How porn fuels sexual dysfunction in men and how to get help

How porn fuels sexual dysfunction in men and how to get help

Sexual dysfunction in marriage seems to be a common problem for many people. It can have many causes, but for this post I am going to focus on how porn can create a low sex drive in men. While some men experience an increase in sex drive from viewing porn, this increase diminishes over time. (While women can also struggle with porn addiction this blog post focuses on male addiction. The links provided also have information for female addicts of porn.)

This video has expert researchers talking about how porn negatively impacts the brain and reduces sexual pleasure. Porn reacts in the brain like cocaine. Over time the brain develops a tolerance to porn and requires something new and novel to be stimulated. Exposure to new types of porn do not help the viewer when it comes to interactions with a real life partner.

https://youtu.be/FyVaFel5Zsw

Without porn the brain can more naturally respond to sexual

interactions with a real life partner.

“Pornography Induced Erectile Dysfunction: Historically, ED has been viewed as an age-dependent problem, with rates in men ages 18–59 as low as 2–5%.[iv] In the early 2000s, the Global Study of Sexual Attitudes and Behavior (GSSAB) reported that the ED rate among men aged 40–80 was approximately 13%.[v] In 2011, among males aged 18–40 the GSSAB found ED rates of 14-28%.[vi] This dramatic increase in ED rates among young men coincides with the sharp increase in the availability and accessibility of Internet pornography tube sites.[vii]”

I have heard experts talk (can’t remember the source) about how if your goal is to have sex with a real life partner that you should not watch porn because it trains your brain to become stimulated by novelty and the click of a mouse, which is completely contrary to interactions with a real person.

For people who are aware that this is a problem for them, quitting porn can be difficult. My professor who has worked with many porn addicted clients finds that there are four main triggers for porn addiction in men: stress, feelings of inadequacy, boredom and loneliness.

Feelings of inadequacy. Since many men are socialized that porn is a normal need for men they often develop porn addictions before they are old enough to have a real life sexual partner. If they are unable to perform for their partner this can fuel their porn addiction in an attempt to cure their problems with lack of performance.

Female partners often feel inadequate that their spouse or partner engages in porn instead of being turned on by them. These women experience inadequacy because their partner’s brain is unable to be stimulated by touching and interacting with their body. If you are the wife of someone with a porn addiction you should not take their porn addiction as a comment on your attractiveness. It is quite common for a man to find his partner attractive and be frustrated or embarrassed that he is unable to maintain an erection for her. For resources and information for spouses/partners of porn addicts visit https://endsexualexploitation.org/resources-partners-spouses/

How to get help with porn addiction

Dr. Jordan Peterson gives some advice on how to quit porn by considering the negative impact it has on your life and thinking through what you want your life to be like in the future.

https://youtu.be/vsQkBdaHe-s

For additional resources to beat porn addiction you can visit these websites:

https://endsexualexploitation.org/resources-struggling/

https://endsexualexploitation.org/resources-struggling/ Under RESEARCH: Impact of Pornography on Males