I chose this question to write a blog post about today because I find it really interesting and because it’s so controversial amongst some sexual health doctors.
Pornography has been around for a long time, much longer than some people may realise because it predates the internet by at least 30,000 years. Stone carvings, drawings and wood prints in some cultures rival the internet in terms of graphic depicts of sexual acts. The difference the internet has made is that it is now so easily available and in many cases it is the most comprehensive (albeit not realistic) source of sexual education for young people in particular. Depictions of sex on the internet range from software to hardcore pornography and increasingly to various fetish sexual activities that may not be at all realistic or in other cases create a new normal. Anal intercourse among heterosexual couples for example is becoming increasingly common and compared to some sexual practices on the internet this is relatively mild.
Since about the turn of the century (it was about 2000-2005 that internet “porn tube” sites became popular and easily accessible) there has been sharp increase in the rate of sexual dysfunction among men aged 18 to 59. Rates of erectile dysfunction in younger men in particular have risen dramatically in the last 10-15 years but so too has rates of low sex drive and low satisfaction with sex. To date there are no research studies that have investigated whether or not removing pornography use from men with sexual dysfunction resulted in an overall improvement in sexual satisfaction but this has been reported in a growing number of case studies. In these cases men typically describe increasing problems achieving an erection an orgasm that develop after their use of internet pornography increases from fairly moderate to very high levels. In many of these case studies reducing or stopping use of internet pornography and masturbation frequency led to improvement in sexual function.
Are these case studies evidence that porn is the cause of sexual problems and erectile dysfunction? Certainly in these men it seems to be the case but in the general population this is a more difficult question to answer. There are lots of factors that impact sex drive and erectile dysfunction and a recent Australian studies reports 90% of people aged 15-29 use internet pornography (a figure increasing with smartphone use). The trouble is that there is a huge variation in the amount of porn men watch and the nature of sexual acts being depicted. In some cases men seem to clearly be addicted to watching pornography but for other men its just something that happens occasionally when they are bored.
So how do you know if watching porn is the cause of your low sexual desire or erectile dysfunction? If the question has occurred to you already I think there is good chance pornography could be a part of the problem. This is probably even more likely if you show signs of pornography addiction or if your porn viewing habits are becoming less and less recognisable from what might be considered ‘mainstream’. Other questions to consider would be is porn stopping me from meeting my responsibilities? Is it impacting on my relationship with my partner? Do I feel guilty for watching porn? Have you ever tried to stop watching porn and not been able to? Answering yes to one or a few of these questions is probably normal but if you’re answering yes to most of them then there’s a good chance internet pornography might be part of a erectile dysfunction or sexual desire problem.