Is Porn Really Private?

You may think that your porn consumption doesn't affect anyone else. But did you know that the porn industry profits at the expense of vulnerable people?

Is Porn Changing You?

Today, men are told that consuming pornography is normal and “good.” But evidence shows that porn is changing your brain, undermining your sexual health, and preventing you from being the person you want to be.

  • Consuming porn is not natural because it changes the natural functioning of the brain and leads to sexual dysfunction. According to neuroscientists, porn rewires the brain so that the consumer needs more and more extreme forms of porn to achieve arousal. Since porn hyper-stimulates the brain and causes an unnaturally high level of dopamine to be released, the porn consumer has difficulty having an orgasm and maintaining an erection in a real-life sexual encounter. Porn also changes the brain back into a more juvenile state by shrinking the area of the brain controlling impulse control. This means that the porn consumer has more difficulty regulating his/her behavior and making good decisions.

  • Research found that 50% of men who suffered erectile dysfunction during sex with a partner did not suffer ED while watching porn. This means that porn rewires a consumer’s brain so that he can only have an erection while watching porn. In another study, 16% of young men who frequently consumed porn reported abnormally low sex drive compared to 0% of non-consumers. Norman Diodge, a psychiatry professor, found that cessation of pornography use reversed impotence and arousal issues in men he treated.

  • According to a recent study, pornography consumption is linked to a smaller striatum, the region of the brain that deals with motivations and reward processing. This means that porn consumers are more likely to experience lack of motivation. The researchers also found a possible link between pornography consumption and impaired decision making.

Is Porn Really Worth It?

Though you may feel pressured to watch porn because people have told you it is something “normal” men do, it may actually be undermining your mental health and confidence.

  • Pornography consumption is linked to a higher risk of depression, loneliness, and overall poor mental health. This 2019 study found that frequent pornography consumption is connected to a greater risk of depression. One study found “significant and positive associations between pornography use and loneliness,” while this study reported that, “pornography use is related to reports of more negative affect, poor mental health, and lower quality of life among adults as well as lower life-satisfaction and self-esteem, and more symptoms of depression among adolescents.”

  • According to a survey of college aged men, those who consumed porn felt more insecure about their relationships and reported decreased sexual satisfaction. Another study found that men who looked at sexualized images of women felt more insecure about their own bodies.

  • This study found a link between porn consumption and a person’s dissatisfaction with their partner’s appearance, affection, and sexual performance. It’s no surprise then, that the divorce risk for porn consumers is twice that of non-consumers.