Attention Young Men: Porn Will Destroy Your Life

Just because it’s free and ubiquitous doesn’t mean you should watch it.

Photo by Charles Deluvio

Porn used to be simple.

Your dad likely “discovered” himself to Playboy centerfolds and the occasional grainy porn movie.

Even I remember “discovering” myself to Playboy mags and trying to make out nipples on the staticky Spice channel.

When I was hitting puberty the internet was in its infancy. Sure, you could get porn over the internet, but not like you can today.

Watching two people, or multiple people, screw through a screen is relatively new territory. We still don’t fully understand how this seemingly unlimited access to porn is affecting our brains for the worst.

Although Gary Wilson has accumulated a lot of data over at YourBrainOnPorn, and spoiler alert, it ain’t good.

Imagine if you grew up and your introduction to sexuality was gangbang videos, money shots, and OnlyFans. How might that warp your perception of sex?

This type of warped intro into sexuality is the norm today. For the last couple of generations, men have grown up on porn. And we’re just starting to see the negative repercussions of this.

Young men are suffering from porn-induced erectile dysfunction

Want to hear something crazy?

More men between the ages of 18–40 experience erectile dysfunction than men between the ages of 40–80!

Yes, you read that correctly. Grampa might be more potent than his 18-year-old grandson.

Up until the last decade, rates of ED were low in sexually active men under 40. A study done in 1999, reported ED in 5%, and low sexual desire in 5% of sexually active men between 18 to 59. Another study done in 2002, had similar results.

Recent studies on ED and low sex drive in men under 40 have yielded some disturbing results.

In 2001–2002, the Global Study of Sexual Attitudes and Behavior studied 13,618 sexually active men between the ages of 40–80. A decade later, in 2011, they performed the same study on 2737 men between the ages of 18–40.

What did they find?

They found that the first group, the men between 40–80 studied in 2001, had a 13% ED rate, while the second group, the men between 18–40 in 2011, had a 14%-28% rate of ED.

That’s not all.

In 2012, Swiss researchers found ED rates of 30% in a cross-section of Swiss men aged 18–24.

In 2013, an Italian study showed that 1 in 4 seeking ED treatment were younger than 40.

A 2014 study on Canadian adolescents reported that 53.5% of male symptoms were indicative of a sexual problem. ED was the most common at 26%, followed by low sex drive at 24% and problems with orgasm at 11%.

Why have we seen such a spike in ED and other sexual problems amongst men under 40 between the early 2000s and early 2010s?

The answer is obvious.

The rise of the internet and subsequently the rise of “porn tube sites” like YouPorn, RedTube, Pornhub, etc. etc.

It’s no coincidence that the rise of free and ubiquitous porn coincides with the rise of ED and sexual problems in young men.

And it’s causing a host of other problems for young men too…

Loss of motivation and drive

Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that provides you your get-and-go.

Porn is super stimulus content that ramps up levels of dopamine.

Constantly ramping up levels through porn use means normal everyday stimuli no longer produce enough dopamine to get you going.

For example, you see a hot chick then you get a dopamine release that motivates you to go talk to her. Which brings us to our next problem.

Decrease in real-life relationships

When you can access hundreds of naked hot babes every day with only a WiFi connection and smartphone real-life women become meh.

That’s why so many young men are suffering from ED and other sexual problems.

Porn has completely desensitized them. They don’t have any desire for women IRL.

Plus, porn is easy. You don’t have to deal with rejection or feelings. All you have to do is fire up YouJizz and rub one out in the comfort of your own home.

This decrease in real-life relationships leads to loneliness.

Escalation to more extreme material

Not only do you become desensitized to real-life women, but you also become desensitized to regular old porn.

The more you watch the more you need to get your rocks off.

This leads to watching more and more extreme types of porn just to get off.

Feelings of shame and guilt

High porn uses bring up all sorts of self-loathing. Deep down, the porn addict knows that jerking it to people having sex on screen isn’t healthy.

Unfortunately, their self-loathing usually gets drowned out by more porn.

A vicious cycle.

Final thoughts

Many people don’t understand the negative consequences of porn. Until very recently, I never truly understood the negative consequences of porn either. And I’ve paid the price for it.

Like many millennials, and now Gen Zers, I grew up on porn. I’ve always told myself that it was harmless, but deep down knew it wasn’t good for me.

Now it’s impossible to deny how bad it really was for me.

Here’s the big conclusion: Porn is no good for you. It hijacks your brain.

It lights up the same parts of the brain that a hit of cocaine would. Yes, porn is highly addictive.

Not only is it highly addictive but it’s extremely easy to get. Not a good combination.

If you’re a young man reading this and you haven’t started watching porn, then good for you, don’t start.

If you’re currently watching porn then stop. It’s that simple. The withdrawal won’t be fun. But it’s better than being a slave to the super stimulus visual crack that porn is.