“everybody does it”
The ugly truth is that it might seem like everybody watches porn because a lot of people do. By the time a young person has reached high school, they’re likely to have viewed porn. [1] There’s a big difference between accidentally stumbling over porn and being hooked by it or purposefully continuing to consume porn.
A growing number of adults see how porn weighs them down and ruins their relationships over time. As a result, many people are committed to quitting porn permanently. Why? They feel porn is holding them back from becoming their best self.
Many books, research studies, and journal articles have been written on porn’s harms. In addition, organizations and online forums with thousands of members exist – dedicated to fighting personal porn consumption.
Clearly, not everybody watches porn.
Almost “everybody” smoked cigarettes not so long ago, often starting in high school. It took a lot of cancer and severe illness for people to note that this popular activity was a public health harm.
At first, smoking cigarettes seemed innocent and a way to relax. Then, smoking your first cigarette became almost a "rite of passage" in school. It was expected.
Now cigarettes come with a warning label from the Surgeon General. Kids aren’t allowed to smoke in the United States. We know now, thanks to research, that smoking leads to a high chance of lung and throat cancers. Lots of people quit smoking.
Like cigarettes, porn should also come with a warning label. Porn’s popularity doesn’t make it safe or healthy.
In fact, most of today's public safety standards were created because of public health hazards that hurt lots of people. We hate seeing people harmed by porn.
Warning: Porn can most definitely be bad for your physical and mental health, as well as your closest relationships. [2] The longer you consume porn, the harder it gets to quit. Porn actually rewires your brain over time to desire super-normal stimuli. [3] You might even lose interest in real sex or experience early-onset erectile dysfunction. [4] Porn has a high chance of helping your marriage fail, too. [5] Worst of all, the lives of beautiful human beings are affected by the making of pornography. [6]
If you think watching porn is no big deal, we hope you will consider the research we share here.
Quitting porn could literally change your life for the better!
You might feel worn down, tired and hopeless because the lies of porn have told you there is no way out. You might feel like you are so far gone because you’ve tried so many times to end your relationship with porn without success. Or, perhaps you love someone stuck in an endless cycle of indulgence and regret.
[1] Pornography 'one click away' from young children - BBC News
[2] Perry SL. Pornography Use and Depressive Symptoms: Examining the Role of Moral Incongruence. Society and Mental Health. 2018;8(3):195-213. doi:10.1177/2156869317728373
(https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2156869317728373?journalCode=smha)
[3] Online porn may feed sex addicts' desire for new sexual images | University of Cambridge
[4] All About Porn-Induced Erectile Dysfunction | HuffPost Life
[5] https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/08/divorce-rates-double-when-people-start-watching-porn
[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/13/world/asia/north-korea-cybersex-china.html