Over 100 quick stats and findings from an ever-growing body of research that details the effects of porn for individuals, relationships, and society.
The majority of young people are exposed to porn by the time they’re 13, according to research involving young people in the UK.
Some experts have determined four major brain changes common to addicted brains—sensitization, desensitization, hypofrontality, and a malfunctioning stress system— all of which can be found in cases of pornography consumption.
Research assessing the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in treating porn addiction found that “over 95% of clients were able to manage symptoms at the end of the twelve weeks and 78% sustained recovery six months following treatment.”
Because of desensitization, many porn consumers find themselves consuming more porn, consuming more often, or consuming more extreme forms of pornography.
Research shows remarkable neurological similarities between substance addiction and compulsive pornography consumption.
Approximately 91.5% of men and 60.2% of women report consuming porn in the past month, according to a 2020 study.
Research has demonstrated that overcoming a pornography habit is absolutely possible, and that over time, pornography’s negative effects can be managed and largely reversed.
People who use porn as a self-soothing technique tend to have some of the lowest reports of emotional and mental wellbeing according to a 2017 study.
Problematic porn consumers who are treated using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy show a 92% reduction in porn consumption, and an 86% reduction three months later.
A 2017 poll found that the more porn a man consumes, the more likely he is to be dissatisfied with his penis size. And the same goes for women with male partners— the more porn they consume, the less satisfied they are with their partner’s penis size.
According to a nationally representative survey of U.S. teens, 84.4% of 14 to 18-year-old males and 57% of 14 to 18-year-old females have viewed pornography.
Porn consumption is associated with lower self-esteem.
Desensitization, or a numbed pleasure response, has been shown to happen in cases of pornography consumption.
Over 46% of young people reported that they saw online porn for the first time when it just “popped up”, and 22% reported that someone else showed it to them when they weren’t expecting it.
Even quitting porn for a short time can lessen its negative effects and have positive effects on consumers' lives and relationships.
Research has found that therapy is an effective way to treat problematic pornography consumption.
Research shows that while feeling guilt can motivate healthy change, feeling shame actually fuels problematic porn habits.
Of the adolescents who had been exposed to porn, 28% were first exposed by accident, 19% were unexpectedly shown pornography by someone else, and only 19% searched for it intentionally, according to research by the NSPCC.
Research routinely shows that consuming porn is connected to poorer mental health.
Porn is considered a supernormal stimulus.
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