Twenty years ago, saying the word porn in public may well have resulted in raised eyebrows and silent murmurings. The once British stiff upper lip attitude towards sex has now evolved and our cultural attitude towards it has changed. Pornography is now a more mainstream pastime, with users across the planet finding it an easy and, in particular, a private way to satisfy their sexual needs. However, there is a darker and more sinister side of pornography. It can and often does have a devastating effect on the viewer's mental health.

Before I explain why, it's probably worth taking a look at some recent statistics which will give you an idea of how big this problem currently is.

• On average, there are 68 million search queries relating to pornography every day
• Shockingly, over 115,000 are related to child pornography
• Internet pornography statistics show there are roughly 4.2 million pornographic websites that make up 12% of the total internet content
• Pornographic pages have 372 million hits daily
• Cybersex/pornography addiction is a common cause of separation and divorce
• It is believed that it hinders the development of healthy sexuality amongst adolescents
• It is believed to affect between 5 and 8% of the population