Porn addiction affecting young men

YOUNG men across the world are plagued by a myriad sexual deficiencies and intimacy problems brought on by the ease of access to pornography on the internet, which mirrors drug-like addiction qualities.

This is according to a new US study in the Behavioural Sciences journal, which called for changes to official diagnostic procedures that currently do not allow for connections to be drawn between internet pornography and sexual dysfunction, rather opting for mental health reasons.

The study, which cited extensive neuroscientific, clinical, biological, psychological and sociological research from various countries, added that those in “key development phases”, such as adolescents, were particularly vulnerable to problems in later life with erectile dysfunction, lowered sexual “enjoyment”, diminished libido, difficulty orgasming, and less desire for “partnered” intimacy.

They added that the extent of the problem was “not well understood” worldwide.

Previously, The Mercury reported that South African sex addiction therapists had reportedly treated children as young as 10 for pornography addiction.

The new report states that recently there has been an “unprecedented increase” in sexual deficiencies in young men aged 16 to 40, who sometimes need pornography to maintain arousal with partners.

Although traditionally thought of as “age-dependent problems” brought on by chronic illness or psychological conditions, evidence has emerged of some sexual dysfunctions being linked to porn, which “may be conditioning sexuality in unanticipated ways”.

The report asserts that while sexually explicit material is not new, the internet has heavily facilitated video pornography, which “is significantly more sexually arousing than other forms of pornography or fantasy”.

Video pornography “can maintain or heighten sexual arousal by (the user) instantly clicking to a novel scene, new video or never-encountered genre”.

This opportunity for continuous “novel” sexual stimuli activates the brain’s reward system in a way that “parallels” drug addiction.

“The seemingly endless supply of novel sexual images available online can feed an addiction, making it more difficult to escape,” the report concludes