Why watching too much porn is bad for your brain
We’ve come a long way since Marquis de Sade, the book which is globally considered to be the fist pornographic work ever. Fortunately, these days we don't have to get a thick book from the library for our porn fix, because terabytes of online excitement are just a click away. And that’s convenient, but masturbating to porn too often can have negative side effects, explains sexologist and Cycle expert Eveline Stallaart.
Basically, masturbation is a great pastime: it gives a boost, relieves stress and gets hormones that give your immune system a boost working. Moreover, people know that porn gives a distorted picture of sex and that it’s not a representation of reality. What’s the problem with a round of self-love with a climax for dessert and some internet porn in the background? ‘That is where a lot of people are wrong,’ Stallaart argues.
Porn is a candy shop for your brain.
The past two years, Stallaart has been seeing an increase in the number of porn addicts in her practice. And they are certainly not just men. ‘Porn addiction works exactly the same for women. Again and again, I notice that people with erection problems or people who have trouble getting aroused blame it on their partner and think their relationship is to blame. It works while masturbating after all. When I proceed to ask about it, it turns out that porn use is often one of the causes.’
‘Porn is a candy shop for your brain. You can find everything you want online. That’s amazing, and everytime you receive a dopamine shot - also known as the happy hormone. The danger lies in the fact that your brain can get hung up on that shot and with time you need more and more to reach the same high. If you watch a lot of porn while masturbating (daily or multiple times a day), you can start experiencing trouble getting excited, keeping your erection, or getting wet, the next time you have sex with a partner. Real sex just isn’t as exciting for your brain anymore, the happy hormone is released less and less, and as a result you get less and less excited.
Watching porn, because you’re alone and you miss sex.
A porn addiction is comparable to a drug or alcohol addiction. You’ll need more dopamine, and more heavy porn, in order to feel aroused. ‘You can end up watching pretty extreme genres of porn, people often step back in shock when they realise how their watching behavior has changed compared to when they first started watching porn. I hear stories of men who watch gay porn, even though they are completely straight. They, often, don’t even understand themselves how they got to that point. They don’t understand that there’s an addiction at play. This can even take on such drastic forms that it can cause anxiety and depression symptoms.
It’s important not to let your use of internet porn get out of hand, and, if it does, to kick the habit. Stallaart: ‘Those who want to quit watching porn should be aware that it takes 3 to 6 months, on average, before the dopamine sensitivity is neutralized. Afterwards, it’s okay to reintroduce porn into your life, because on its own there’s nothing wrong with watching porn occasionally. But to play it ‘safe’, limit yourself to watching a few times a week.’
