00:00bad lighting, bad acting, bad dialogue,
00:03awful music, and lots of sex.
00:06Pornography can be a very sensitive subject
00:09since there are many different opinions about it.
00:11Whether you like it or hate it,
00:13we can all agree that watching pornography,
00:15like anyone else, has an effect on your brain.
00:18But what does watching porn do?
00:20And how often do you need to watch
00:22for effects to take place?
00:23Let's dive into the world of science
00:26to explain what pornography does to your brain.
00:29Effects of availability.
00:32When you think of porn, you might go right to the 70s
00:35with the shag carpets and pizza boy plot lines.
00:38But when we think of porn, the word taboo comes to mind.
00:42The fact that you've watched porn
00:44used to be something that was looked down upon
00:46and never spoken of.
00:47You know, like saying Voldemort's name.
00:50Shoot, I said it.
00:52Nowadays, it's much less of an elephant in the room.
00:55With the rise of the internet,
00:56pornography, like most everything else,
00:59became much more available.
01:01In his 2002 book, Striptease Culture,
01:04Brian McNair states about half of all internet activity
01:08is sex-related.
01:09Fast forward to 2004, MSNBC and Elle magazine
01:13did a study regarding pornography
01:14where out of 15,246 participants,
01:1875% of the men and 41% of the women
01:22stated they had downloaded pornography via the internet.
01:25In the 2008 book, The Porning of America,
01:28they explained this phenomenon.
01:30Once porn became available on demand
01:34and it didn't risk a computer virus with every third click,
01:37more escalated topics were searched
01:40and more people watched porn in general.
01:42Less problems, more pleasure.
01:44When smartphones came out,
01:45teenagers jumped on the bandwagon
01:47and boosted the numbers once more.
01:49It's a mobile computer that can be taken
01:52out of adult supervision range.
01:54Kind of the perfect storm if you think about it.
01:56Effects on the brain.
01:59In a study done by researcher and author, Barry Gunter,
02:02he found that teen males were more interested
02:05in more erotic types of pornography
02:07and wished they could experience it for real.
02:09It was also found that if the participant
02:11had a more positive or accepting opinion of pornography,
02:14they would be more often aroused when watching.
02:17Well, duh.
02:18I don't think that we needed a study
02:19to tell us that last part.
02:21Anyway, Patrick Fagan, PhD,
02:23compiled research on the effect of pornography
02:25on married individuals with families.
02:28Through his research, Fagan found that pornography
02:31can change someone's opinion or perception of what sex is.
02:35He also noted that males who regularly watched pornography
02:38had a higher tolerance for some fun
02:40and weird stuff in the bedroom.
02:42We see you, Christian Grey.
02:44They also may have a higher tolerance
02:46for seeing someone as an object
02:48rather than a person with value.
02:51Effects of addiction.
02:53Unlike anything else,
02:54too much of a good thing can have negative effects,
02:56so moderation is key.
02:58Look, chocolate cake is amazing,
03:00but you can't have a slice of decadent,
03:02sugary chocolate cake every day.
03:05Eventually, that can catch up
03:06with our physical health and bodies.
03:08The same thing can happen with your mind.
03:10In 2015, a group of researchers stated,
03:13frequent pornography exposure hasn't been fully studied,
03:17so there may be a lot more to the picture
03:19than what we know now.
03:21In 2011, Donald Hilton Jr. and Clark Watts
03:24did a study on pornography addiction.
03:27They found that the brain activity
03:28produced by cocaine addiction
03:29was identical to brain activity from pornography addiction.
03:34A similar study was done in 2004 with methamphetamines
03:37and had similar findings.
03:39So your aunt with a shopping addiction
03:41who's always ordering off Amazon
03:42or home shopping networks all at the same time,
03:45her brain might look a little something like this too.
03:48It's not all bad.
03:50We know that there's limited information on the subject
03:53and the majority of it sounds really awful.
03:56So Gary Wilson came out in 2016 to remind us
03:59that we can't just say, oh, you watch porn?
04:01You see people as objects and are a trash human.
04:05No, no, no, pump the brakes, baby cakes.
04:08He found that the times we saw more extreme negative effects
04:11from pornography overuse,
04:13that the same person also showed evidence
04:15and indications of mental illness.
04:17So there may have been other reasons
04:18as to why this person justified
04:20negative sexual preferences with pornography.
04:23Also in 2016, another study was done
04:25regarding acceptance of pornography in marriages.
04:28So for the rest of us,
04:30how do you feel about your spouse watching porn?
04:33In this study, it was found that the majority of the couples
04:35didn't mind their spouse watching porn
04:37when they both engaged.
04:38Maybe not necessarily in the same room at the same time,
04:41but you get it.
04:42Specifically wives in the study
04:45felt positively towards pornography
04:47as it's a way for them to gauge sexual satisfaction.
04:51You see something you like, you try it out.
04:53It might be a good time.
04:54Pornography can still be a sensitive subject to some,
04:58but to others, it may be a part of their relationship
05:00or their self-care routine.
05:02No matter what our experience or relationship with porn is,
05:06one thing is for certain.
05:07If we consume it, it can affect our brain in some way.
05:11Have you noticed any changes in yourself
05:13after watching porn?
05:14Has watching pornography helped your relationship?
05:17Let us know in the comments below.
05:19As always, keep an eye on PSY for more Psych2Go content.
05:22See you next time.
05:23The studies and references used in
05:25and to create this video are listed below.
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