Problematic Pornography Use

Problematic Pornography Use: the Basics

This module gives you the general issues. It has 24 elements including 15 short videos mainly of interviews with healthcare experts indicating the prevalence of porn use, escalation, and the addictive process. References and quizzes are included.

Enroll for free

Do you work with people who struggle with anxiety, depression, poor sleep, other mental health issues or sexual difficulties?
Have you ever considered that watching too much pornography could cause their symptoms?
Are your patients/clients/colleagues/pupils/service users concerned about the way they use pornography?
Do you want to support them better?

If so, this course is for you.

This self-paced course is especially relevant for family doctors, nurses, social workers, mental health professionals, psychologists, counsellors, criminal justice professionals, guidance teachers, school and university counsellors, sexual health services workers, psychosexual therapists, youth workers, pharmacists, and religious ministers. It was accredited every year for six years by the Royal College of General Practitioners until August 2024 when they no longer accredited this type of training. Five senior RCGP clinicians assessed the course and passed it. It has been slightly updated since then with relevant research. If you are only interested in one area, such as adolescents, for example, you can download that module. We recommend you start with The Basics and add the module on adolescents. You're not obliged to do the whole course unless you'd like to.

Meet our experts

Why take this course?

You support people who struggle with mental health, problematic pornography use issues and/or sexual dysfunction symptoms

Mental health symptoms including anxiety, social anxiety, depression, poor sleep, lack of motivation, brain fog, constant sexual fantasy, negative body image...
Problematic pornography use symptoms including no interest in sex with a partner, lack of sexual satisfaction with a partner, inability to orgasm with or without porn/sex toy, delayed orgasm, erectile dysfunction, arousal dysfunction, premature ejaculation…

Scientific research has shown that problematic pornography use can be the reason behind many of these symptoms.

If you work with people who struggle with these symptoms, it’s essential that you learn how to support them effectively so they can avoid damaging consequences especially to their sexual relationships. Once you understand how pornography affects the brain, you'll be equipped to recognise its role as an underlying issue and help your patients/clients who have developed problematic pornography use.

After taking this course, you will:

Feel confident dealing with concerns around pornography use and its consequences
Learn to spot the signs of sexual dysfunctions, problematic pornography use and compulsive sexual behaviour disorder in men, women and teenagers and when they are caused by pornography
Learn about the links between pornography and intimate partner violence and how to detect issues
Learn about teenagers’ behaviour around pornography and its potential negative consequences
Learn how to support people in a practical way who are struggling with pornography which is having a negative impact on their lives

Doctor, Stratford

“This was one of the best courses I have attended as it was all new learning for me. I was unaware of the addictive danger of internet pornography. Now I know.”

GP, Plymouth

“I learned a lot more about how pornography affects mood, behaviour and relationships.”

"It was a new area, particularly relevant to my population. I got insight into a whole new aspect of discussing depression. I will ask about porn use now!"

"I now have the confidence to ask about porn, particularly when people present with other issues."

I found this extremely informative and it highlights the true impact of internet pornography on child development and problematic/harmful behaviours in children, adolescents and through to adulthood.

An evidence based approach

This course is evidence-based and is supported by a large amount of scientific research. All research is referenced in the course.
It was developed with world-leading clinicians and academics and draws on their knowledge and experience.
This online course was approved by five senior clinicians as part of the accreditation process by the Royal College of General Practitioners in London in late 2023. The RCGP changed its business model in 2024 and no longer accredits this type of training. Without the high accreditation fee, we can now offer the course for free. The current version has been slightly revised to reflect recent changes in the literature.

Course curriculum

1. Introduction by Mary Sharpe, CEO, course instructor
2. Expert advisors
3. Training Provider
4. April 2026 update on Problematic Porn Use and Compulsive Sexual Behaviour Disorder
1. Introduction
2. Learning objectives
3. History of pornography use
4. Typical patterns of pornography user behaviour
5. Nomenclature
6. Trauma in childhood
7. Impact of pornography
8. Neurosurgeon Don Hilton and two young men with problematic pornography use
9. Answers to quiz
10. Prevalence of pornography use
11. How much pornography is too much?
12. Issues linked to pornography use
13. World Health Organization diagnostic criteria for CSBD
14. Pornography related issues in the other main diagnostic manual
15. Dr Mateusz Gola discussing CSBD
16. Dr Gola discussing CSBD quiz
17. Addiction process - brain changes
18. Addiction - related brain changes in detail
19. Almost half of porn users escalate (tolerance)
20. A typical escalation pattern is reported by this young man on NoFap...
21. Pornography viewing outside stated sexual identity
22. Internet porn is free, but kids are paying the price - Age Verification
23. ISSM on Problematic Pornography Use and Sexual Dysfunctions
24. Limbic resonance
25. References for 'The basics'

About this course

Free
15 short video lessons
Interactive quizzes and reading
Total learning time: 1 hour

Who are we?

The Reward Foundation

The Reward Foundation is a health education charity established in 2014. We focus on internet pornography and its impact on mental and physical health, relationships, productivity and criminality. We make scientific research around pornography accessible to non-scientists and scientists so everyone is aware of the risks and solutions.

As seen in

The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian,The Telegraph, The Daily Mail , The Mail on Sunday, The Sunday Post, The Herald, The Scotsman, BBC Radio 4 PM, LBC, BBC Scotland and more.