Excessive consumption of pornography poses a risk to mental health – 06/29/2023 – Tech

The act of watching pornography has become a common pattern of behavior with the intention of improving well-being and sexual satisfaction.

In my medical practice at a urological office, the topic has been addressed. I have already received several adults, including teenagers accompanied by their parents, to treat their addiction to this content.

Without the aim of polemicizing, I believe that the ideal would be an awareness of the risks that excessive consumption can cause. I emphasize its character of progressive tolerance, similar to addiction to drugs or gambling and, therefore, it would be important to regulate its use.

We conducted a study interviewing medical students from 12 universities in all regions of the country. We observed that 58% of the participants regularly consume this material (at least once a week) and that only 4% have never used it, which confirms this growing habit pattern in the Brazilian male population.

This expressive number has different explanations, such as easy access to websites and social isolation caused by the pandemic.

The medical literature demonstrates that pornography has been associated with social and psychiatric disorders, such as depression, anxiety, dissatisfaction with life and with the partner.

Our research identified several negative associations between the intensity of consumption and variables related to sexual activity, something still little explored.

Among the findings, we observed an increase in the prevalence of premature ejaculation in the group of men who watch this content more often. One of the possible explanations is given by the fact that the videos on the main sites have a reduced duration, which leads to a conditioning for sexual activity faster than usual.

I think it is fundamental to have space to deal with this topical subject, but little commented on. I also emphasize the difficulty I have in publishing the results of our research in journals specialized in urology and andrology, with the editors’ justification that it is a controversial subject that would be extrapolating the theme of the specialty.

If fellow specialists in men’s health have restrictions to address the subject, imagine the situation of patients and family members.