When do you watch porn? When you’re bored? Stressed? Happy? Sad?
In fact, the question should be: When do you not watch porn?
And you know what? Porn addiction is real.
According to research, it is said that watching porn can affect people’s lives, people around them, and in general, society, negatively.
That being said, porn addiction isn’t categorized as a mental disorder, on paper at least. So being diagnosed with it isn’t a real thing. In fact, it’s a good thing, as per what experts believe. Sex therapist and the author of She Comes First, Ian Kerner, Ph.D. has been quoted as saying, “I try not to pathologize masturbating or watching porn.”
Before we dive deeper, it’s important to mention that there’s nothing wrong with watching porn. It’s good. It’s healthy. Only if it’s done in moderation. It’s an amazing way to explore your sexual fantasies, to arouse lustful desire, or to even have a ‘happy-ending.’ And you only need to cut down on your watching habits, if you start realizing that porn is impacting your life negatively.
However, one question you must ask yourself – “What are the negative consequences of watching porn?”, says Megan Fleming, Ph.D., sex expert for Lovehoney
Here are some points to consider:
Porn addiction can be hindering
Similar to other addictions — smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, porn addiction can also hinder your life. Just consider how your time is being wasted that can be utilized to do something productive, and of course, money. It costs money to watch porn… at least most versions of it.
It can cause unrealistic expectations
One of the many changes that happen when you start watching porn is that you develop unrealistic expectations when it comes to a female body.
Let’s say (this is from a male’s perspective) if you spend most of your precious time watching porn, involving a young porn star with a fit body, unrealistically perfect skin, and breast or butt implants, you subconsciously think that is how a perfect female body should look like. The same can also apply to women consuming porn and their expectations from their male partners.
And the more you watch porn, the more unrealistic expectations develop.
It affects self-confidence
Building upon the previous point — you’re not just comparing your sexual partners with the ones you’re seeing in porn, but you’re also comparing yourself to the porn stars, which in turn, leads to insecurity that can run quite deep. This can be the root of poor self-confidence, self-image issues, anxiety, and more.
Porn actors are chosen for their physical appearance. Along with this, there’s a lot of photoshopping that is put to use, implant surgeries, and even an excess of makeup is applied to make them appear as they do.
Lastly, when you watch porn, it may also make you overthink a lot of things: your performance, your physical attributes, and sometimes, even your relationships.
Depression could be a step away
The ”feel-good” hormone, a neurotransmitter — dopamine, and large amounts of it are released while watching porn. And when you watch porn, almost daily, or multiple times in a day, to masturbate and ‘finish’, your brain starts to suppress dopamine receptors, so that it can preserve homeostasis.
And when this happens, you end up watching more porn than usual to make yourself feel better or good. But on the downside, you’ll start losing interest in other things that you once enjoyed doing.
Maybe you turned to watch porn to numb yourself from your everyday problems or depression, but in reality, you’re doing yourself more of a disservice if you allow it to consume you.
A possibility of erectile dysfunction
Porn addiction is real. And porn-induced erectile dysfunction is as real too. This itself counts as one of the major reasons why you should moderate your porn consumption.
You could also be setting yourself up for delayed or premature ejaculation. When it comes to men, what you may not realize is porn-watching can affect your brain. There are shifts and changes that at a subconscious level.
And what you may also not realize is that what you watch on the screen is fake. You create these unrealistic scenarios, develop irrational beliefs and perspectives that when it comes to performing ‘coitus’ (thank you, Sheldon Cooper, for making this term famous), in real life, you wouldn’t be able to stand it (pun intended). You may relate to one or all reasons to stop watching porn, or watch less of it, either way the choice is now yours, dear reader.
Read next:
7 Books for Everyone to Learn About Sex and Yourself
How to Break a Habit — or Start a New One
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