Porn addiction changes brain chemistry and creates an unrealistic view of sex, says experts

Sexual health educator Seema Anand recently brought a common but not-discussed-enough issue to the spotlight. On her Instagram page, she spoke about porn addiction and how it propagates an unhealthy view of sex.

She said that it is a serious concern if the consequences of the addiction spill over into the bedroom. "It can be intimidating and wrong at many levels."

American neuroscientist Dr Andrew D Huberman recently spoke of the same concern and said that there are several studies suggesting that watching porn alters brain chemistry. "The brain continues to learn. If it learns to be aroused by watching other people have sex, it is not necessarily going to be carried over to one’s private space when they are one-on-one with someone else. Young people who are consuming a lot of porn may face challenges in sexual interaction with a real partner," he said in a YouTube podcast with Chris Williamson.

Speaking about a married woman's experience who reached out to her, Seema said the woman recently found out that her husband of nine months has been watching porn while having sex with her. "I feel very broken because he has never had sex with me without his phone in his hand… I don’t know what to do, and I don’t have the courage to say anything to him either," said the distressed woman. Her husband is a "caring" person otherwise but she finds this habit "intolerable".

Seema said people in India can never discuss their sexual issues because the subject is considered to be "dirty, bad, or even against our culture." She wrote in the caption that if people stopped thinking of sex as taboo, there would be more support and information.

Huberman further spoke of how porn is influencing the brain and said it is an important stimulus that can pique dopamine levels. "The higher the peak, the greater the fall afterward. So, these things are not good or bad but they have to be controlled in a way."

According to experts, when someone's interest in porn-related sexual stimulation and fantasy leads to an inability to focus on daily tasks, it is an addiction. These people are also likely to use porn to cope with negative emotions.