It's not something new to say that pornography —hanks to how accessible it is on the internet now— is more and more accepted as something "normal" to do after a "hard day's work" instead of something only pubescent boys and lonely, sad men do. Watching porn is, some cases, even considered as healthy by a big part of the population.

However, everything done in excess can cause damages to our psychical and mental health, and the same goes for porn of course. Nowadays, there are approximately 420,000 websites dedicated to online pornography; this is why different academic studies are being carried out regarding how porn affects our daily lives in the age of the internet (beyond getting hair on your hands and other useless myths). According to a new study reported by GC, taking as sample a Reddit community named NoFap, which is devoted to avoiding pornography and masturbation (the majority being former addicts of the latter) has shined a new light on the subject and there are some interesting points to take into consideration:

For those addicted to porn, maintaining sexual attraction with the same partner is almost impossible, which is why there is a need of a constant search for new sexual thrills. This is known as the "Coolidge Effect", the constant search of something new. One in five people who watch porn have admitted to being dominated by their sexual impulse when taking decisions. 12% of the NoFapper users that were surveyed admitted to watching porn for five or more hours a week, while a staggering 59% of the respondents admitted to watching from four to fifteen hours per week. Almost 50% of the users admitted to not having sexual relations ever, which means that their entire sex life is merely digital. 42% of the group are university students, and they also admitted to watching porn on a regular basis. 52% of the users admitted to having developed their porn addiction between ages twelve and fourteen. A 16% admitted to being younger than twelve. 64% admitted that their sexual likings have turned from extremes to out of the ordinary. Among the people surveyed between ages twenty seven to thirty one, 19% of them suffer from premature ejaculation, 25% has lost sexual interest in their partners, 31% has trouble reaching orgasm and 34% has erectile dysfunction. After committing to the NoFappers rules (no masturbation or porn is allowed), 60% of the respondants admitted to having an improvement in their sex lives.

So there you have it, just take it easy and everything will be fine, no addiction is a good addiction.

Source: GQ

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