Does watching porn lead to erectile dysfunction?

It's safe to say the past few decades came with their fair share of changes. Among them was the introduction of internet porn and its limitless, 24/7 accessibility, unending novelty, and easy avenues for finding increasingly graphic content. We've also seen a sharp increase in otherwise healthy men under 40 with sexual dysfunctions–including erectile dysfunction. Could these two be linked? Let's take a look.

Whether as a solo activity or with others, many people regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or relationship status enjoy watching porn without any negative consequences. The relationship between watching porn and experiencing erectile dysfunction is not a direct line of cause and effect. Presenting it as such is nothing more than a shaming, stigmatising tactic–much like tales of masturbation leading directly to ED (more info on which can be found here).

There are, however, a few ways in which porn can have an impact on erectile function and there's emerging research on the recently identified phenomenon of 'Porn Induced Erectile Dysfunction' (PIED), which is a form of psychologically rooted ED that stems from excessive porn consumption.

Your Brain, Your Erection and Porn

Watching porn releases dopamine–which is a brain chemical that influences your mood, pleasure, and reward pathways. It is also the key mediator of sexual behaviour in both men and women.

Internet porn tube sites offer viewers free, high definition, hyper-stimulating content. Because of its unending availability and the nearly limitless amount of novel content, viewers receive instant gratification and 'maintain or heighten sexual arousal' by immediately clicking on a new video. It's suggested that internet porn is a 'supernormal stimulus' which is an, 'exaggerated imitation of something our brains evolved to pursue because of its evolutionary salience.' The constant ability to receive new content and instant reward makes internet porn a 'unique activator in the brain's reward system.' This is also the reason why internet porn can feel highly addicting.

A 2016 Behavioural Sciences study found that watching high volumes of internet porn conditioned viewers to a new set of sexual stimuli that don't get matched in reality. Because the pleasure and reward pathways get rewired to the sexual stimuli found in pornography, men in the study reported both a preference for masturbating to porn over real-life partnered sex as well as the inability to achieve or sustain an erection during partnered sex.

Essentially, when your sexual arousal becomes conditioned to internet porn, real-life sex 'may register as 'not meeting expectations,'' which in turn lowers dopamine levels and impacts erectile function.

Porn Induced Erectile Dysfunction (PIED)

As we mentioned earlier, PIED is a form of erectile dysfunctions that stems from excessive porn consumption. As a relatively recently identified phenomenon, further medical research is needed before conclusively asserting a definitive link between excessive porn consumption and erectile dysfunction.

There are a myriad of factors that can contribute to or cause an erectile dysfunction–and these factors range from the physiological (i.e. cardiovascular issues, unhealthy weight, sedentary lifestyle) to the psychological (performance anxiety, depression, emotional trauma). With PIED, you may experience a decreased sensitivity to real-life sexual activity and a difficulty in achieving and/or maintaining an erection during partnered sex.

This can stem from the rewiring of sexual stimuli as a result of excessive porn consumption, as well as low self-esteem and unrealistic expectations about (your own and/or your partner's) sexual performance brought on by pornography.

As shown in a 2015 report, one's own beliefs and attitudes towards porn can impact erectile function as well. In the Regimen program, you learn all about the importance of the central nervous system and its role in erectile function. Dealing with shame increases feelings of stress, worry, and anxiety which actually have a massive impact on the erection. If you shame yourself for watching porn there is the potential that this shame inhibits you from achieving an erection.

What constitutes 'excessive' consumption?

When it comes to defining excessive porn consumption, there is no magic number of hours or videos that constitutes 'too much.' It is purposefully a subjective measure to avoid stigmatisation and pathologization. However some indications that you may have an unhealthy relationship with porn include:

• Decreased satisfaction with real-life sex
• Viewing increasingly more graphic pornography in order to sustain the feeling that less graphic pornography once provided.
• Feeling like you're unable to control your porn consumption–i.e. wanting to stop or decrease the amount but not feeling able to do so
• Feeling bad (ashamed, frustrated, upset, guilty) about your porn consumption

How to address ED from porn:

If you're worried about your porn consumption and believe it could be having an affect on your erectile function here's what you can do:

• Try to take a break from watching porn to allow your brain a chance to rewire its response to sexual stimuli. The 2016 Behavioural Sciences study highlights clinical reports where participants were advised to eliminate their internet porn consumption. The reports showed that when participants eliminated or even significantly decreased their porn consumption, they were able to regain their erectile function and re-condition their response to sexual stimuli–sometimes even in as little as three weeks.
• Speak with a doctor. If you believe that your porn consumption has interfered with your erectile function, speak with your doctor about your concerns. You can also think about starting talk therapy with a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) focus to become aware of behaviour triggers and thinking patterns that fuel porn use. Use the mindfulness component of the Regimen program in conjunction with CBT to re-ground and take control over your urges.
• Communicate with your partner. If you're in a relationship and feel comfortable doing so, have an open and honest conversation with your partner about your concerns. Together, you can work on exploring other ways to enjoy your sexuality outside of porn and build up trust and intimacy in the process.