As someone has quoted, “ what pornography is really about ultimately, isn’t sex, but death,” pornography does harm both the physical and mental health of boys and men. A recent study conducted with more than 300 men who visited a urology clinic, showed a strong relationship between pornography and erectile dysfunction. Most of the men admitted to watching porn, with around 21% saying they watched it at least three to five times a week. Also, approximately 3.4% said they would prefer to masturbate while watching porn rather than having real sex.
So basically, watching excessive free porn leads to ‘sexual anorexia.’ This term means that the person suffers a pathological loss and appetite for sex. It further goes on to make it difficult for them to achieve an erection or have an orgasm with a sexual partner. So here are three ways in which porn can be detrimental to your sexual health.
1. Affects your real-life sex: Studies have shown that men who are really into internet porn, have essentially become disinterested in sex with a real-life partner. The more time a man spends on porn, the more are the chances that he will be having problems in real life, with a partner in the bedroom.
2. Increases your expectations from yourself: Watching porn at times creates a feeling of insecurity amongst men, leading to performance anxiety in real life. They start comparing themselves to the role models, which leads to trying to over-perform. The failure to do so paves the way for anxiety and erectile dysfunction. This gradually goes on to become a cycle.
3. Affects your relationship with your partner: Most men addicted to porn, start having an expectation not only from themselves but also from their partners. They want the same level of engagement from their partners, which at times may become detrimental to the relationship. They forget what we see on the internet is actually void of emotions and feelings and merely acted out by the actors. This is not what happens in the real world, where sex and intimacy are not void of feelings.
On the contrary, when a similar survey was conducted with women, it showed surprisingly very different results. Almost 40% of women admitted to watching porn occasionally, while one- fourth of them reported watching porn around once a week. But surprisingly, watching porn had no adverse effect on the sex lives and sexual functioning of these women. So, does viewing any amount of porn affect your sex life? Well, thankfully, the answer is no. A moderate amount of porn might, on the contrary, help in arousal for both men and women. But watching excessive porn or hardcore pornography definitely leads to problems.
So what is the remedy? The best advice given by doctors to men who are addicted to excessive porn is to take a complete break from the same for at least 90 days. However difficult this may sound; this is the best way. This is because the brain plays a vital role in sexual functioning. Once taken a break, the visual cues that may have become overdeveloped through regular pornographic viewing, will soften. Meanwhile, they can explore their sensuality through some real action in the bedroom!
