Think viewing pornography is simply a harmless, enjoyable diversion? Think again.

The enormous increase in the availability and variety of porn since the
introduction of the internet has led to a staggering array of social,
interpersonal, and physical problems among porn users. Here is a list of eight
harmful effects porn has on individuals:

Porn actually changes the brain. The brain is made up of neurons, or brain cells,
that are activated by different types of stimuli, such as a smell or sound or
sight. Once they’re activated, they release chemicals that reinforce the
connections between the neurons. A chemical that is released during porn use is
dopamine, which is also released when using addictive substances. With frequent
exposure to porn, dopamine overwhelms the brain, and the brain’s response to cope
with the onslaught is to remove some of the dopamine receptors, which in turn
removes the porn user’s ability to feel the effects as strongly as he had before.
Consequently, it trains the brain to require more and more dopamine to feel the
initial effect. When porn usage is frequent, the dopamine level required to feel
excitement is so heightened that the person can no longer feel pleasure at only
things that used to make him happy [1].

Porn can affect behavior. Because of the need for increased levels of dopamine to
experience the high that porn first gave them, people tend to look for harder and
more explicit or deviant images to feel that initial excitement. The brain connects
the images to the sense of pleasure and excitement. This is how people can easily
progress to viewing porn that used to shock or disgust them. Seeing these kinds of
images over and over normalizes them to the user, making them seem acceptable and
even common. Research also shows that porn users exhibit more dominating and
harassing behavior toward women, have less compassion for rape victims, and have
more violent attitudes toward women, even leading to actual violence against women
[2].

Porn can lead to sexual dysfunction. Common physical problems that porn users
experience with real-life partners are trouble getting and maintaining an erection,
needing pornographic images to ejaculate, and difficulty even having an orgasm [3].
During real-life sex, a man may feel disconnected to his partner and take a long
time to reach orgasm. He may need to rely on remembered pornographic images to
reach orgasm. But he is able to get an erection and have an orgasm when using porn
[4].

Porn can harm your sense of healthy sexuality. Regular use of porn can lead to
feeling less aroused by a real-life partner. When a person is putting a lot of time
and energy into porn, the result is a turning away from a close human relationship
and a turning toward the source of the stimulation on the screen or page. Porn can
change sexual tastes and preferences toward things that are more deviant,
dangerous, or illicit than what used to be arousing [5].

Porn stunts the ability to have meaningful and satisfying real-life relationships.
Spending a lot of time using porn can be isolating as the user turns more and more
to the porn and away from actual people. Since most people try to hide their usage,
they become adept at “tucking away” their porn habit into a separate compartment of
their mind, many times feeling that it is something that is not a part of their
“real” life. They now have secrets from the people in their lives, making it
impossible to be truly honest [6]. When a person is constantly bombarded with
images of explicit and anonymous sex aimed at gratifying the user without any
consideration of the other person’s feelings, it’s not a far stretch to become
overly self-involved and insensitive to others.

Porn teaches that women are sexual objects. Women are portrayed as a collection of
orifices, ready at any time for anything sexual the man may want, and with no human
or sexual needs of her own. She is neither given nor worthy of basic human dignity
and respect; rather, she is objectified and used for men’s gratification. She is
never referred to as a woman, but an array of derogatory names such as slut, whore,
bitch, and much worse. These are some ways that porn kills empathy and desensitizes
the user to women’s humanity.

Porn can make you feel bad about yourself. Porn usage can very easily and very
quickly spiral out of control and hijack a person’s self-image and self-esteem. The
incongruity between his values and beliefs, and his actions can cause intense
stress. He can simultaneously believe that what he’s doing is wrong and feel
trapped in a never-ending cycle of addiction. Even when caught using porn, he can
be torn between justifying it or minimizing its significance, and feeling powerless
over it. He can question what kind of person he is that he is able to view and get
excited by the scenes and images he sees. He can feel hypocritical and demoralized
[7].