Learn more at www.FightTheNewDrug.

org

PORN RUINS YOUR SEX LIFE

Porn often leads to less sex and less satisfying sex. And for many users,
porn can eventually mean no sex at all.

P
KEY TAKEAWAYS

Porn leads to less sex and less

satisfying sex.
Extended porn use can cause ED
for men even in their 20s.

orn promises a virtual world filled with

sexmore sex, better sex. What it doesnt
mention, however, is that the further a user
goes into that fantasy world, the more likely their
reality is to become just the opposite. [1] Porn
often leads to less sex and less satisfying sex. [2]
And for many users, porn eventually means no sex
at all. [3]
It doesnt take much porn for things to start heading downhill. In one of the most comprehensive
studies on porn use ever conducted, researchers
found that after being exposed to softcore sexual
material, both men and women were significantly
less happy with their partners looks, willingness to
try new sex acts, and sexual performance. [4] Even
being exposed to porn just once can make people
feel less in love with their significant other. [5]
Why? Because when a person is watching porn, the
sexual roadmaps in their brain are being redrawn.
[6] When a person has a sexual experience that
feels good, their brain creates a map to get them
back there (See Porn Changes the Brain). And
since our brains like novelty, brain maps that lead
to something new and exciting are rewarded with
an extra dose of brain chemicals that make us feel
good while strengthening those brain pathways.
[7]
Heres the catch: our brain maps are either use it or
lose it. [8] Just like a hiking trail will start to grow
over if its not getting walked on, brain pathways
that dont get traffic start to get weaker. So when a
person starts looking at porn, they first create and
then strengthen brain pathways linking feeling
aroused with images of porn. [9] Meanwhile the
pathways connecting arousal with things like seeing, touching, or cuddling with their partner arent
getting used. Pretty soon, natural turn-ons arent
enough, and many porn users find they cant get
aroused by anything but porn. [10]
For teens, it gets even scarier. Many teens never
have the chance to learn what a healthy relationship is like before porn starts teaching them its
versionwhich is typically filled with violence,
domination, infidelity, and abuse. [11] Since most
people arent too excited about the idea of being in
an abusive relationship, teens that have gotten their
sex ed from porn often find that they struggle to
connect with real romantic partners and that they
dont know how to be turned on by anything other
than images on a screen. [12] As biologist Gary

Get the Facts on Pornography 2013 FIGHT THE NEW DRUG

Wilson said, Using porn is more than just

training for the wrong sport. Its replacing these
guys ability to play the sport they really want to
learn. [13]
Beliefs and feelings arent the only things that
change, either. For a skyrocketing number of
male porn users, it becomes blindingly clear
that theres a problem when they realize they
can no longer have real sex at all. [14]
Thirty years ago, when a man developed
erectile dysfunction (ED), it was almost always
because he was getting older, usually past 40,
and as his body aged, his blood vessels would
get blocked, making it harder to maintain an
erection. Chronic ED in anyone under 35 was
nearly unheard of. [15]
But those were the days before Internet porn.
These days, online message boards are flooded
with complaints from porn users in their teens
and 20s complaining that they cant maintain
an erection. [16] But for this kind of ED, the
problem isnt in the penisits in the brain. [17]
Erections are powered by chemicals in the
brains reward center (See Porn Is Like a Drug]
that are released when a guy sees, hears, smells,
or feels something that turns him on. [18] The
problem for porn users is that theyve hijacked
their reward center by using porn to get it to
overload on these chemicals. [19] As a result,
the users brain responds by cutting down on
the amount of pleasure chemicals it produces
and stops responding as well to the chemicals
that are being released. [20] Its like when
youre standing next to a fire alarm that goes
off; its too much noise so you cover your ears.
Thats what porn users brains are doing. When
chemical levels are too high, the brain fights
back by blocking some of the flood of chemicals
released.
On top of that, porn users have wired their
brain to get aroused by sitting alone in a room
looking at virtual images rather than connecting arousal to being with a real person. [21]
Due to their lowered sexual response and
altered brain pathways, many porn users find
they just cant get excited enough to maintain
an erection without porn; and for many users,
over time, even porn isnt enough. [22]
WWW.FIG H T T HENEW D RUG .OR G

Learn more at www.FightTheNewDrug.org

Citations
[1] Paul, P. (2010). From Pornography to Porno to Porn: How Porn Became the
Norm. In J. Stoner and D. Hughes (Eds.) The Social Costs of Pornography: A Collection of Papers (pp. 320). Princeton, N.J.: Witherspoon Institute.
[2] Bridges, A. J. (2010). Pornographys Effect on Interpersonal Relationships. In
J. Stoner and D. Hughes (Eds.) The Social Costs of Pornography: A Collection of
Papers (pp. 89-110). Princeton, NJ: Witherspoon Institute; Paul, P. (2007). Pornified: How Pornography Is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our
Families. New York: Henry Hold and Co., 153; Zillmann, D. (2004). Pornografie.
In R. Mangold, P. Vorderer, and G. Bente (Eds.) Lehrbuch der Medienpsychologie
(pp.56585). Gottingen, Germany: Hogrefe Verlag;

York: Penguin Books, 104.

[13] Wilson, G. (2013). Adolescent Brain Meets Highspeed Internet Porn. http://
yourbrainonporn.com/adolescent-brain-meets-highspeed-internet-porn
[14] Wilson, G. (2013). Adolescent Brain Meets Highspeed Internet Porn; http://
yourbrainonporn.com/adolescent-brain-meets-highspeed-internet-porn Robinson, M. and Wilson, G. (2011). Porn-Induced Sexual Dysfunction: A Growing
Problem. Psychology Today, July 11; Doidge, N. (2007). The Brain That Changes
Itself. New York: Penguin Books, 105.

[3] Robinson, M. and Wilson, G. (2011). Porn-Induced Sexual Dysfunction: A

Growing Problem. Psychology Today, July 11.

[15] Robinson, M. and Wilson, G. (2011). Porn-Induced Sexual Dysfunction: A

Growing Problem. Psychology Today, July 11; Doidge, N. (2007). The Brain That
Changes Itself. New York: Penguin Books, 105.105.

[4] Zillmann, D. and Bryant, J. (1988). Pornographys Impact on Sexual Satisfaction. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 18, 5: 43853.

[16] Doidge, N. (2007). The Brain That Changes Itself. New York: Penguin Books,
105.

[5] Bridges, A. J. (2010). Pornographys Effect on Interpersonal Relationships. In

J. Stoner and D. Hughes (Eds.) The Social Costs of Pornography: A Collection of
Papers (pp. 89110). Princeton, NJ: Witherspoon Institute.

[17] Capogrosso, P., Colicchia, M., Ventimiglia, E., Castagna, G., Clementi, M. C.,
Suardi, N., Castiglione, F., Briganti, A., Cantiello, F., Damiano, R., Montorsi, F.,
Salonia, A. (2013). One Patient Out of Four with Newly Diagnosed Erectile Dysfunction Is a Young ManWorrisome Picture from the Everyday Clinical Practice.
Journal of Sexual Medicine 10, 7:183341; Cera, N., Delli Pizzi, S., Di Pierro, E.
D., Gambi, F., Tartaro, A., et al. (2012). Macrostructural Alterations of Subcortical
Grey Matter in Psychogenic Erectile Dysfunction. PLoS ONE 7, 6: e39118; Doidge,
N. (2007). The Brain That Changes Itself. New York: Penguin Books, 105.

[6] Doidge, N. (2007). The Brain That Changes Itself. New York: Penguin Books,
103.
[7] Hilton, D. L. (2013). Pornography AddictionA Supranormal Stimulus
Considered in the Context of Neuroplasticity. Socioaffective Neuroscience &
Psychology 3:20767; Doidge, N. (2007). The Brain That Changes Itself. New York:
Penguin Books, 116.
[8] Doidge, N. (2007). The Brain That Changes Itself. New York: Penguin Books,
59.
[9] Hilton, D. L. (2013). Pornography AddictionA Supranormal Stimulus
Considered in the Context of Neuroplasticity. Socioaffective Neuroscience &
Psychology 3:20767; Doidge, N. (2007). The Brain That Changes Itself. New York:
Penguin Books, 101.
[10] Robinson, M. and Wilson, G. (2011). Porn-Induced Sexual Dysfunction: A
Growing Problem. Psychology Today, July 11; Paul, P. (2007). Pornified: How Pornography Is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families. New
York: Henry Hold and Co., 153.
[11] Bridges, A. J., Wosnitzer, R., Scharrer, E., Chyng, S., and Liberman, R. (2010).
Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best Selling Pornography Videos: A Content
Analysis Update. Violence Against Women 16, 10: 10651085; Paul, P. (2010).
From Pornography to Porno to Porn: How Porn Became the Norm. In J. Stoner
and D. Hughes (Eds.) The Social Costs of Pornography: A Collection of Papers
(pp. 320). Princeton, N.J.: Witherspoon Institute.

[18] Pfaus, J. G., Kippin, T. E., Coria-Avila, G. A., Gelez, H., Afonso, V. M., Ismail,
N., and Parada, M. (2012). Who, What, Where, When (and Maybe Even Why)?
How the Experience of Sexual Reward Connects Sexual Desire, Preference, and
Performance. Archives of Sexual Behavior 41: 3162; Pfaus, J. G., Kippin, T. E., and
Centeno, S. (2001). Conditioning and Sexual Behavior: A Review. Hormones and
Behavior 40: 291321.
[19] Nestler, E. J. (2005). Is There a Common Molecular Pathway for Addiction?
Nature Neuroscience 9, 11: 14451449.
[20] Hilton, D. L., and Watts, C. (2011). Pornography Addiction: A Neuroscience
Perspective. Surgical Neurology International, 2: 19.
[21] Hilton, D. L. (2013). Pornography AddictionA Supranormal Stimulus
Considered in the Context of Neuroplasticity. Socioaffective Neuroscience &
Psychology 3:20767; Robinson, M. and Wilson, G. (2012). Are Sexual Tastes Immutable? Psychology Today, November 8. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/
cupids-poisoned-arrow/201211/are-sexual-tastes-immutable
[22] Cera, N., Delli Pizzi, S., Di Pierro, E. D., Gambi, F., Tartaro, A., et al. (2012).
Macrostructural Alterations of Subcortical Grey Matter in Psychogenic Erectile
Dysfunction. PLoS ONE 7, 6: e39118.

[12] Wilson, G. (2013). Adolescent Brain Meets Highspeed Internet Porn; http://
yourbrainonporn.com/adolescent-brain-meets-highspeed-internet-porn Woods,
J. (2012). Jamie Is 13 and Hasnt Even Kissed a Girl. But Hes Now on the Sex
Offender Register After Online Porn Warped His Mind. Daily Mail (U.K.), April
25. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2135203/Jamie-13-kissed-girl-Buthes-Sex-Offender-Register-online-porn-warped-mind-.html Robinson, M. and
Wilson, G. (2011). Porn-Induced Sexual Dysfunction: A Growing Problem.
Psychology Today, July 11; Doidge, N. (2007). The Brain That Changes Itself. New

Get the Facts on Pornography 2013 FIGHT THE NEW DRUG

WWW.FIG H T T HENEW D RUG .OR G