lack of control. If all three of these things exist as it relates to any one behavior in your life, you can feel confident that you fall somewhere on the spectrum of addiction.

Isolation. Do you find that you are increasingly isolated? Are you eliminating people from your life? Are others reducing the time they are spending with you? Are you declining social invitations so that you can spend more time alone, oftentimes spent acting out in your unwanted behavior? Increased isolation is a great indicator of addiction. Sobriety and healthy sustainable living are impossible without community.

Negative consequences. Are you finding that your life is impacted negatively by this unwanted behavior? Maybe it's a loss of sleep, spending more money than you would like to, feelings of shame and guilt that you cannot shake, impacting relationships… Addictive behavior will always show itself to impact in a negative way. Even if you think about the addiction cycle, the first stage which is preoccupation, you still have not turned toward using, or acting out, but simply living in a world of preoccupation, a fantasy world, can have considerable negative consequences, right? So whether you are simply fantasizing about acting out, or spending time acting out, any time you are finding negative consequences in your life from a certain behavior or thinking this is another sign that they're very well may be an addiction at play.

Lack of control. Lastly, have you ever tried to stop, or simply reduce, these unwanted behaviors and found yourself to be unable? If you have tried to quit and cannot, you have become aware that this behavior has more control over you than you do it. This is often a very discouraging realization, understanding your limits and degree of powerlessness. Oftentimes, we simply try to cut back a little bit, and if you fail in your attempt at reducing the behavior, that can also be a helpful indicator that there may be an addiction at play… Or rather that there is very likely an addiction at play.