Why can other people watch porn and be fine but not me?

[Anders]

One of the videos or articles I have read (can't remember) mentioned the significant increase in numbers of young men reporting ED in this age of high speed internet P. I think the number of people who can comfortably watch a bit of porn now and then might well be much lower than we imagine.

I have some really close guy friends, but I have never discussed/told them about my ED problems or my P use and subsequent attempts to get rid of it, hence why this forum is so important for me. I sometimes wonder if any of them are going through the same thing or have had the same thoughts. I worry sometimes that they are how I was a couple of years ago, getting ED and not understanding how. I'm just not ready to tell people in my circle about this.

Anyway, all of the evidence more and more seems to show that P is as bad as smoking for your wellbeing, it just won't kill you.

 

[p.enlightenment]

That was my point from the beginning. Overdoing something is obviously going to impact negatively on you. If you enjoy porn once in a while, why should it be considered bad?

We can't watch porn once in a while because as addicts the pathways we have wired into our brains NEVER go away. The longer we go without porn and the more we strengthen new pathways in our brain with good habits, the weaker the pathways from porn get. However, it will always be there, like an abandoned highway or train track. So if you decide one day to look at porn "casually" you are making yourself susceptible to a complete relapse. This is the nature of addiction. 

Besides the dark side of porn like manipulation, poor treatment of actors, STDs, painful sex, etc. there are lots of reasons to avoid porn. We don't want porn influencing our sex life. Sex is better without that influence. I don't know about others here but I have never seen porn as great sex. Great sex in real life is totally different and better than porn.

I like to ask the poster here, why do you want to look at porn occasionally? What do you feel like you're missing out on?

 

[Viper]

EDIT:

This thread is purely for debating purposes only, PLEASE DO NOT RELAPSE AND RUIN YOUR PROGRESS AS A RESULT! P has an adverse effect on your brain, we all know this so don't ever feel any doubts even for a second.
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It seems like loads of people can watch porn and perform absolutely fine in the bedroom, but I can't. I know I would watch it as an addict, but I would like to think I could enjoy it once in a while, just like most other people. Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but I feel like it's unfair in some respects. Any thoughts?

It's no different than smoking.
There are people out there who have smoked for 50 years but die of something else.
Then there are those who only did it for 30 years and have lung cancer.
Someone else can have throat cancer.
We all react differently and for those out there whom you claim are not getting
PIED, their time will come. Our's came sooner than we expected  :-\

 

[Gabe Deem]

I can only speculate, but there are a few reasons I can think of why some guys can watch porn and still have sex.

1. The age one started watching internet porn. The younger you started on porn the more likely you will have sensitized your brain to get turned on by a screen rather than a partner. If a guy doesn't start on internet porn during adolescence he will not have wired for porn as deeply as someone who did watch internet porn through adolescence. (Note the fact that I said "internet porn" and not just porn or magazines. Having unlimited supply of novel porn is a huge part of the equation, magazines simply can't deliver the same neurochemical punch and therefore not wire the brain as fast or as deep.

2. How frequent and consistent one watches porn. Some guys only watch a few days a week/month. Guys who develop porn induced dysfunctions may have watched it almost every day for years, like me.

3. Past sexual experience. Some guys have had lots of real life sex along with lots of porn use. These guys have wiring for real partners, guys who have only masturbated to porn do not. This was a huge factor I believe in why it took a while for my porn induced ED to develop, because I had a lot of sex through highschool and college. This is scary to me because I might have even taken longer to reboot, and should be encouraging to guys taking a long time with no sexual past. They may just need more time or simply rewire their brain for a real life partner, the brain is always changing so as long as we are alive rewiring is possible!

4. The way a guy watches porn. Some guys watch one video a session and that is it, or go back to a saved video and keep watching that one video, while other guys edge for hours and keeping dopamine high for very long periods of time. Some guys have multiple tabs open at the same time being bombarded with novelty. All 3 groups of guys are wiring their brain to porn on a screen but the edgers and novelty seekers are surely wiring their brain more deeply. I would both edge when I had time to kill, or search for the perfect scene if I was in a rush.

Some guys are on their way to limp noodle town and they do not even know it. They just might not be there yet, or maybe they do not watch as much porn as you would think or that they say they do. There are MANY factors that go into this...

Just my thoughts there is not a solid answer.. hope that helps.