porn induced erectile dysfunction let's talk about it i'm dr trish leigh cognitive neuroscientist
and sex addiction recovery coach if you struggle with erectile dysfunction and you watch porn and
masturbate that erectile dysfunction is coming from your brain it is not coming
from your special parts why what's happening let me tell you so when you consume pornography it's
a super normal stimulus so it is very high levels of stimulation and arousal it makes you feel good
think about this for a minute you feel that rush in your brain yes your nether region or
your special parts feels good too but guess what controls those special parts your brain
so that rush in that feeling is because the electrical energy pattern in your brain is
changing it's being jacked up and what it does is it sends out this cascade of neurotransmitters
primarily dopamine and so now you have this rush but it also is making you feel chill and numb
it's numbing you out and making you feel good it's distressing you it's offsetting boredom
it is making your brain and body feel good but unfortunately while your brain and body
is feeling good it is damaging your brain this flood of dopamine is knocking out neural brain
activity in your frontal lobe which is making it so that eventually you won't be able to think
clearly your memory will decrease you will have more social anxiety you will not be able
to control the impulses to masturbate and watch porn and so then what happens is your dopamine
pleasure seeking reward center that needs massive amount of arousal sends you back into
the screen for more porn and more high level of physical stimulation and masturbation so when you
masturbate that physical stimulation is so much more than if you were to have sex with a woman
that's not at all the same so you're giving your brain heightened levels of arousal
mentally and physically and in doing so you're damaging your brain making it so that you
need that level of arousal to be able to enjoy sex and to be able to have an orgasm
so when you struggle with porn induced erectile dysfunction it's because you've wired your brain
to need incredible amounts of mental and physical stimulation for a sexual experience now what's
the way out clearly the way out is to stop watching pornography then you pump the brakes
on masturbation also because what you want to do is rewire your brain back to the healthy levels
of dopamine for pleasure but healthy levels of of pleasure that don't damage your brain
plus it's the perfect neurochemical cocktail of serotonin for joy and happiness you feel
good you don't just have pleasure you feel content plus there's oxytocin for connection
so not only does it neurologically connect you to your partner it's connecting you to humanity
too so what you teach your brain is that the dopamine is in my sexual life with my partner
and the dopamine is in the world it's in my work it's in my friends it's in my family it's in my
hobbies it's in my life when you stop watching porn it's gonna be uncomfortable but you're gonna
learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable and so what that does is it makes you strong it
makes you the best version of yourself it takes you out of survival mode of needing porn to feel
okay because your life is becoming lackluster because of the dopamine deficit caused by porn so
now your brain is feeling good about your life and you are back on purpose that's what you deserve
and that's what i want for you that's why i'm here okay if you're looking for help on the journey
please reach out to me dr trishly.com until next time control your brain or it'll control you
me