Porn addiction

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I've been seeing online many people are saying they have a porn addiction and cutting it out of their lives entirely. There's a lot of claim that it improves their lives to a great degree.

I've heard and seen claims on both sides of this. The anti-porn side saying that porn (and to an extent masturbation) affects your brain chemistry, makes you objectify women irl, wrecks your dopamine regulation, reduces how long you last in bed, you're not willing to seek out a relationship with a real person, and other things.
Pro-porn (or at least masturbation) claims that at least semi-regular masturbation helps de-stress, increases how long you last in bed, and reduces risk of prostate cancer among other things.

I can see some things as valid like being dependent on a regular dopamine hit and instant gratification. Porn industry being overall not healthy and fake. Amateur is better imo in that sense although I'm uncomfortable on many self-selling their bodies in the societal implications of it.
But I also see many of the subjective downsides also being attached to opinions No Fap and related pseudoscience. I think there are people who are too attached to porn that would be better off cutting back/off their porn habits, but I also think people affiliated with No Fap and the like might mean well but are off the mark. To each their own I guess.

I don't think I've seen a lot of discussion on hentai though I'm sure both sides can still apply. Prob many would say it's a further abstraction from reality that makes it okay so long as it doesn't negatively affect you or others, versus anti-porn advocates saying it's only a delusion and the cocktail of chemicals would make you try to believe or act out your fetishes or something in the real world. Don't know on that.
More than likely getting a point that escapism isn't healthy too.

As a hentai-friendly forum what does lewd think? Is porn addiction a serious issue? Is porn inherently bad and potentially mentally damaging? Is having porn as an outlet healthy?

I think to repeat from above that if you're excessively into porn that it negatively affects you or others then yes cut back or stop altogether. I am more into hentai than real porn so I am against the porn industry for its very real problems. Amateur work I'm okay with, social issues notwithstanding.
Hentai and H-manga there aren't problems unless the end enjoyer lets it become a problem like being mentally dependent on it for satisfaction. I can see it being a problem if you fap 7+ times a day and your body can't take it.

I am a lone relationship-lacking person so I can't really comment on if it affects you in a commitment. Maybe if you can only get turned on by porn instead of your s/o that's a problem.
Yeah you might be less inclined to seek out real people to get into a relationship with. I think introversion extends to seeking out porn instead of a lack of someone, but I can see people not willing to get a special someone if their sexual desires are already satisfied.

td;lr talk about porn addiction

  • mnl replied to this.

    ChiitoChan As a hentai-friendly forum what does lewd think? Is porn addiction a serious issue? Is porn inherently bad and potentially mentally damaging? Is having porn as an outlet healthy?

    Interesting topic. Once porn starts affecting your personal life negatively, then yes, it is a problem, but I don't think thats the case for most people. I also don't belive in "no-fap". As you mention, it seems to be mostly alot of pseudoscience and circle-jerking inside that community. For me personally, I don't think consuming porn is harmful in any way and I don't think there are any tangible benefits from not consuming porn. I might be wrong though, as I haven't tried not consuming porn yet. 😛

    I was kinda wondering if this topic would ever come up on here.

    Hmm, there are unfortunately quite a lot of negatives associated with porn. Probably the biggest being the exploitation involved in the industry. I'd not super uncommon to hear about how former porn stars were exploited or drugged into performing, and there are quite a few who have either died from ODs, commited suicide, or just disappeared themselves.

    From that perspective, it can be somewhat compared to the illegal narcotics industry, were, despite being legal, also tends to feature a lot of exploitation all throughout the supply chain, be it the poor farmers harvesting the ingredients, or the 8-year-old kids being forced to sell them to support their families or pay off debts.

    That side of the whole industry probably doesn't have any effect or cause addiction itself, but it's almost structured as if to profit off of it in the same way.

    Some of these issues are, of course, mitigated by amateur pornography. But again, not always. I'm sure most of you have heard about how a prominent porn site recently had to purge most of its amateur media due to accusations of hosting actual rape videos, child porn, revenge porn, and other non-consentual stuff.

    Going back to profiting off of addiction though, I can definitely see porn having that effect. Honestly, one doesn't have to be addicted, or even experience an addicted person to see that something is amiss. There's so much other media, information, knowledge, etc. available on the internet, yet porn makes up most of the overall traffic anyway. Admittedly, I also tend to get drawn to the lewd stuff when I'm bored or have nothing else that I need to do. Perhaps it's not as bad as, say, a nicotine addiction, but there's definitely something there. I can tell, because I've been abstaining since this thread went up >///<

    Hentai's a little different from the whole industry/exploitation side of things. Obviously, things depicted in hentai aren't real, so there's no risk of the actors/actresses involved actually being children or being raped. However, those involved behind the scenes: the artists, animators, voice actors, etc., might also be treated poorly, because they might have no other option.

    a year later

    I definitely have a porn/hentai addiction but it hasn't affected my life or any relationships I have. I also don't like porn that objectifies people either, it makes me uncomfortable. But yeah I probably have a problem, but I'm indifferent to it.

    malmon Not even close!

      Shhh I also don't like porn that objectifies people

      That's gotta narrow down your selection quite significantly ^_^'

      • Shhh replied to this.

        malmon Pretty much just excludes professionally made IRL stuff, which is usually garbage anyway!

          Shhh Perhaps it depends on what exactly you mean by objectification. In my view, there isn't really any sort of real emotional connection with the person on the other end of the lens or pencil, amateur or not. One uses the recorded or drawn image to get off, rather than to share in an emotional experience.

          • Shhh replied to this.

            malmon I meant stuff like "SLUTTY BITCH GETS FUCKED BY HUGE DICK" and stuff like that, the popular stuff on major porn sites anyway xD

              Shhh Well okay, but that stuff's just shit regardless of objectification. It's also pretty obviously meant to be clickbait for those who really shouldn't be viewing porn in the first place.

              • Shhh replied to this.

                malmon I guess a better way to say it is, as long as everyone else is happy then I'm happy! It honestly isn't something I run into very often, honestly.

                  Shhh That's kinda what I used to think as well. I dunno, maybe I'm just getting old, but lately I've just been looking back and wondering if satisfying my urges for all these years, while I still had a decent chance of finding someone IRL, was probably a bad idea.

                  I never thought I'd be the sort of person who would want to get married, have kids, etc... yet here I am >_<'

                  • Shhh replied to this.

                    malmon I don't think it's healthy to dwell on the past too much, it will just eat you alive if you just focus on what you could have done instead of what you can do more.

                    Also, I know that even if I wasn't addicted to porn I still wouldn't be out meeting new people xD

                      Shhh That's the point though, I've made the stuff that I can still do so much more difficult for myself. Instead of spending those years actually developing, learning how to talk to girls etc., I just wanked them away.

                      How on Earth does porn addiction even get you out meeting people though?

                      • Shhh replied to this.

                        malmon It may be more difficult, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. There are still plenty of people out there. I'm sure it will be awkward and difficult, but it isn't impossible to meet someone.

                        And what do you mean? Porn doesn't get me out and meeting people. I don't think porn prevents that for me though, I don't really get out now because I'm nervous and paranoid. But I know it is different for everyone.

                        Edit:
                        I will like to say that I'm not very optimistic about my future either, honestly. I think porn is just more of a coping method for me than anything else. Sorry if I came off rude :c

                          Shhh Oh, sorry, I misread your last sentence ^_^'

                          And yeah... I know it's not impossible. But my biological clock's ticking regardless v_v Kinda funny how Spy x Family of all things is making me feel like this~

                          • Shhh replied to this.

                            malmon That show is doing the same to me... I'm convinced it's just propaganda at this point!

                            My dad wants me to have children but I know it isn't ever going to happen. There's a lot of reasons, and honestly porn is probably the lowest on the list.
                            I wish socializing was easier ;-;

                              Shhh I welcome this kinda propaganda :P

                              I wouldn't rule yourself out yet ^_^ Socialising... well yeah, as you say, it's different for everyone. I personally don't find socialising that difficult - I'm not usually very talkative, but as long as someone else is, I do alright. I'm just utterly hopeless at going any further than that >_<'

                              • Shhh replied to this.

                                malmon I honestly don't know, I get flustered and embarrassed so easily. Even when I was practically given intimacy I kinda messed it up and got ghosted immediately >.> Long distance is a lot more manageable for me, honestly.

                                  Shhh Unfortunately, long distance comes with a major lack of intimacy. I wouldn't give up the time I've spent in long distance relationships, but at the end of the day, they tend to be rather cold, for me at least.

                                  • Shhh replied to this.