When it comes to pornography, all sorts of reasons have been given as to why it should be, at least, a concern for society, if not banned outright. Some came from purveyors of outmoded morality while others wondered whether the material might be playing a role in keeping women’s status lower than that of men. Now, there may be a new reason to CHOOSE to avoid pornography, at least if you’re a man: erectile dysfunction.
Gary Wilson is the author of a video series called Your Brain on Porn. He and his wife, Marnia Robinson, say that the easy availability of more abundant porn through the Internet has led to much more widespread addiction to pornography. Wilson says sex is something like food. We’re wired to get food whenever we can, and the higher in calories, the better. This goes back to the hunter-gatherer days when we could never be sure where our next meal would come. This instinct is proving disastrous in these days of plenty, but was vital before our species discovered agriculture. When it comes to sex, given the small groups in which we lived and the few times different groups would have crossed each others’ paths, finding sex partners was probably just as difficult. So when the occasion arose, we took full advantage of it. Today, potential sex partners are all around us. We can also choose to act upon our desires in a virtual way through porn.
We are pushed to eat until we feel full. Then we stop eating until enough time has passed and we feel the urge to eat again. It would be nice if our brains could urge us to eat healthier foods or stop sooner and for longer, but we’re not there yet. With sex per se, the only limiting factor is fatigue. But sometimes fatigue is not enough.
In a large number of mammals, including humans, there is something called the Coolidge Effect. A male will mate with a receptive female a certain number of times, but will eventually reach a point of satiety. However, if a different female is immediately introduced, the same male will almost immediately be ready to have sex again with this new female. This can be repeated many times with many different females until the male becomes exhausted. And I do mean exhausted, not just fatigued.
According to Wilson, a different porn model or actress on the computer screen has the same effect on a man. With a same partner or same type of pornography, we become used to the stimulation but not numbed to it. However, with Internet and the great availability of porn online, it becomes possible to binge on new porn experiences, which leads to over-stimulation. In time, the brain changes and the pleasure responses become numbed. In an attempt to recreate the heightened level of pleasure, we binge more, seeking out new porn actresses or new porn genres. Eventually, the over-stimulation leads to problems with sexual response and erectile dysfunction.
Apparently, there are men in their twenties experiencing erectile dysfunction due to overstimulation by Internet porn. The cure, so they say, is to avoid pornography, and perhaps other erotic material as well, for as long as it takes for the brain to come back to normal. As the brain returns to normal, so should sexual response. But this can take as many as two months. And some may experience withdrawal symptoms, which is normal considering the neurochemical changes within the brain.
The author and his wife aren’t actually calling for a ban on pornography, and they claim to be true believers in freedom of speech. Furthermore, it would appear that non-Internet porn would not be as destructive as Internet porn. On the other hand, they do want to help people who, for whatever reason, have not been able to say “enough is enough,” and now find themselves with an addiction to pornography. This is leading to erectile dysfunction in many men under the age of 40, which used to be very rare.
I don’t know whether any true empirical data exists to prove the thesis. A serious study would include controls for other conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, two proven erection killers. Without such controls, it can be hard to see exactly which physical processes are being affected when it comes to impeding erections.
Those who would like to see the videos for themselves can go here.
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