More than simple adult entertainment, pornography enters the hall of immediate pleasures and goes far beyond just wanting to see nudity content, especially when such practice becomes more and more daily and constant.
With a deep connection to the chemicals in our brains, pornography’s effects on our system can be more complex than you might think.
A few decades ago, pornography was a fringe industry, part of the counterculture, and even counted US free speech activists among its advocates. Opposing voices were formed mainly by religious and conservative groups.
Today pornography finds itself in a very different scenario. It is a billion-dollar industry, moves a fifth of all searches carried out on mobile phones and has among its most scathing criticisms a young artist with a dark and rebellious image.
American singer Billie Eilish, 20, said in a recent interview that pornography is “a disgrace” and said she was exposed to “violent” and “abusive” images when she started consuming such content at age 11. .
Eilish claimed her brain was “destroyed” from watching disturbing sex videos at such a young age. And she pointed out that many of these productions distort the boundaries of what is considered normal during sex—including consent.
The advance of pornography is closely linked to technological and media evolution. In much of the world in the pre-internet era, the most widely available sexual material consisted of magazines featuring nudity (almost always female) and VHS tapes rented from video stores, both of which are restricted to those under 18.
Is pornography bad?
Many people, both men and women, consume pornography in their spare time. This does not mean that all of these individuals are compulsive about sexual content.
As explained by Lilian Fiorelli, a gynecologist and specialist in Female Sexuality and Urogynecology at USP, it is necessary to know how to measure the limit of what is healthy.
“Pornography can be used as a sexual stimulus, as when, for example, a person has had a tiring day and is in the mood to relax, feel pleasure, and uses the content as an initial stimulus”, reassures the doctor.
Thus, like any other addiction or abuse, pornography becomes harmful when it becomes a constant or an escape – and when such a habit begins to affect various spheres of that person’s life.
Understand the impressions of pornography on the brain and when excessive consumption of adult content can be harmful to mental health.
- Immediate pleasure
According to doctor Lilian Fiorelli, pornography is intrinsically linked to dopamine. That’s because this type of content activates an area of the brain that is the immediate pleasure, as well as some drugs, such as marijuana and cocaine.
Dopamine is a chemical closely linked to pleasure and happiness, and is associated with our brain’s reward center, making it essential in reward-motivated behavior.
That way, when something tastes good or feels good, dopamine is released, which encourages us to seek out that action again. And that’s where the risk can live.
- Problems with memory and discipline
Because it is associated with dopamine, which in turn is linked to the reward center, exaggerated consumption of sexual content can impact the brain’s reward system.
According to a study carried out by the University of Duisburg-Essen, and published in the Journal of Sex Research , after continuous involvement with pornography, some people reported problems such as lack of sleep and forgetting appointments
Furthermore, according to other research , also published by the Journal of Sex Research, viewing pornography can also make people value immediate rewards – and the longer you have to wait to receive them, the less valuable it becomes.
- Impact on sexual performance
Pornography addiction involves much more than just wanting to see nude videos and photos and can affect many areas of a person’s life, including sexual.
According to Marina Vasconcellos, psychodramatist psychologist and family therapist at PUC-SP, in this exacerbated consumption, people often become unable to have sexual intercourse without the stimulus of pornography. So the individual starts to need this stimulus to have pleasure.
Despite not having a specific age to develop this dependence, the subject can be even more delicate when it comes to the period of discovery and sexual awakening.
“When you are starting a sexual life, starting with pornography and becoming addicted is terrible, because you will start to think that this is the correct model of sexual relationship”, clarifies the psychologist.
- Psychiatric disorders
Some studies correlate exposure to sexually explicit materials with psychiatric disorders such as social anxiety and depression .
“Addiction to pornography is a compulsion and, sometimes, even an escape from reality, an escape from depression or anxiety. Generally, it has a lot to do with psychiatric disorders, like any other type of abuse”, explains doctor Lilian Fiorelli.
- Social relationships
When a person begins to consume pornography immoderately, he can develop a compulsion that is capable of affecting his interpersonal relationships.
This is because the person starts to limit himself from his social activities – and sometimes even work -, to keep consuming such content.
“Addiction to pornography is a compulsion and, sometimes, even an escape from reality, an escape from depression or anxiety. Generally, it has a lot to do with psychiatric disorders, like any other type of abuse”, explains doctor Lilian Fiorelli.
- Social relationships
When a person begins to consume pornography immoderately, he can develop a compulsion that is capable of affecting his interpersonal relationships.
This is because the person starts to limit himself from his social activities – and sometimes even work -, to keep consuming such content.
Incitement to violence?
Decades of research on the influence of pornography on cases of sexual violence show complex results, which do not allow establishing a direct and broad relationship between these two factors in the population.
Neil Malamuth, professor of psychology at the University of California, USA, who has been studying the link between violence, media and explicit content for 40 years, tells BBC News Brazil that both pro and anti-pornography groups are selective when using data on the subject. They reject the nuances found so as not to disrupt their platforms or campaigns.
He notes that “only a relatively small number” within the population demonstrate the effects of media influence on episodes of sexual assault, but that “the implications and ramifications of these cases may extend to much larger numbers of people.”
