Does watching porn really reduce stress

By M.Farouk Radwan, MSc.

Can watching porn make you relaxed?

People who watch porn regularly do it for different reasons. Some people watch porn to escape from their problems, others do it because they have nothing else to do while a third group watch it to reduce stress. See why porn addiction has nothing to do with sexual desire.

But the important question the last group should ask themselves is: does watching porn really reduce stress?
When a person masturbates the chemical Prolactin is produced. This chemical produces a calming effect and makes a person feel sleepy. In addition to that the fact that the person escapes to a virtual world can help him forget about his life problems and feel less stressed at least for some time.

So again, does this mean that watching porn makes a person less stressed?

While watching porn a person's brain gets overloaded with chemicals such as Dopamine, Serotonin and other chemicals. That high dose of chemicals overloads the brain's circuits for as long as the porn session continues. In addition to that the nervous system gets exhausted as a result of the intense focus the person maintains while watching porn.

And in case that person was worried about getting caught then he would also be feeling anxious throughout the porn session. Yes after masturbation a person can feel less stressed for a short period of time but the taxing activities that happened in the body and the brain might keep that person tired, exhausted and uninterested in anything for a much longer period of time. See why porn can kill your motivation and make you lazy.

Where the real stress comes from

If you think porn is bad then probably watching it will make you feel ashamed, unhappy and guilty. Those emotions can last for days and they are the source of real stress.

Living with shame for few days can be 100 times more stressful than the actual stress you tried to escape from when you watched porn.

In other words people who escape to porn to relief stress manage to feel less stressed for few hours or even minutes then end up with a long term stress that makes their lives much worse.

In the ultimate guide to breaking porn and masturbation addiction i said that in addition to all that the internal conflict a person can experience while watching porn, if he thinks that porn is bad, can exhaust his mind and nervous system.

After all if two sides are fighting each other inside your brain while you are doing a certain activity then certainly after stopping this activity you will feel mentally exhausted.

It's a big lie

Some people watch porn when they are unable to sleep and the trick sometimes works. Those people feel calm and relaxed then manage to sleep but when they wake up in the next day they usually feel horrible for so many reasons. The first thing that makes a person feel bad is discovering that even though he tried to escape from his problems the last night still those problems weren't solved.

In addition to that this person finds himself facing another problem which is the fact that he is unable to quit a habit that a part of him despises.

In my previous article Why masturbation can ruin your mood i explained how the horrible emotions many people experience after masturbation can keep them stressed and irritated for hours if not days.

So the short answer to does watching relief stress is : Yes it reliefs stress for few hours , if not minutes, then keeps you stressed and miserable for days.

Today is the last day! 2knowmyself has proudly released the ultimate guide to getting over porn and masturbation addiction, a very powerful guide that will help you get over those horrible habits even if you were single.

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Want to know more?

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