Post Pornographic Stress Disorder, or PPSD for
short, is a trauma related disorder caused by viewing incredibly disturbing, sexually explicit material.
People affected with the disorder
will have reoccurring mental images, flashbacks, and, if unlucky, dreams of the disturbing sexual content they viewed (often by accident).
People with the disorder
will feel extremely disturbed and often (but not always) oddly aroused, when these mental images occur, causing them extreme stress and discomfort. Diagnosis criteria includes:
1. Having viewed disturbing sexually explicit material (individual's
definition of disturbing
may very due to different sexual preferences and/or sensitivity to pornography).
2. Have reoccurring flashbacks, and often nightmares, of the pornographic material.
3. Flashbacks and/or nightmares cause the individual extreme discomfort and often sexual arousal from seeing the mental images, causing shame.
4. The content must be "
hardcore porn". Mild pornography with somewhat disturbing material cannot be a cause for the disorder.
5. The individual has been having reoccurring trauma from viewing the sexually explicit material for at least one month, and the disorder shows no signs of lessening or causing desensitization to the material.
