Is porn bad for you? Mental and Physical Issues

Is pornography bad for you?

It certainly doesn't feel bad, and has been largely accepted in nearly every society, though perhaps frowned upon publicly.

And no one really wants to admit to watching porn or, worse yet, having a porn addiction. But we've gotten to a point in our culture where people are starting to question whether or not porn is mentally and physically detrimental, moving the conversation outside of spiritual and religious contexts.

In other words, it's not just churches and Christians ringing the alarms about pornography.

Science and parts of culture are starting to as well.

But why? 

Is porn bad for you?

In a word, yes. And it's a lot worse than you think.

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Porn specializes in dopamine

There are a lot of things that happen to our brain on pornography.

But porn is truly masterful at one particular thing: Dopamine.

I'll add some references below that dig deeper into the science of this, but for now, covering it in simpler terms is preferable.

Pornography churns out an unnaturally high amount of dopamine, which is why it feels the way it feels. Just like addictive drugs, the response is hyper-stimulating, above and beyond the natural dopamine response you can achieve from any other routine activity.

In fact, many porn users begin to prefer pornography to actual sex with another human being. Even the women in the scenes themselves cannot provide a similar high in person. 

When this happens, your brain adapts by pushing the dopamine threshold higher.

Changes in the prefrontal cortex, the brain's gray matter, and reward center are all impacted by this process.

Let's just take the prefrontal cortex.

It impacts a ton of your functioning mind.

What an attack on the prefrontal cortex impacts

Here are some of the key functions associated with the prefrontal cortex.

Executive Functions

The prefrontal cortex is heavily involved in executive functions, which include abilities like decision-making, planning, problem-solving, goal setting, and self-control. It helps coordinate and regulate other brain regions to guide behavior and make choices based on long-term goals rather than immediate impulses.

Working Memory

The prefrontal cortex is important for working memory, which is the ability to hold and manipulate information temporarily in the mind. It allows for the storage and manipulation of information needed for complex cognitive tasks, such as mental calculations or following multi-step instructions.

Attention

The prefrontal cortex contributes to attentional control, enabling individuals to focus on relevant information while filtering out distractions. It helps direct attention to specific stimuli or tasks and maintain attention over time.

Social Behavior and Emotional Regulation

The prefrontal cortex is involved in social cognition, including understanding the thoughts, intentions, and emotions of oneself and others. It helps regulate emotional responses, manage social interactions, and make decisions based on social context.

Personality and Self-Identity

The prefrontal cortex is thought to play a role in shaping personality traits and self-identity. Damage to this region can sometimes lead to changes in personality, decision-making, and social behavior.

What's more, the prefrontal cortex interacts with other brain regions, and its functions are highly interconnected with various cognitive processes. 

Read more: Brain scans of porn addicts

From a neuroscience standpoint, this is called the neurocircuitry of addiction.

“Pornography satisfies every one of the prerequisites for neuroplastic change." ~ Dr. Norman Doidge

Andrew Huberman has some great info on this as well.

Inability to meet the dopamine threshold

After this jolt of dopamine, your brain doesn't just say, "Oh well, that was cool" and go back to its default settings.

If it did, addiction wouldn't really have any power.

Instead, it basically takes note of that level and says, "Ok, this is the standard that I have now set to be satisfied and/or have a good time. Enjoyment can only be achieved when this standard is met. Good luck."

"Ok, this is the standard that I have now set to be satisfied and/or have a good time. Enjoyment can only be achieved when this standard is met. Good luck." ~ Your Brain

This usually means more porn use, because porn is the only thing that can meet that impossible standard of enjoyment. Again, the same is true of substance abuse. 

But the thing about porn is that it's really easy to access, far more than narcotics or even alcohol.

An alcoholic at least has to buy alcohol.

So the substance we're abusing is readily available everywhere we go, on our phones, laptops, tablets, you name it.

And if more porn is needed, that's what your brain will crave and you'll feel almost powerless to stop it. When this cycle starts to move forward, even the porn itself will fail to meet your brain's standards, at which point you begin to seek out more, shall we say, "eclectic" forms of adult content.

Frighteningly, if you can think it up, it's probably out there.

Eventually, this addiction becomes absolutely impossible to satisfy.

And it takes all other normative forms of pleasure and enjoyment down with it.

The Fallout

Extended porn use for months and years will always have the effect of whacking out your reward center and dopamine levels, but there's a lot of fallout that comes as a response to those events.

They can impact any (usually all) of the following health categories:

• Physical 
• Mental/Psychological
• Emotional
• Relational

Depression and anxiety disorders are both commonplace with porn addicts. Physical issues will typically extend from this in the form of less discipline about exercise, dietary choices, and general self care.

Pornography decreases your ability to control yourself in general, leading to poor decisions in other areas of life that would otherwise not be problematic.

So physical health is a few degrees away from porn use, but it's eventually impacted.

Regulating emotions also become very difficult with the porn-induced depression.

If nothing in life is enjoyable anymore - work, recreation, family, nature - then you're not going to have a lot of joy or happiness, well...ever. That is, unless you have access to porn, thus continuing the cycle.

But all of this goes hand in hand.

And porn does this damage without fail. It has a perfect track record.

So, final answer: Is porn bad for you?

I would argue that porn isn't just bad for you, but that it's terrible for you, especially men.

And this is a fight I've fought, so I write this stuff to help other people fight it too. If you need help, we have a lot of resources on this site that could be useful/beneficial/encouraging to you.

You can also hit me up in the comments section below and I'll do my best to help out.

Reject depravity, embrace masculinity.

Don't give up the fight.

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