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University of Glasgow, UK, warns that comparing impotence studies can be misleading as they may use different definitions.
impotence (Journal of Adolescent Health, doi.org/bqvm). The two previous surveys didn’t break down answers to this question by age, so we don’t know if the figure has increased, but Not an epidemic this is clearly a minor problem. It is normal, she says, for young “I don’t think anyone could men to experience the occasional argue that 3.3 per cent constitutes “let-down”, usually due to nerves an epidemic,” says Mitchell. or alcohol, so it’s crucial to define When it comes to escalation, what severity you are asking however, a survey of 434 men, about. “It would be possible to mainly French or Belgian, found cherry pick studies,” she says. that nearly half had seen images Mitchell helps run Natsal, one they assessed as “previously not of the largest regular studies of interesting, and even disgusting” human sexuality, which takes place (Computers in Human Behavior, in the UK every decade. The last doi.org/bqvg). one, in 2011, found that the most “Maybe their brains have common sexual problem for 16 to undergone addiction-related 21 year-old males was premature changes,” says Wilson. But the ejaculation. Only 3.3 per cent question is vague – men who reported a “distressing” level of answered yes could have viewed something by accident, or just tried it a few times. We don’t know if they now prefer such material. How about addiction? A common definition is that the behaviour starts to negatively affect the rest of the person’s life – their job or relationships – and that they would like to stop or cut down, but struggle. Websites like Your Brain On Porn are filled with testimonies from men whose behaviour met these criteria. Another porn recovery website, called NoFap, claims to have about a million users a month (see “Make educated decisions about using your genitals”, right). But to really know how common this phenomenon is, we need to look at random samples of porn users, rather than those who seek out such sites. Earlier surveys have estimated rates of self-identified “problematic” use (out of all male users) at between 6 and 13 per cent. The French/ Belgian study found 28 per cent, an outlier, although this could reflect a recent increase. David Ley, who heads an addiction clinic called New Mexico Solutions, says usually porn isn’t the problem, but people’s guilt about using it is. –Let’ s not get overexcited- “Study after study shows that
self-identified porn addicts are not watching more porn than other people, but have moral values that conflict with their use.” Either way, at least some people are unhappy about their level of use. But does that mean we should heed calls to restrict it? Many people, perhaps the majority, get more benefits than harms from porn, according to a Danish study of about 700 straight men and women. Both sexes thought that overall, it had a positive effect on their sex life, knowledge about sex and life in general (Archives of Sexual Behavior, doi.org/bs7537). “It’s good for us to do things that make us happy,” says Dan Miller at James Cook University in Australia, who found similar results in a survey of 470 men that isn’t yet published. For example, it can help some gay men feel that they aren’t alone, he says. Miller also found that straight boys are starting to regularly use porn at an increasingly earlier age, 15 for the youngest in his survey, so he thinks it is vital we educate
Between 6% and 28% of male porn users describe their habit as “problematic” SOURCE: Computers in Human Behavior, doi.org/bqvg
teens. “But not in a preachy way that vilifies watching porn,” he says – rather, explaining that pornography may not accurately depict sex and relationships. In other words, we may wish to critique how porn represents and affects society, as we would any other media, but we don’t need to blow it up into a health crisis. “I don’t want to discount the experiences of any guys who feel porn is having this deleterious influence on their life, but I haven’t seen much good evidence to support claims of a coming porn-apocalypse,” says Miller. “I think everyone should calm down a little.” n
“Make educated decisions about using your genitals” WHAT is it like to feel you are addicted to pornography? To find out, we spoke to Alexander Rhodes, founder of NoFap, a website that helps people stop using porn, generally through three-months of abstinence from sex and masturbation, known as “rebooting”. Rhodes was 21 when he became unhappy with his 4-times-a-day porn habit. He could only stay erect during sex by fantasising about porn. “I was at a low point and seeking answers to why I felt such a slave to this.” After quitting, he says, “it was like night and day – it’s really life-changing in terms of sexual encounters. You start to care if they had an enjoyable experience, rather than this one-sided race to an orgasm.” He also felt it improved his energy and motivation. Rhodes spun off a Reddit group into a commercial website, which he now, age 26, runs full-time. The site has been criticised for exaggerating the benefits of quitting – on its front page, it promises people superpowers. But Rhodes says that’s how it feels when people’s potential is no longer “squelched by their addiction to porn”. Many ex-users report impressive benefits like better sleep, clearer skin and more confidence, although some of that could be a placebo effect. NoFap claims over a million monthly users across its social media sites, though Rhodes won’t give exact figures. “You have no idea how many men tell me ‘I really want to thank you’. A surprisingly large number of women say they struggle with a lot of the same side effects too.” Rhodes says he has no problem with masturbation except when it involves pornography. “We want people to make educated decisions about how to use their genitals.” He always wanted an online career. After college he had a brief stint at Google, so he’s “living the dream”. “Maybe it’s not my original dream, but it’s close. It just has a little bit more to do with porn than I envisioned.” n 1 October 2016 | NewScientist | 21