What if I told you that your sexual problems were caused by pornography? In his book, Your Brain on Porn, Gary Wilson discusses how porn causes sexual problems in the brain.
Mind you, this is not some conservative Christian saying this. This is coming from a secular (non-Christian) scientist.
Too often people think that porn either 1) enhances sexual experiences, or, at the very least, 2) won’t have any negative impact. According to Wilson, both of these are wrong.
Wilson lists two major sexual problems that are caused by watching porn. There are certainly other problems, both physical and spiritual, that are caused by watching porn, but these are two of the major ones.
The first big problem is the inability to have an orgasm, which is called anorgasmia. Wilson writes:
Years of porn use can cause a variety of sexual symptoms, which when examined, lie on a spectrum. Often porn users report that delayed ejaculation (DE) or inability to orgasm (anorgasmia) was a precursor to full blown erectile dysfunction. Any of the following may precede or accompany delayed ejaculation and erectile dysfunction: Earlier genres of porn are no longer exciting.
Uncharacteristic fetishes develop.
Porn use is more sexually exciting than a partner.
Sensitivity of penis decreases.
Sexual arousal with sexual partners declines.
Erections fade when attempting penetration or shortly thereafter.
Penetrative sex is not stimulating.
Porn fantasy is necessary to maintain erection or interest with partner. (pp. 43-44)
All of these can be caused by frequent porn usage! While porn is thought to be exciting and stimulating, the problem (from the brain’s perspective) is that it is TOO exciting and stimulating. This then turns “normal” sexual experiences with your spouse into something that feels mundane. Porn users are essentially desensitizing themselves to real sex! As this happens, it becomes more and more difficult for the porn user to have an orgasm without porn.
Quoting urologist Harry Fisch from the book, The New Naked, Wilson writes:
A man who masturbates frequently can soon develop erection problems when he’s with his partner. Add porn to the mix, and he can become unable to have sex … A penis that has grown accustomed to a particular kind of sensation leading to rapid ejaculation will not work the same way when it’s aroused differently. (p. 46)
You may be wondering, “How can he even know that?” This is where research and studies help pinpoint the problem. In this case, a big clue that porn causes ED comes from historical data.
Between 1948 and 2002, historical rates of ED for men under 40 were consistently 2%–3% and did not begin to rise steeply until after age 40. However, since 2010, six studies have found ED rates of 14%–33% in young men, a 1000% increase in the last 15 years. (pp. 46-47)
For you young folks out there, the internet was not readily available until the mid 1990s. But it would not be until the early 2000s that the internet became fast enough to make downloading videos possible (in a reasonable amount of time). And as soon as pornographic videos became more readily available, the rates of ED increased by 1000 percent!
Another datapoint comes from ED rates in younger people.
Over a two-year period 78.6% of males (age 16-21) reported a sexual problem during partnered sexual activity. Erectile dysfunction (45%), low desire (46%) and difficulty orgasming (24%) were the most common. (p. 47)
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