Let’s suppose you were hungry and you ordered pizza. As you have been waiting for it to arrive, you immediately jump to open the door as soon as you hear the call bell ring. Not just that, as soon as you have taken the delivery, you would want to start eating pizza without any further delay. When you eat the first slice it feels like the best taste you can have. After eating 2 slices, you move on to the third slice of pizza only to realize that the taste is ok. While eating further slices when you are about to finish the pizza, it will feel like just another regular pizza. The same happens with porn!

Therapists across the globe believe watching too much porn may induce sexual dysfunction. They have labeled this condition as PIED (Porn Induced Erectile Dysfunction) in which unrealistic expectations, performance anxiety, sexual exhaustion, body image issues can act as the catalyst. We will discuss these conditions one by one but, let’s first talk about the effect of porn and how it works to sexually excite you.

Earlier people used to imagine, create pictures in their brain, or stimulate themselves naturally but now with the digital revolution, our lives revolve around screens. Phone screen, TV Screen, Laptop Screen and other smart devices are common, porn is easily available to watch on these devices for everyone using the ultrafast internet speed. Like the pizza above or any other delicious meals, winning a challenge/game, fantastic sex, drinks/drugs, and things that make you happy is actually a dopamine surge in our brain.

The feeling of excitement and love is all linked with dopamine which is technically a chemical released by the brain. Dopamine, also referred to as the “pleasure hormone” and its neural network is responsible for arousal and erection too. While watching porn, it is highly active and especially during masturbation.

Like you get extremely happy eating the first slice of pizza when you are starving and gradually the level of pleasure decreases after every slice. Similarly, when you watch porn for the first time you just want more of it but your brain becomes less responsive with every new episode because it needs a higher level of exhilaration to be on the same levels.

The never-ending need for more leads many to continue watching porn by escalating it further to hardcore, kinky, or even violent categories. This process causes dopamine flooding and it results in desensitizing your body against the pleasurable effect or action of dopamine. This becomes more serious when you are trying to have sex with a real person and in the absence of porn, your body doesn’t get the same stimulation.

Excessive porn trains your body to get sexually excited and aroused only when you are watching it and masturbating along. However, the reality of being with a real person eliminates the option of switching to hardcore porn in order to give the same level of excitement to your body. Struggling to get an erection, failure to hold an erection or totally fail to get yourself aroused in reality without porn may lead you to choose porn over real sex. This can bring trouble in your relationship besides impacting your sexual functions too.

Excessive porn may cause unexpected problems!

Unrealistic expectations: Excessive porn is the root of unrealistic expectations and the desire of unfair means of getting sexual pleasures. The ‘actors’ of porn clips are selected carefully to portray sex in action which is generally impossible unless everyone is born with flawless features, large penis, and the ability to continue stroking without getting tired of delaying the orgasm. As a matter of fact, porn doesn’t completely imitate real human life. Since, most people are exposed to the sexual functions of their own and not anyone else we end up considering porn as reality.

Performance Anxiety: As porn may lead you to unrealistic expectations, it can also make you compare your sexual functions with what you see in it. You may start getting anxious about your performance in bed during real sex and whether you will be able to satisfy your partner or not. Fear like these can worsen to an extent that you may start criticizing the size of your penis, begin thinking you will be able to hold the erection for long enough or you will altogether get an erection or not. It is a vicious cycle of thoughts and a condition that needs therapeutic attention.

Body image issues: Too many thoughts and anxiety over sex might make you question yourself, is the size of my penis enough? Am I strong enough? Questions like these can push you into low self-confidence, low self-esteem, and deep depression.

Sexual Exhaustion: The refractory period is the time gap your body needs to regain its desire to perform. Excessive porn means excessive masturbation and excessive masturbation would increase the refractory period. You will less likely to have sex when you are with a real partner due to the increase in your refraction period and you can blame excessive porn & masturbation with it.

 

What to do?

If you have been experiencing these symptoms you should cut-down on porn and see a therapist soon. With the right treatment and right attention, a therapist can treat Porn-Induced Erectile Dysfunction or sexual dysfunction in general to help you achieve normal sexual life.

Medically reviewed by Rishabh Verma, RP

watching too much porn is not good for your sexual health