[judah]

The subreddit NoFap[0] shows that internet porn is already a significant problem for tens of thousands of young people, mostly men.

Porn addictions described on NoFap show that porn can cause men to have erectile dysfunction (due to "death grip" and desensitization), failure of arousal for real women, extreme shame, and even suicidal thoughts.

Reading through that forum, you'll see thousands of people who have tried to quit porn over and over, but continue to relapse. I suspect NoFap is likely a microcosm of the broader society; porn addiction is real, and it's likely widespread.

[0]: https://reddit.com/r/nofap

[jmkni]

I think the type of people who frequent subreddits like NoFap have other issues.

It’s not the porn that’s the problem, but sexual repression, feeling ashamed of something that’s completely natural, etc.

[kjeetgill]

That's kind-of the trap this whole article is addressing; some people are dealing with issues that are well outside of most peoples' experience. Their issues are so unrelatable that they get written off with these side theories an treated as insincere.

I've mentioned elsewhere that Chris Rock and Terry Crews have come out about their experiences with this issue. This lends the issue some legitimacy I think.

[artichokes]

Not a no-fapper myself, but my friends who do it seem to do so out of a belief in an effect on hormone levels/motivation rather than a sense of shame.

[kjeetgill]

Two interesting celebrities that have come out to talk about their own struggles with porn addiction: Chris Rock (in his stand-up special Tambourine) and Terry Crews in some IG posts I think.

It's always interesting how celebrities, who's lives we know relatively more about than internet strangers, can help contextualize and legitimize the sincerity of these sorts of problems.

[bionsystem]

"Nofap" is based on completely misunderstood studies and reaches absurd conclusions from them and from random individual experiences though.