Can watching porn frequently damage your sexual health? Expert reveals

Having become widely available in recent years with the advent of free online porn streaming sites, the increased availability of pornographic material has sparked debate as to whether or not viewing pornography has an impact on an indiviual’s sexual health – the internet has proved a particularly attractive option through its accessibility, affordability and anonymity.

While some suggest that frequent pornography use may have a detrimental effect on a person’s relationships, sexual satisfaction, and even mental health. Porn sets wrong expectations of what sexual relationships should look like. This often leads to disappointments and a feeling of low self esteem.

“There has been a sharp rise in the rates of erectile dysfunction, delayed ejaculation, decreased sexual satisfaction and diminished libido in men under 40 years old during sex with a partner, with the traditional factors that once explained these difficulties now appearing insufficient contributors or a downsurge in the arousal of women,” ”, says Dr Chirag Bhandari, Founder, Institute of Andrology and Sexual Health.

Reduced sexual attraction to a partner, sex with a partner not meeting expectations, and personal feelings of sexual inadequacy can cause ED. These may potentially result from unrealistic body and sexual performance ideals present in some porn content. Whereas, delayed ejaculation may be associated with porn use, possibly related to frequent masturbation and the significant disparity between the reality of sex with a partner and porn-related sexual fantasy during masturbation.

delayed ejaculation may be associated with porn use, possibly related to frequent masturbation and the significant disparity between the reality of sex with a partner and porn-related sexual fantasy during masturbation.

Any form of addiction can be harmful. But unlike gambling addiction, porn addiction is not well-accepted and is often misunderstood, which is why signs of this addiction are often overlooked. These include:

- You can't stop watching porn

- You're overlooking your responsibilities because of it

- You're hiding it from your loved one

- It has started to affect your time management

- Guilt takes over

- Anger and irritability

- Giving away large sums of money on pornography

- Pornography as a medium to cope with sadness and anxiety.

In case you do not experience any of the above mentioned red flags, there can also be some benefits of watching porn.

Counselors sometimes suggest watching porn to help people become comfortable with a particular fantasy their partner may have. It can also spice up your sex life by giving you interesting ideas or helping you realise what turns you on.

Dr Bhandari says, “Ultimately, a possible negative effect of long-term porn use on sexual desire may stem from changes in the responsiveness of the reward system in the brain to sexual stimuli – resulting into a porn-associated stimuli than with real-life sexual intercourse. So, it is essential to note what you’re feeding your brain.”

Also Read: 6 things millenial men do to damage their sexual health

We are well aware of how porn has damaged our perceptions of sex. This can be attributed to the fact that there is still a serious dearth of sex education in our society and that talking about sex is still taboo. Sadly, porn has flooded our heads with ideas that hardly exist in real life.