Skip Navigation

Curb Your Porn Habit

Today, a quarter of all search engine queries are related to porn, which equates to about 68 million searches a day. In fact, according to research by Carvaka Adult Toys, there are at least 30 million unique visitors checking out internet porn every second of every day. So basically, there's a pretty good chance that one of your coworkers is watching some at his desk or on his phone right now.

So if we're all doing it, what's the problem? Well, like most vices, a little isn't that problematic. In fact, it's totally normal (and can be downright pleasurable). But more and more these days, men are reporting that they feel addicted to online pornography. Which isn't entirely surprising, considering how easy porn is to access and how habit forming it can be. When scientists at Cambridge University studied the brain scans of porn addicts, they found that they looked exactly like those of drug addicts. With an endless supply of hardcore fixes at our disposal, there's a growing concern that internet porn is affecting our bodies and our relationships. And while you don't have to worry about hairy palms or blindness, there are definitely some scientific side effects that make you want to ease up. Herewith, four reasons why you may want to save your screentime for Netflix.

1

Desensitization

Probably the biggest side effect of continual porn usage is the dulling of your brain's reward circuitry. Your dopamine receptors become desensitized and so to to get the same reward (or rather orgasm), you have to go looking for more porn or some new sites that can provide the same level of arousal as before.

John Mayer may've said it best
in his infamous Playboy interview:

"How could you be constantly synthesizing an orgasm based on dozens of shots? You're looking for the one photo out of 100 you swear is going to be the one you finish to, and you still don't finish. Twenty seconds ago you thought that photo was the hottest thing you ever saw, but you throw it back and continue your shot hunt and continue to make yourself late for work."

2

Problems with Your Partner

For those addicted to porn, arousal actually declines with the same mate. It's known as the Coolidge Effect, which is a natural male tendency toward novelty-seeking behavior. Porn, after all, trains a viewer to expect constant newness. And your partner notices your lack of motivation—when women were surveyed, those who felt their boyfriend's use of porn was problematic reported lower self-esteem, relationship quality and sexual satisfaction.

3

Sexual Tastes Become More Extreme

A recent survey of a Reddit community called NoFap found that 64% of men noted that their tastes in pornography had become more extreme and/or deviant. And 36% admit to being ashamed about their new, more extreme tastes. Like all addictions, you have to keep searching for harder stuff to get the same buzz.

4

Erectile Dysfunction and Performance

Due to "excessive consumption of porn," more and more healthy young men are asking their doctors for Viagra because they no longer can get or maintain an erection with their sexual partner. Other men report suffering from premature ejaculation or have difficulty reaching orgasm with a partner because they're conditioned more for masturbation than for actual intercourse.