Today, I have a piece on the homepage about how Big Porn is seeking to capitalize on the pandemic. Gabe Deem, the founder of Reboot Nation, a network for those seeking recovery from Internet pornography, who has struggled with pornography himself, wrote by email:
The last thing isolated people need is something that can make them feel even more isolated. A 2018 study on young porn users found that those who viewed more porn were also more lonely. There are dozens of studies that link porn use to poorer mental and emotional health, and over 30 studies linking porn use to sexual problems and lower arousal to sexual stimuli. Ironically, Italy, the first country Pornhub offered free premium access to, was one of the first areas to report that porn use can cause sexual dysfunctions. In 2011, Urologist Carlo Foresta, head of the Italian Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine, surveyed 28,000 Italian men and found that many of them became desensitized to porn, experienced “a general drop in libido” and eventually it became impossible for them to get an erection without porn. Put simply, those who use porn while social distancing may end up with a social — and sexual — dysfunction.