1. Nearly killed our relationship. Lead me to seek out worse things like massages. Basically I was at a cross roads. We both did therapy. I was in a men’s group for sec addiction for 6 years. Been sober from porn since 2016
2. The sex improved when I quit
3. My husband has never been interested in porn. I watched porn since I was a teen.
Interestingly enough, his physical and emotional awareness has easily made him the best lover I’ve ever had. As others have mentioned after quitting porn, he is so in tune with my mental state and body cues. He takes his time, does not follow a “script”, and relishes the “natural” element of sex and intimacy. Over time, I saw myself start to do the same. Our connection has surpassed a physical one and sex is always good because of it.
Plus, he lasts forever.
Consequentially, I’ve become less and less motivated to watch porn. It seems empty and almost boring after experiencing mindful sex.
I don’t have anything against porn but until this relationship, I realize it robbed me of the rawness of natural connection. I highly recommend “quitting” and reassure you that the mental, emotional, and physical benefits are limitless.
4. It definitely negatively affects it! Real women have stretch marks, body odors, tastes, sweat and imperfections.
Performance anxiety is a real thing, real sex is nothing like in porn.
One thing I have noticed is that I am able to read her body cues better.
5. I don’t ATM because I kicked that terrible habit but did in college when I had a gf and honestly it made it pretty bad. It like took a lot of the pleasure out of sex with her after a handful of times, and I’d have to think about other stuff to get off fully after awhile, despite there being a hot girl who is exactly my type having sex with me. It also sort of ruined the bond we had, because sex should be about love in a relationship and the porn made me super cut off emotionally somehow.
I took her for granted and didn’t understand what sex really was, not just grabbing butt like a porn shoot. It ended up ruining the relationship and other relationships I had with partners. Porn 100% makes sense not as good physically and takes away the emotional experience of it as well.
6. I still jerk off once a day mostly, but not watching porn makes my life so much better. I have more energy, less anxiety, and feel more happy.
7. So I’ve struggled with porn for the better part of about 20 years. Not like days straight of nothing but mindless scrolling and video watching, but definitely not a month went by where I didn’t get off to online content.
I met an amazing woman about three weeks ago. Truth be told, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being that I’ve lost control and jerked it to porn, I would say since I started seeing this fantastic girl my porn urge has maybe, MAYBE cracked a 1?
There’s nothing but hurt and pain in porn, the hurt I would cause my gf for choosing images and video over her. Sure, porn can deliver a much, MUCH wider range of imaginative content than vanilla sex can, but loving intimacy with you significant other will always beat porn every day of the week. There is no love in porn.
8. It kept me from forming relationships with beautiful women in my past. I was so reliant on porn when I was younger that I couldn’t finish from sex, part physical because my body was used to me jerking off and probably squeezing too hard fucked with my nerves and sensitivity, also the perspective of actual sex is so different from the 3rd person view or porn that you forget what sex actually is. Less is better, best to not watch porn at all imo, too often and you (I) may actually form a parasocial relationship with porn actresses or cam girls, when you could actually have an actual relationship with a woman
Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.