{"id":9260,"date":"2017-05-26T06:00:14","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T10:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=9260"},"modified":"2017-05-25T20:54:44","modified_gmt":"2017-05-26T00:54:44","slug":"porn-changing-sexual-relationship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/05\/porn-changing-sexual-relationship.html","title":{"rendered":"Is Porn Changing Your Sex Life?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-9264\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2017\/05\/love-2182061_1920-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"love-2182061_1920\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" \/>It began when he was advised\u00a0to use a &#8220;little&#8221; porn in the bedroom to bring excitement to his sex life.\u00a0Just the thought of that idea made him interested. But the more he began to view porn, the more obsessed with it he became.<\/p>\n<p>He found himself going to his computer on lunch breaks\u00a0and\u00a0winding down his evening with viewing. He started to crave the images and knew this was a problem. He couldn&#8217;t generate the same excitement with his partner that he could while masturbating to porn. But he couldn&#8217;t stop, even knowing this was beginning to control him. His sex life took a new turn. He found himself in the office of a local urologist complaining of erectile dysfunction. Porn had changed his sex life, but not in the way intended.<\/p>\n<p>Matthew Christman, MD, a urologist at the Naval Medical Center San Diego, California can attest to the changes described above. Dr. Christman and colleague, Dr. Berger, surveyed active duty men and women to see if there was an association between\u00a0\u00a0addiction to pornography and sexual dysfunction. What they found was that the\u00a0incidence of erectile dysfunction increased in men who preferred intercourse with pornography (31%), and was highest among men who preferred masturbation with pornography (79%).<\/p>\n<p>And Dr. Christman also attests to the reality than mental health clinicians see this correlation of porn and sexual dysfunction in\u00a0their offices on a regular basis. Once the pornography addiction is treated, the sex life improves and the related erectile dysfunction is no longer present.<\/p>\n<p>The clinical impact of pornography addiction is real.\u00a0Porn on the brain activates the same circuitry as\u00a0addictive substances do. And like all addictions, the fall out is destructive. In this case, the addiction can lead to sexual dysfunction.<\/p>\n<p>Porn changes the brain. Viewing porn causes it to rewire and pump out chemicals\u00a0to form new neural pathways. The more you use that neural pathway, the stronger it becomes. And that pathway is tied to the reward centers of the brain, providing you with pleasure. The pleasure is remembered and craved. But if you stop using porn, the pathway begins to lose traction and the brain can reboot.<\/p>\n<p>So if you want to change your sex life, stop the porn and don&#8217;t listen to bad advice that a little porn can be helpful. It&#8217;s a bit like saying, &#8220;A little cocaine can help!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Reference:\u00a0American Urological Association (AUA) 2017 Annual Meeting: Abstracts PD44-11 and PD69-12, Presented in a briefing May 12, 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It began when he was advised\u00a0to use a &#8220;little&#8221; porn in the bedroom to bring excitement to his sex life.\u00a0Just the thought of that idea made him interested. But the more he began to view porn, the more obsessed with it he became. He found himself going to his computer on lunch breaks\u00a0and\u00a0winding down his&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[913],"tags":[2025,3803,262,1377,3804],"class_list":["post-9260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-couple-relationships","tag-couples-relationships","tag-erectile-dysfunction","tag-pornography","tag-sex-life","tag-sexual-dysfunction"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Is Porn Changing Your Sex Life?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/05\/porn-changing-sexual-relationship.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Porn Changing Your Sex Life?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It began when he was advised\u00a0to use a &#8220;little&#8221; porn in the bedroom to bring excitement to his sex life.\u00a0Just the thought of that idea made him interested. But the more he began to view porn, the more obsessed with it he became. He found himself going to his computer on lunch breaks\u00a0and\u00a0winding down his&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/05\/porn-changing-sexual-relationship.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-26T10:00:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-05-26T00:54:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2017\/05\/love-2182061_1920-200x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is Porn Changing Your Sex Life?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/05\/porn-changing-sexual-relationship.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is Porn Changing Your Sex Life?","og_description":"It began when he was advised\u00a0to use a &#8220;little&#8221; porn in the bedroom to bring excitement to his sex life.\u00a0Just the thought of that idea made him interested. But the more he began to view porn, the more obsessed with it he became. He found himself going to his computer on lunch breaks\u00a0and\u00a0winding down his&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/05\/porn-changing-sexual-relationship.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2017-05-26T10:00:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-05-26T00:54:44+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2017\/05\/love-2182061_1920-200x300.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/05\/porn-changing-sexual-relationship.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/05\/porn-changing-sexual-relationship.html","name":"Is Porn Changing Your Sex Life?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/05\/porn-changing-sexual-relationship.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/05\/porn-changing-sexual-relationship.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2017\/05\/love-2182061_1920-200x300.jpg","datePublished":"2017-05-26T10:00:14+00:00","dateModified":"2017-05-26T00:54:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/05\/porn-changing-sexual-relationship.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/05\/porn-changing-sexual-relationship.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/05\/porn-changing-sexual-relationship.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2017\/05\/love-2182061_1920-200x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2017\/05\/love-2182061_1920-200x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/05\/porn-changing-sexual-relationship.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is Porn Changing Your Sex Life?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice &amp; Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. 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Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9260"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9284,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9260\/revisions\/9284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}