Effects of Porn Addiction
Porn addiction is the compulsive use of pornography for arousal, often to the detriment of personal relationships. The effects of porn addiction are widespread, affecting our brains, our sexuality, and our beliefs.
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How Porn Addiction Affects the Brain (Dopamine, Gray Matter, and Neurology)
Neurologists have observed that the brains of porn users are very similar to those of other addicts.
Lower Dopamine
For example, porn addiction, like other addictions, is correlated to low levels of dopamine in the brain.
Dopamine is the natural chemical your brain releases when it experiences pleasure. It helps the brain identify and store the source of the pleasurable experience, be it a delicious chocolate cake, a beautiful piece of music, sex, or a drug. Some things, like sex, release an extremely high amount of dopamine. Pornography releases even more dopamine than sex, and sustains it for hours.
While this sounds like a good thing, in reality, it means that your brain gets used to that amount of dopamine, and therefore needs more variety (usually harder-core material) to get the dopamine high. This is a similar pattern to substance disorders.
In fact, according to researchers Michal Privara and Petr Bob in their 2023 article “Pornography Consumption and Cognitive-Affect Distress,” porn addiction is linked to depression, isolation, distress, anxiety, loneliness, and other mental health issues, all of which are also associated with low dopamine.
In layman’s terms, low dopamine means your body tends not to enjoy a whole lot of things. The small blip of pleasure a healthy brain will get from smelling a flower or taking a walk may hardly even register. Instead, your brain will become increasingly dependent on pornography and other major dopamine producers for pleasure.
Diminished Brain Activity
A study conducted in 2014 by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Germany found that heavy porn use was associated with less gray matter in the brain, which helps with processing and interpreting information. It was also found that there was reduced functional connectivity between different parts of the brain.
They discovered that more porn use actually resulted in less of a neurological response to the porn images shown in the study. They also noticed changes in the parts of the brain that control attention, future planning, and behavioral flexibility.
In other words, it pointed to heavy porn users being more likely to engage in other risky behaviors. In fact, that study found that heavy porn users had increased use of alcohol and more depression. (They also experienced memory loss.)
Now, that study did point out that it could be a bit of a chicken-or-egg situation. The brains of the heavy porn users may have developed that way in the first place, and they might have just become more likely to turn to porn.
For example, adverse childhood experiences (like abuse or neglect in the home) are tied to negative effects on brain development—and they’re also highly related to sex and substance addiction.
So, traumas and pain in childhood may have stunted the porn addict’s neurological development, which led them to pornography, which further reinforced the way the brain developed.
Either way, the effects of porn addiction on the brain are significant. By understanding our brain, which controls both conscious choices and automatic behaviors, we can start to understand why porn addiction has such significant effects on our bodies, minds, and souls.
The Effects of Porn Addiction on Sexuality
Now that we have a better understanding of how pornography literally impacts the brain in visible, measurable ways, let’s explore how that plays out, starting with our sexuality. (Sex is a soul connection; sexuality outside of God’s design disrupts).
Porn Addiction and Our Sexual Templates
There’s a common saying among counselors and experts in the recovery community: “The neurons that fire together wire together.” When it comes to our sexual desires, this means that several chemicals beyond dopamine (including oxytocin and testosterone) work together to create a strong bond between you and the “object” that is arousing you (whether an individual person like your spouse, a body type, or a fetish).
There is a lot to unpack in that idea. The healthiest outcome is that you only ever sexually bond to one person, and you only grow in your enjoyment of and desire for each other. But it also shows how our sexual templates can get shaped—or warped—earlier. In his book Unwanted, for example, Jay Stringer connects childhood experiences like parental abandonment, parental over-attachment, trauma, and sexual abuse to the types of pornography we seek. In the absolute simplest of terms, if your first sexual experience (including porn exposure) involved a redhead, you may find yourself primarily attracted to redheads.
This is important to understand because it helps explain one of the effects of porn addiction: the need for variety.
Let’s say a person was exposed to porn at around age 12, which is average, and began seeking it out not long after that. Regardless of any other sexual preferences, that person wouldn’t have to look too far to find access to thousands of porn “performers.” Instead of bonding to one person with a probably imperfect body, their sexual template is shaped by thousands of people with “perfect” bodies.
This templating to perfection and variety is even worse now in the age of AI porn, since porn users are no longer limited to real people. They can now create deepfakes of celebrities, classmates, animated characters… basically whatever they want. The novelty never needs to end.
How Porn Addiction Affects Sex and Relationships
The need for novelty might not seem like a problem, but addiction to variety as caused by porn has deep effects on real-life relationships.
A 2012 study published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology found that the more porn a person watched:
- The less committed they were to their relationship.
- The more likely they were to flirt with someone other than their partner.
- The more likely they were to be unfaithful to their partner.
Another report, published in 2019 by the Journal of Clinical Medicine, rounded up a bunch of different studies on pornography. It found that pornography use is associated with:
- Sexual dissatisfaction and sexual dysfunction for both men and women.
- Unhappiness with either their own body, or their partner’s (or both).
- The pressure to “perform” in bed and less actual sex.
Porn-Induced Erectile Dysfunction
Many men have reported a physical effect of porn addiction as well. Namely, they experience porn-induced erectile dysfunction.
Many studies dating back as early as 2007 found a correlation between porn use and masturbation and treatment for ED. This includes the inability to achieve an erection when with their partner and the lack of arousal to pornography. These studies only identify a correlation; they do not prove that pornography caused ED. Nonetheless, this correlation fits with another pattern of addiction: addicts typically need increasing intensity or variety to get the same sexual thrill.
The correlation also helps explain the surprisingly high rate of self-reported ED among college-aged men. Historically, ED increases with age. A 2021 study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that this remained true; a little over a quarter of 45-54 year olds reported it, and over a third of 55-64 year olds reported it as well, with rates increasing from there. But there was an odd spike among the youngest reporting group: 17.7% of 18-24 year old men met the diagnostic criteria, then 13.3% of 25-34 year olds. The lowest reporting group was 35-44 year olds (12.7%).
While the study didn’t specifically investigate causes, it’s interesting to point out that a 2023 survey by the Barna group found that 14% of Gen Z and 12% of Millennials viewed porn daily (Beyond Porn Phenomenon p. 23).
To put the numbers next to each other:
- 14% of Gen Z viewed porn daily, and just shy of 18% of Gen Z men (approximately ages 18-24) had ED.
- 12% of Millennials viewed porn daily, and about 13% of Millennial men (approximately ages 25-44) had ED.
Most notably, many young men who quit porn recovered from ED within 2-9 months.
How Porn Addiction Affects Other People
Like all addictions, porn addiction leaves collateral damage. In multiple surveys, as many as 60% of respondents have admitted to watching porn at work. This results in billions of dollars in productivity costs, a poor workplace environment, and firings.
The systematic abuse of many porn performers is also well-documented.
Porn in Relationships
The people most directly impacted by porn addiction are the romantic partners of addicts. In short: discovering a partner’s porn use is deeply traumatizing to a spouse. Dr. Sheri Keffer conducted a study of betrayed partners. She found: (all from The Healing Church; page numbers indicated):
- 76% of betrayed women showed clinical symptoms of PTSD (140).
- 95% of them said they no longer felt safe with their partner after they discovered his sexual behaviors (146).
- 100% felt violated due to his sexual behaviors. (145)
- 22% felt pressured to perform sexual acts that were uncomfortable to them. (145)
Researchers are increasingly discovering that the emotional devastation of betrayal trauma leads to physical symptoms, including digestive issue and chronic tension. Gabor Maté has gone so far as to connect emotional suppression in women in general with higher rates of cancer, and those with severe PTSD with a doubled risk of ovarian cancer.
In other words, just as second-hand smoke contributes to lung cancer, a porn addicts behavior may contribute to their partner’s poor health, especially if they don’t seek their own healing for chronic stress from trauma.
Porn Addiction’s Effects on Beliefs
The final major effect of porn addiction is that pornography isn’t just about the sex. Pornography is a teacher. It shapes the user’s beliefs.
Researchers have known this for about 40 years. Back in the 1980s, researchers Dolf Zillman and Jennings Bryant exposed people who had not previously watched porn to up to 5 hours of explicit media over a 6 week period. They then compared the participants’ beliefs based on how much porn they were exposed to. In short:
- 71% of those not exposed to porn supported women’s rights. Only 25% of the group who saw 5 hours of porn supported it.
- 84% of those with no porn exposure believed minors should be protected from porn. Only 37% of the massive exposure group agreed.
Remember, this study was conducted when porn was primarily available through magazines, VHS distribution, and blurred-out channels. You had to work to view porn. Now, anyone with an average smartphone can find it within seconds
Pornography addiction is also connected to body dissatisfaction. Pornography (especially AI porn) allows the viewer to opt for physical perfection regarding weight, breast size, and penis size, among other things.
In 2023, researchers Michal Privara and Pter Bob found that when a teen’s body inevitably fails to live up to these ideals (which may be impossible to obtain without surgery), the teen develops low self-esteem and self-loathing, even if their body is perfectly healthy.
Porn Addiction is Correlated with Sexual Violence
One of the major effects of porn addiction on beliefs is that addicts think the behaviors shown in porn are normal.
- 88% of pornographic scenes include physical violence (94% of which portray women as the targets), then violence, especially against women, is normalized.
- Research published in 2018 in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence found that male porn addicts were more likely to commit acts of domestic violence than those who didn’t watch porn.
- Wideman and McNulty noted that sexual narcissists were found to be more likely to commit acts of sexual aggression.
- The Zillmann and Bryant study from the 1980s found that the “massive exposure” group (which, remember, was a total of five hours of porn over six weeks) recommended a sentence for a rapist of about half that recommended by the “no exposure” group.
- A 2009 study published in Aggressive Behavior found that porn users were more likely to be okay with violence against women. This was especially true among those who chose to watch violent porn.
- Researchers at Culture Reframed have noted increase of sexual strangulation (aka choking), especially among teenage porn users.
Porn normalizes this violence, so therefore teens believe it’s a normal, healthy form of sexual expression. They give little to no thought to the health implications of choking, including short-term consequences like vision changes, hearing loss, headaches, vomiting, and more, or to the more serious long-term damages, including heart attacks, seizures, brain injury, or even death.
Spiritual Impacts of Porn Addiction
Pornography addiction is nearly as big a problem within the church as it is outside it. In Barna’s 2023 study (p. 41), they found:
- Among practicing Christians, 7% watched porn daily, and 15% watched it weekly.
- Among nonpracticing Christians, 8% watched it daily, and 16% watched it weekly.
- Among non-Christians, 10% watched porn daily, and 21% watched it weekly.
One 2015 study of pornography users at a Christian university, published by the Journal of Religious Health, found:
- 43% of males and 20% of females believed their porn use worsened their relationship with God.
- 20% of men and 9% of women lost interest in spiritual things because of their porn use.
Another 2017 study by Samuel L. Perry and George M Hayward found that pornography use over time was related to a drop in religious service attendance, a lowered importance of faith, less frequent prayers, and feelings of distance from God, as well as more religious doubt.
In particular, 13-17 year olds were more likely to feel diminished importance of faith, increased distance from God, and more religious doubts. The researchers suggest that viewing porn creates cognitive dissonance with religious beliefs, and the simplest resolution, especially for teens and young adults, is simply to distance themselves from religion.
Consequences of Porn Addiction
So what does it mean to be addicted to porn? In short, porn addicts will suffer from dopamine depletion, meaning they get less and less enjoyment from life and need harder and harder porn to get pleasure. They are also more likely to experience body dissatisfaction, anxiety, depression, and even memory loss.
They may struggle to form long-term, meaningful relationships with sexual partners, only looking out for their own pleasure. When they do form those relationships, they may experience sexual dysfunctions like erectile dysfunction.
Many porn addicts will ask their partners to perform sex acts that make them uncomfortable, such as choking, and others may even act misogynistically or perpetrate acts of domestic violence against their partners. (Even if not, many partners experience trauma when they learn about the porn addiction.) And religious addicts may attempt to avoid cognitive dissonance by withdrawing from faith practices altogether.
This is not a picture of a healthy, happy individual. But there is hope! Many men and women have overcome pornography addiction.
Black, S. (2023). The Healing Church: What Churches Get Wrong About Pornography and How to Fix It. Morgan James Faith.
