The “effects of inappropriate content to minors” is a very controversial subject. There are many different opinions on the topic, and it can be difficult to decide what is appropriate for your child.
Pornography is now more accessible than ever. But, what are the pitfalls of consuming pornography?
This essay series is now available as a professionally designed, distraction-free paperback or ebook that you can read at your leisure while offline.
In recent years, an increasing number of young men, both religious and non-religious, have said that they are hooked to online pornography. Thousands of people are turning to online porn rehabilitation groups to talk about their problems, rather than confiding in friends and family. It has taken over their life, interfering with school, employment, and relationships. Instead of focusing on their objectives, they spend their time huddled over a luminous screen with a box of Kleenex and lotion. Some guys claim that watching porn instead of having real intercourse with a real lady is their preferred method of masturbation. In reality, an increasing number of healthy young men in their early twenties are going to their physicians to seek for Viagra because they can’t obtain or keep an erection with their sexual partner. Many of these young males are avid online pornographers.
Furthermore, as their porn use grows, individuals report being turned on by progressively horrific sexual imagery, such as gang rape scenarios. They want to quit because the content disgusts them on a visceral level, yet they feel compelled to watch it since it’s the only way they can get sexually aroused.
What exactly is going on here?
We’ve previously demonstrated that online porn is incredibly appealing and addictive because to the ease with which one may access an infinite number of sensory-rich movies. However, due of the nature of online porn, it may generate a slew of issues in addition to a strong desire to view it after everyone has gone to bed.
It’s been established in the fields of evolutionary biology and human psychology that animals and people prefer exaggerated versions of reward stimuli to ones they’d meet in nature, even if the attraction to the exaggerated form of the stimulus is evolutionarily and reproductively damaging. A supernormal stimulus is what this is referred to as.
In the animal realm, there are several instances of this: Birds will sit and care for imitated eggs that are bigger, have more exaggerated patterns, and a richer colour than their own species’ eggs. If the wooden floats are painted a more vivid shade of red than their real, natural adversaries, territorial male stickleback fish will attack them. Because the cap resembles an exaggerated version of their natural copulation partners, male jewel beetles will choose to copulate with it rather than genuine female jewel beetles.
Humans are influenced by extranormal stimuli as well. Junk food is an exaggerated version of the salty, fatty, and sugary meals that our brains have evolved to desire. Meals businesses spend millions of dollars designing food with the exact mix of these elements, as the book Salt Sugar Fat demonstrates. These out-of-this-world dishes are engineered to exactly stimulate our “bliss point” — registering as exceedingly delicious while also tempting us to consume more. Consider the experience of eating a Dorito and the salt, sugar, and fat on your tongue; after you’ve had one, you’ll want another right away.
Male people (usually) favor exaggerated versions of female sex features — huge boobs, smaller waists, big hips — in the realm of sex and porn. Make-up is intended and applied to enhance and exaggerate male-attractive characteristics on the female face, such as the lips and eyes.
Supernormal stimuli are likely more appealing than mundane nature simulations because of — you guessed it — our old pal dopamine. When we are exposed to a non-natural stimulus, we produce more dopamine than when we are exposed to natural rewards.
Porn is the pinnacle of our naturally evolved need for sex, since it is the greatest supernormal stimuli. For starters, pornography frequently depicts exaggerated versions of female and male bodies engaging in exaggerated versions of sex, such as women with cantaloupe-sized tatas moaning loudly during marathon sex sessions with not just one, but two or more men sporting giant penises artificially made erect by the injection of Caverject. I’m not sure what else to call that if it isn’t a supernormal stimulus.
When you combine the visual intensity of video porn with the endless variety of these flicks that are only a click away, you’ve got a formula for a super-super-normal stimulation. Internet porn certainly offers higher doses of dopamine than regular women and normal intercourse, making it much more appealing.
Our brains were not evolved for the enormous dopamine spikes that today’s internet porn gives, just as our physical bodies were not designed for a diet of Doritos and Twinkies. The brain lowers the number of dopamine receptors in the neurons involved in sexual pleasure to defend itself against the abnormal increase in dopamine. And here is where the issue of excessive porn use arises. Let’s take a closer look at each of them.
The Cognitive and Emotional Consequences of Regular Porn Consumption
The urge to locate the perfect trigger to elicit arousal.
The porn user can’t experience the full impact of the neurotransmitter’s influence when there are less dopamine receptors on deck, as indicated above. Desensitization of the receptors occurs. As a result, in order to achieve the same buzz and pleasure, the consumer must seek out fresh porn that gives the same degree of arousal. As a result, a user transitions from sex scenes on cable TV series to amateur hardcore porn sites on the internet. But after a time, it doesn’t seem to be enough, so he resumes his hunt. The effort of finding precisely the correct scenario to get the blood flowing might take a long time as the user navigates through hundreds of websites and files in search of the setting that he believes would do the trick. It’s what Mayer referred to as “the shot hunt” in his previous interview with Playboy Magazine:
“Internet pornography has completely altered the expectations of my generation.” How could you consistently create an orgasm with hundreds of shots? You’re hunting for the one picture out of a hundred that you swear will be the one you complete, but you never find it. You thought the picture was the greatest thing you’d ever seen 20 seconds ago, but you toss it aside and continue your shot quest, making yourself late for work.”
The daily “shot quest” is not only time-consuming, but it may also present issues when you’re attempting to climax in real life and your only “shot” is the lady underneath you.
I’m becoming more and more into kinkier porn.
Even finding the “ideal” scene of “regular” porn no longer excites many guys. Their dopamine receptors have been muted to the point that they need something a lot more extreme to get going, and they quickly learn that porn that is both startling and unlawful (rape, bestiality, child pornography) makes them feel both guilty and aroused. They click on material that goes much beyond a typical sexual encounter, with some trepidation and a pit in their stomach, but with the desire to reclaim their former dopamine levels driving them on. And before you believe these are “extreme” instances, consider this: According to PornHub’s statisticians, up to 88 percent of all scenes in porn videos involve some form of aggression, such as hitting, gagging, slapping, verbal abuse, and so on; a shocking 1/3 of internet porn searches include the word “teen,” making it the most searched for type of porn; and, unfortunately, the Internet Watch Foundation reports that child pornography is one of the internet’s fastest growing “businesses,” with viewership growing over 1,000 percent in the
What is the reason behind this? Dopamine production increases when we are confronted with strong emotions, like as shock, anxiety, or guilt. When you combine dopamine-producing emotions with a dopamine-stimulating input like sex, you’ve got a formula for becoming attracted by kinkier and kinkier pornography. As males get desensitized to one sort of porn, they must seek out more exaggerated and frightening forms of sexual images in order to generate the same level of excitement as previously.
Erectile Dysfunction and associated concerns with performance.
Dopamine plays a huge part in our sex drive, libido, and capacity to acquire and keep an erection, as we discussed in yesterday’s piece. No more boners if you reduce dopamine or dull its reception. And this is precisely what is occurring to an increasing number of young males who are binge-watching online pornography. The steady stream of dopamine diminishes the number of dopamine receptors in the brain, which blunts sexual excitement when they genuinely want to have sex with another person.
Normal sex (the sort we’re evolved for) no longer arouses these young guys because they’ve conditioned themselves to be aroused by a superstimulus version of sex. Many guys claim that they have to view porn before and/or during sex with their significant other merely to achieve an erection. If they don’t have access to porn while having sex, they must replay porn pictures in their heads to keep their erection. Furthermore, many men complain that they can no longer orgasm when having actual intercourse on forums and to their physicians. They may hump and pump for hours without passing urine. While the concept of being able to stay that long seems appealing in principle, your inability to attain orgasm with your spouse might cause serious problems in your relationship (not to mention her physical discomfort). Both men and women experience orgasm, which releases enormous quantities of strong chemicals like oxytocin and prolactin, which aid in the bonding of a partnership. Sex that ends without climax regularly and inadvertently will almost surely cause frustration and distance between lovers.
Furthermore, a woman who is unable to excite or please her boyfriend is likely to believe that she is no longer beautiful or desirable to him, which may be detrimental to her self-esteem. And she has every reason to be self-conscious: studies indicate that individuals who watch porn find their spouses less appealing. However, the potential for relationship issues does not stop there….
A mismatch of expectations causes relationship friction.
The impact of men’s porn consumption on their relationships’ closeness and sexual pleasure has been proven to be nearly always negative in studies. This detrimental influence manifests itself in a number of ways:
For starters, a man’s love of porn might make his spouse feel unattractive, as if she couldn’t compare to the supernormal girls in his favorite films. Those who thought their boyfriend’s usage of pornography was problematic reported decreased self-esteem, relationship quality, and sexual pleasure in a study of college women.
Second, according to the APA, males who use pornography are “related with worse sexual quality for both men and their partners” as well as “lower degrees of sexual closeness in their real-life relationships.” This is particularly true when a person consumes a lot of porn since it causes emotional disengagement and “more secrecy, less closeness, and also greater melancholy.” Porn usage causes or is connected with these negative impacts, according to psychologists; does porn use make the relationship rocky, or is the relationship already rocky, causing the guy to resort to porn for sexual satisfaction? They claim that both are probable, and that the variables feed off of one another: “If a relationship has a dry time, the male may turn to pornography to fill the emptiness. That approach may make some women feel intimidated or perplexed. They often express feelings of inadequacy, as though they could never compare to the X-rated actresses. As a consequence, there’s even less sex, even more porn, and a relationship that’s still on the rocks.”
Porn may also teach you unrealistic sexual techniques that you or your partner are uncomfortable with, which may sabotage good and stable relationships. Observing others is one of the most potent ways we learn how to accomplish things. Mirror neurons are responsible for this. If you’ve gotten most of your sexual education from extreme online pornography, you’re probably learning what you believe “regular” sex should be like from it, whether you realize it or not.
After a male ejaculates on her face, ladies scream in pleasure in porn. That gets you on, and because the lady in the video appeared to like it, you assume your sexual partner would as well. So you do it, only to discover that your partner is surprised or even disgusted by the act. It’s easy to forget that pornographic sex is planned to turn on a third-party spectator, not for the individuals who are really having sex. Replacing pornographic sex scenes with real-life martial arts maneuvers is the equivalent of reenacting a kung fu movie in a street battle. It is difficult to translate.
In a recent study of British teenagers, both boys and girls reported feeling forced to engage in anal intercourse, even when they didn’t like it. Several reasons were mentioned, including the desire to prevent the possibility of pregnancy, but the young people also said that they felt forced to do so because of what they had seen on porn. This isn’t to argue that men and women can’t have anal sex — plenty of people do — but it does support the theory that pornography is unintentionally teaching you to participate in sexual activities you and your partner don’t want to attempt but feel you “should.”
Now, there are definitely ladies out there that are ready for all kinds of naughty behavior. This isn’t to say it isn’t true. What I mean is that if a man has been a big porn user and his girlfriend hasn’t, he may attempt to coerce her into doing things she doesn’t want to do. If both partners have viewed a lot of porn, they may attempt to construct a sex life based on what they’ve taught is “normal,” even if it’s not what they want. Woman shouts and groans loudly, like she has heard porn stars do. Both partners may feel as if they are playing inauthentic roles, and neither feels as if they are staying true to themselves.
Look through a book on the topic with your spouse if you want to try out new sexual techniques with them – one with dull, static diagrams. And then pick what you’d want to try out together. That way, you’re both on the same page, and you won’t have to compare your own likely clumsy and comically performed outcomes to a slickly produced film.
Depression, lack of impulse control, and social anxiety are all symptoms of depression.
Many males who consume a lot of porn have a variety of behavioral and mental issues. Some of the most common include depression, impulsive control, and social anxiety. Now, it’s possible (and often is) that the reason guys who use porn excessively have these difficulties isn’t because they use porn heavily, but because they use porn heavily because they have these issues. Porn, like drugs and alcohol, is often used to self-medicate and feel better. These guys may be able to reduce their use of porn by addressing the underlying condition, such as depression or social anxiety.
However, it’s plausible that porn usage is to blame for these issues, and that they’re linked to anatomical and chemical changes in the brain that come with excessive use. Recent study has shown that continuous exposure to an overabundance of dopamine may lead to dopamine desensitization, which can lead to depression. That’s understandable. Lack of drive to accomplish activities that formerly gave you pleasure is one indication of depression. Because dopamine is a neurotransmitter that promotes motivation, when your brain becomes numb to it, your motivation suffers and you go into a funk. Many guys on porn recovery forums have said that after they stopped using porn, their depressive symptoms went away as well.
Many of the guys in those forums also claim to suffer from social anxiety or excessive shyness, which has hampered their ability to advance in their jobs and create healthy love relationships. Reduced dopamine receptor sensitivity, according to studies, may be part of the problem. Men who self-reported their anxiety levels discovered that removing porn from their life lowered or eliminated it. Their synapses were able to “repair” by returning dopamine receptors to normal after removing the source of excessive dopamine production.
Finally, regular porn viewing might result in hypofrontality, which is a lessening of brain activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The PFC is the executive, disciplined region of your brain that helps you behave in ways that are consistent with your objectives. It’s what prevents you from surfing away from a lengthy essay like this one to check reddit, what keeps you from eating that Twinkie when you’re trying to go Paleo, and what keeps you from eating that Twinkie when you’re trying to go Paleo. While there are a number of variables that contribute to hypofrontality, research reveals that decreased dopamine receptors in the PFC are one of them. This lowers your executive functioning, resulting in a loss of willpower and impulse control. Another reason why guys who want to stop watching porn have a hard time doing so is because the same thing they’re trying to stop has impaired their capacity to say no to their fundamental needs.
Men who have successfully eliminated porn from their life report increased willpower and impulse control, which affects not just their capacity to avoid porn but all aspects of their lives. They notice that they procrastinate less and have an easier time adhering to their own objectives.
Is it possible to get addicted to pornography?
What happens if pornography becomes a full-fledged addiction? Is it another of its stumbling blocks? Is it really possible to develop an addiction, or is it just a habit?
To say the least, these issues have sparked a lot of discussion.
Currently, the DSM-5, the Bible of psychiatric diagnosis (which, like the Bible itself, is divisive), does not consider habits like pornography, eating, or gambling to be addictions. Only substance dependency, such as drugs, alcohol, and nicotine, is “officially” classified as an addiction. You may find the DSM-5’s criteria for drug abuse dependency here. Strong cravings for the drug, the emergence of professional and personal issues, the need for increasing amounts of the substance to get the same high as before, difficulty stopping, and withdrawal symptoms are all on the list.
Looking through that list, it’s easy to understand how some behaviors that aren’t related to drug or alcohol usage may be considered addictions. Several of the requirements have been met by millions of individuals, including obsessive gambling, shopping, and online surfing.
While the DSM-5 does not presently consider activities to be addictions, there is a case to be made for obsessive porn watching to be classified as such. Various research have both supported and refuted the notion that pornography is addictive. I won’t get into the specifics of these studies due to the length of this post; but, this APA article does a nice job of exploring all sides of the problem. Whatever scientific facts and perspectives are brought to bear on the problem, determining the boundary between habit and addiction will always be subjective.
Given the fuzziness of the habit vs. addiction spectrum, I personally feel it is preferable to characterize it as the former. This isn’t meant to minimize the seriousness of compulsive pornography, or to dismiss its powerful appeal (I just wrote 4k words yesterday describing the depth of the temptation!). Rather, I feel that labeling porn a habit is the best way to go since I believe it is such an issue. Please allow me to explain why.
Labeling impulsive actions as addictions may make it difficult for a person to believe that they can overcome a negative habit. “Addiction” is a heavy – and even frightening – term. When we tell ourselves we have an addiction, we’re saying that we’ve lost control, that our capacity to make our own decisions has been harmed, and that changing direction may be difficult. So to speak, something else is in the driver’s seat.
As a result, labeling an undesired behavior as an addiction has the potential to move us from an internal to an external locus of control. According to research, those who have an internal locus have more control over their conduct and are better at dealing with obstacles and stress. Those who have an external locus of control, on the other hand, feel as if they are victims of forces beyond their control, which may lead to tension, worry, and sadness. The attempt to relieve these dismal sentiments frequently leads back to pornography. The cycle will continue.
Men of Faith and Porn Addiction
Another issue with presenting behaviors as addictions is that it’s all too easy to label any undesired behavior as such, even if it doesn’t fit the requirements for addiction. It’s a technique for reducing cognitive dissonance in one’s actions and perception of oneself as a person. When it comes to porn, devout guys are particularly prone to this behavior.
According to a recent research, those who believe themselves to be highly pious are more likely to self-identify as addicted to online porn, despite having only seen it once.
This is something I’ve seen firsthand with devout males. They’ll admit to having a porn addiction, but when you dig further, you’ll discover that they masturbate to porn two or three times a week. I’m sure their usage seems like an addiction to them (since they don’t want to do it at all), but it doesn’t meet the DSM’s, or any sensible, definition of addiction.
Viewing porn is a spiritual violation for these pious guys, and full abstention from porn is the goal. As a result, if they find themselves masturbating once or twice a week on a porn site, there is a conflict between their conduct and the ideal that their religion has created. Instead of accepting responsibility for the spiritual slip, they pathologize it as an addiction to alleviate the dissonance. They move their center of control to an external one in this way, deciding that porn is doing something to them rather than them doing something to porn.
This “has been connected to various actual features of psychological discomfort, such as sadness, obsessive behavior, and anxiety,” according to the researchers of the aforementioned study. This shouldn’t come as a surprise since, remember, when you have an external center of control, that’s what occurs. Furthermore, I’d argue that by labeling themselves as addicts – even though they clearly aren’t in a clinical sense – these men are either making it more difficult to stop looking at porn because the label places them in a helpless position or, worse, they may be creating a self-fulfilling prophecy in which they do become full-fledged porn addicts.
So, if you’re a devout Christian who watches porn a few times a week, don’t dismiss it as an addiction. Yes, it seems that way, but labeling it as such is more likely to do harm than good.
If you’re attempting to quit using porn (for whatever reason) and labeling it an addiction, you’re setting yourself up for failure by assuming you don’t have or can’t recover control of your conduct. While admitting that porn is a huge issue in your life is beneficial, I believe there comes a point when exaggerating the severity makes it more difficult to leave. It makes the issue appear like a huge boogeyman that you won’t be able to get rid of without a major intervention, treatment, or particularly pricey getaways.
If, on the other hand, you approach your porn habit as if it were any other habit you wish to stop, the crippling weight will lift. Telling yourself that you’re “changing a habit” puts you in a more positive frame of mind and encourages you to take action. Even most “porn addiction” specialists handle obsessive porn usage in the same way they treat any other bad behavior, from cursing to chewing your nails; thus, if you’re going to treat the issue as a habit in the end, why not start there?
As a result, I believe the best way to describe porn is as “sexual junk food.” The all-consuming need for food and sex has existed since the start of time. We’ve evolved to consume natural food on a regular basis, but today we have garbage-tastic options accessible on every street corner, at all hours of the day. It’s impossible to resist the never-ending supply of junk food, but if we don’t, we’ll become fat, agitated, and sad. We’ve developed for sex…with flesh and blood beings in the same manner. In today’s age, however, we have virtual sex available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Consuming it depletes our spirits, energizes our virility, and wreaks havoc on our relationships — all of the finest things in life. Porn is junk food for the senses that offers sustenance but leaves us worse and hungrier than before.
I’ve irritated many who are more liberal on the subject by claiming that consuming porn is a problem. And now, by stating that it should be considered a habit rather than an addiction, I’m sure to enrage individuals who hold more conservative views. That’s OK for me. I can’t emphasize enough that the reason I believe we should characterize porn usage as a habit rather than an addiction is not because I don’t believe it may be a terrible, soul-sucking problem for certain guys. Rather, I’ve adopted this attitude because I’m familiar with the crippling effects of a major porn obsession. That’s how I’d characterize obsessive porn usage as an addiction if I felt it would help males stop. But I am certain that it is the exact opposite.
What About Porn in Moderation, though?
“But Brett, aren’t you making the case that porn is appropriate to consume in moderation if you don’t have moral opinions about it?” some of you may be wondering. Is it true that every male who watches porn has the issues listed above? Isn’t it alright to eat a Twinkie now and again if porn is like sexual junk food?”
While I’m sure many people would want me to answer these questions with a resounding “No way!” it would be deceptive. Are there any males out there that watch porn in moderation, don’t believe it has had any substantial negative consequences in their lives, and don’t feel forced to look at it? Without a doubt. The consequences of pornography that I’ve described will still have an impact, but in a much lesser fashion that may not have a big impact on their quality of life.
To back to the junk food comparison, although some people can eat just one Dorito and be satisfied, many others find it impossible to stop at just one chip. People may pursue a variety of courses after learning about this dynamic. Some people maintain their moderate consumption habits because they like the occasional indulgences and are confident in their ability to control them. Some people have understood that they can’t simply eat one Oreo and quit cold turkey, so they don’t keep them around as a temptation. Some people are confident in their ability to consume junk food in moderation, but they refuse to eat it because they know it provides little value beyond the immediate pleasure of ingestion, and they prefer the confidence and health benefits that come with eating “clean.”
Which course should you pursue if you have no moral qualms regarding porn? Can pornography be compared to eating and drinking alcohol? You’ll have to consider the benefits and drawbacks of pornography for yourself. Keep in mind the following differences between porn usage and that of food or drink (or other potentially “addictive” hobbies such as video games or exercise):
- Our sex drive is linked to porn, and the desire for sexual rewards is at the top of the behavior reinforcement hierarchy. As a result, attaining moderation in porn is much more difficult than it is in other areas, such as consuming junk food.
- We all need to eat, and even junk food has calories; in fact, you could survive off Twinkies alone (and a multivitamin). You can, however, completely eliminate porn from your life.
- Food and drink have a defined satiation and novelty peak, and if you acquire a tolerance for them, you may reach a point where you can’t increase the amount of hit you receive. You may progress to hard liquor after you’ve developed a tolerance for lighter beverages, but you’ll always black out at some time. (At that point, you may try harsher substances, but you’ve hit the limit of what alcohol can accomplish for you.) You can’t go much higher in terms of eating than foods that are particularly created to get you closer to your bliss peak. You can eat more of it, but after you’ve tried all of the chips and cakes in the grocery store, you’ve completed the circuit. Pornography, on the other hand, offers an almost unlimited number of options. The never-ending novelty of internet porn produces a ravenous itch that may make moderation more difficult to sustain than with alcohol or food.
- While food and wine are easily accessible, nothing compares to the accessibility of pornography. You can’t just push a button and have a Twinkie or a drink appear in your palm, but you can access porn from your phone anywhere, at any time.
- After you eat a Twinkie, you may burn off the calories by exercising, making it nearly as if you never ate it at all. Pornographic pictures, on the other hand, tend to stick with you for a long time.
- Food and drink provide a physical, sensory experience, but pornography is nearly purely virtual. While this is not empirically established, I believe that rising degrees of abstraction in our lives reduces our feeling of well-being, even in little ways. It makes us feel farther removed from life’s rhythms.
- Food and wine may be consumed privately, but they also have a significant social component. Eating and drinking in moderation may improve our relationships and, as a result, our happiness. Pornography viewing is nearly never done with friends and is almost always done alone, even if it is done with one’s spouse. At best, technology has little effect on our social lives, and at worst, it exacerbates feelings of isolation.
All of this is to indicate that, in comparison to other potentially addictive habits like eating junk food and drinking alcohol, porn usage may be more difficult to maintain in moderation, provide the fewest advantages, be the simplest to eliminate from your life, and be missed the least if you do. Its absence could potentially make your life better. I am certain that it will.
Here’s an example from my personal experience. I used to frequent websites such as Business Insider and Reddit. I was never hooked to it, and it had no bad consequences in my life. However, the only pleasure I had from it was fleeting and thoughtless; it was an unpleasant diversion from work, and I merely felt empty rather than fulfilled afterward. Plus, it was still an itch I had to swat away when I needed to concentrate, because resisting an inclination depletes your important, finite resource of willpower. As a result, I fully banned these websites from my PC. My life hasn’t changed substantially as a result of it, but I do feel better and more focused. I could have kept my internet habit in check, but why bother when the little advantages of doing so far exceed the poorer “pleasure” I now enjoy?
Tim Ferriss (who, from what I can see, is not a religious man) discovered remarkable advantages from cutting off porn and masturbation (and drinking) for 30 days, including more testosterone, stronger attention and willpower, and a large increase in productivity. He was taken aback by how “dramatically your life may alter if you stop porn and masturbation for a short period of time.”
The bottom line is that the less trash you eat in your life – whether it’s porn, fast food, or mindless internet browsing – the better and smarter you’ll feel. However, many men rightly believe that life isn’t worth living without at least a few “vices.” Simply remember the points above as you mature and decide which indulgences to keep and which to abandon; my advice is to remember that sex is the most powerful drive there is, so if you’re going to cut out the junk in any area, that’s the category that will give you the most bang for your buck – the most increase in willpower, focus, well-being, and health in your relationships.
If you’re unsure how to continue, do an experiment like Ferriss did and spend a month without porn. If you feel that your life has improved, congratulations! You have discovered something that has changed your life. If not, there’s no damage done. And if you find yourself unable to spend a month without porn, it’s time to reconsider how casual your relationship with porn is.
If you do decide to give up porn for good, whether for moral or religious reasons or just because you don’t believe it adds to your life’s quality, I’ll wrap off the series tomorrow with some advice on how to do so.
Other Posts in the Series may be found here.
Introduction to Men and Pornography Why is there such a strong attraction between men and porn? How to Stop Watching Porn
Related Tag
- effects of early sexualization