Comprehensive empirical support for “The Great Porn Experiment” (2012)
- Empirical support for “The Great Porn Experiment” – TEDx Glasgow (2012): Slides 1-17
- Empirical support for “The Great Porn Experiment” – TEDx Glasgow (2012): Slides 18-35
It’s important to note that The Great Porn Experiment was completed and sent to TEDx in December 2011, while the talk was given in March, 2012. This TEDx talk was a direct response to Philip Zimbardo’s “Demise of Guys” TED talk, which the Glasgow audience viewed just prior to the talk.
Since December 2011, a large body of supporting research and clinical evidence has arrived to support The Great Porn Experiment’s three primary assertions, which were:
- Internet porn can cause sexual dysfunctions;
- Internet porn use can lead to the 3 major addiction-related brain changes identified in substance addictions; and
- Internet porn use may exacerbate certain mental and emotional conditions (concentration problems, social anxiety, depression, etc.).
The following is a short summary of empirical and clinical evidence supporting claims made in The Great Porn Experiment (See the above 2 pages for slide-by-slide support).
1) Internet porn use can cause sexual dysfunctions:
- See this list of over 40 studies linking porn use/sex addiction to sexual problems and lower arousal to sexual stimuli. Prima 7 studia in indice causationem suggerunt , ut participes usu porno excluso et dysfunctionibus sexualibus chronicis sanantur. Sequenti 2016 recognitione litterarum de dysfunctionibus sexualibus cum 7 US Navy Doctoribus co-auctoribus dedi. Est recensio, et ampla continet empirica subsidia pro porn-ED inducto, necnon disceptatio studiorum recentium fere 1000% ortus in praesentatione iuvenili manifestans; Recognitio cum Fusce Renuntiationibus (2016)" href="http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/6/3/17/htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Is Internet Pornographiae Causans Sexualis functiones? A Review with Clinical Reports (2016).
- See this list of over 75 studies linking porn use to less sexual and relationship satisfaction.
- In addition to the above studies, this page contains articles, videos, and podcasts by over 130 experts (urology professors, urologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, sexologists, MDs) who acknowledge and have successfully treated porn-induced ED and porn-induced loss of sexual desire.
- Also see some 3,000 documented accounts of men recovering from porn-induced sexual problems among the recovery accounts on (or linked to from) these three pages: (1) Rebooting Accounts Page 1, (2) Rebooting Accounts Page 2, (3) Rebooting Accounts Page 3. The following eight pages contain shorter stories describing recovery from porn-induced sexual dysfunctions: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
2) Internet porn use can lead to the 3 major addiction-related brain changes identified in substance addictions:
The Great Porn Experiment listed ten internet addiction “brain studies,” which supported my thesis that internet addiction (and internet addiction sub-types such as gaming and porn) exists and involves the same fundamental mechanisms and brain changes as other addictions. Hic campus studiorum exponentialiter crescit. Sicut de 2017, sunt quaedam 370 addictio penitus "studiorum cerebri." Omnes hae nuntiant inventas neurologicas et mutationes cerebri in addictis penitus addictis consentaneum cum exemplar addictionis (indicem addictionis interretialis "studiorum cerebri") . Praeterea consilium plurium studiorum penitus PROCLIVITAS suffragatur quod affirmant usum penitus causare (in quibusdam) symptomata sicut tristitia, ADHD, anxietas, etc. The list of such studies: Studies demonstrating Internet use & porn use causing symptoms & brain changes.
Brain changes
The Great Porn Experiment described three major brain changes that occur with porn addiction: (1) Sensitization, (2) Desensitization, and (3) Dysfunctional prefrontal circuits (hypofrontality). Cum Martio, MMXII, multa investigatio neurologica in porn users et porn addicta divulgata est. All three of these brain changes have been identified among the 54 neuroscience-based studies on frequent porn users and sex addicts:
- Studies reporting sensitization (cue-reactivity & cravings) in porn users/sex addicts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 2015 , 26374928 , 2016" href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10720162.2016.1151390?journalCode=usac20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">15, 2016 , 10.3389 , . An fMRI Study of Men Seeking Treatment for Problematic Pornography Use (2017)" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28409565" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27.
- Studies reporting desensitization or habituation (resulting in tolerance) in porn users/sex addicts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
- Research studies reporting poorer executive functioning (hypofrontality) or altered prefrontal activity in porn users/sex addicts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 , Overuse or neglect of cybersex cues in a multitasking situation is related to symptoms of cybersex addiction (2015) " href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4394849/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.
The 54 neuroscience-based studies (MRI, fMRI, EEG, neuropsychological, hormonal) provide strong support for the addiction model, as do the 30 recent literature reviews & commentaries by some of the top neuroscientists in the world.
Escalation or Habituation
I also described escalation or habituation in my TEDx talk (which can be an indication of addiction). Cum porn users, tolerantia/habitus ad taedium ducit ad genus vel genus porn currentis: maior excitatio saepe fit ut evadat ad nova vel plura genera porn. Dum ingens moles clinicae et anecdotalis documenta existit ad tolerantiam quae ad propagationem in porn users, ecquae studia sunt? Employing various indirect methods, over 45 studies have reported findings consistent with habituation to “regular porn” or escalation into more extreme and unusual genres.
Finally, it wasn’t until 2017 that research teams asked internet-porn users directly about withdrawal symptoms. As of 2020 there are 13 studies reporting withdrawal symptoms in porn users.
Is porn addition real?
What about neurological studies that debunk porn addiction? Illic est nemo. Dum auctor Prause et al., 2015 illam solam EEG studium addictionis pornographiae falsificatum asseruit, novem libellis paris recensitis dissentiunt: Peer-recensuit critiques de Prause et al ., 2015 Neuroscientistae in his 2015 libellis dicunt Prause et al . re vera desensitizationem/habituationem (evolutionem addictionis consentaneam) invenit, sicut activum cerebri ad vanilla porn (picturae) ad maiorem porn usum relatum est. Incredibiliter, Prause et al . quadrigis audacter affirmavit exemplar porn PROCLIVITAS falsificasse cum uno paragrapho ex hoc (2015) the latest fiction of addiction praedictiones. href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27318185">2016 "Epistola ad editorem." Re vera Prause epistula nihil falsificatum est, sicut haec late patet censura: Epistula ad editorem "Prause et al. (2015) the latest falsification of addiction predictions” (2016).
But ‘porn addiction’ isn’t in the APA’s DSM-5, right? Cum APA manuale in 2013 ( DSM-5) renovavit, formaliter "porn addictionis interretis" non consideravit, optavit potius disputare "perturbationem hypersexualem". Posterior terminus umbellae pro inconuenientibus moribus turpibus commendatus est pro inclusione propria Sexuality Laboris Group post annos recensionis DSM-5 . Tamen in sessione "stellarum stellarum" in hora undecima (secundum membrum Group Work), alii DSM-5 officiales hypersexualitatem unilateraliter reiecerunt; 2017" href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10720162.2017.1306468" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">citing reasons that have been described as illogical.
Just prior to the DSM-5’s publication in 2013, Thomas Insel, then Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, monuit tempus esse ut campus valetudinis mentis in DSM fretus consisteret . Its “weakness is its lack of validity,” he explained, and “we cannot succeed if we use DSM categories as the “gold standard.” He added, “That is why NIMH will be re-orienting its research away from DSM categories.” In other words, the NIMH planned to stop funding research based on DSM labels (and their absence).
American Association of Addiction Medicine
Major medical organizations are moving ahead of the APA. American Societas Addictionis Medicinae (ASAM) tundebat quid clavus ultimus in loculo porn-addiction disputationis mense Augusto, 20190629190608, paucis mensibus ante TEDx disputationem paravi. Top PROCLIVITAS periti in ASAM dimisit eorum < -addiction-medicine-definitio-addictionis-longi-versio-2011/" target blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">diligenter fabricata definitio addictionis. Definitio nova quaedam puncta maiora quae in meo sermone facta sunt facit. Praecipuae adscriptiones morum cerebrum iisdem modis fundamentalibus afficiunt ac medicinae faciunt. Id est, accessio essentialiter unus morbus est, non multi . ASAM explicitly stated that sexual behavior addiction exists and must necessarily be caused by the same fundamental brain changes found in substance addictions.
The World Health Organization appears poised to set right the APA’s excessive caution. Proxima editio eius diagnostica manualis, ICD-11, in MMXIX ultimam approbationem recipere debet. The new ICD-11 includes a diagnosis for “Compulsive sexual behavior disorder,” which is suitable for diagnosing what most people think of as “porn addiction.” Hopefully the DSM will fall in line.
3) Internet porn use may exacerbate certain mental and emotional conditions
The Great Porn Experiment described “The Other Porn Experiment” in which young men who eliminated porn use reported remission of emotional and cognitive problems. TGPE etiam "addictionis excitationis" (addictionis interretis eiusque subtypis) descripsit signa exacerbare vel causare sicut nebulae cerebri, problema concentration, anxietas communis, tristitia et anxietas socialis. As of 2017 there exist hundreds of correlative studies and a few dozen causation studies supporting this assertion.
- First, there are now over 85 studies that link porn use to poorer mental-emotional health and poorer cognitive outcomes.
- Hundreds of studies have correlated greater internet use with poorer mental-emotional health & poorer cognitive outcomes.
- Over 90 studies demonstrate internet addiction & porn use causing mental, emotional or physical symptoms. Etiam memoravi quod viri aliter vident mulieres post decessum porn. In (indirect) support of this, here are over 40 studies linking porn use to “un-egalitarian attitudes” toward women.
In 2016 Gary Wilson published two peer-reviewed papers:
- Is interretialem pornographiam causandi Dysfunctiones sexuales? A Review with Clinical Reports (2016).
- Eliminate Chronic Internet Pornography Use to Reveal Its Effects (2016).