The Climax of Coping: The Harms of Porn Dependency

Just to say it from the get-go: there is absolutely nothing wrong with pornography. It may be a very taboo topic for some people but the discussions surrounding it are very necessary and relevant, especially in our day and age. While pornography and sex education, in general, isn't 100% normalized, the current era of humanity we're living through is the most liberal yet and makes discussions on this previously taboo topic more accessible than ever. In a local context, the Philippines is still trudging through conservative or even "outdated" views on a lot of things, though pornography and sex education is certainly one of them. The lack of discussions surrounding these in the Philippines has caused a significant amount of teenage pregnancies (Gita-Carlos, 2021), among other issues rooted in our country's conservative nature. However, I'll be focusing on the pornography aspect of this issue for this blog post since sex education is a more general view on the topic.

According to an Inquirer article by Lalu (2021), Filipinos ranked first in the watch time statistics of PornHub. The average time spent of a Filipino viewer is about 11 minutes and 14 seconds, which despite being ranked 1 for 2021, is already less time compared to the data gathered in 2020 (Filipinos ranked second before with the general average being 47 seconds longer). 2021, as we all know, was quite a heavy year and many of us may have had various coping mechanisms to get us through the hard times. Some people might've had not-so-healthy coping mechanisms during lockdown and pornography is, unfortunately, a likely culprit. During a lockdown, it'd be easy for a person to feel constantly lethargic and in a low mood due to the lack of stimulation or even due to how limited their interactions are with their friends. One of the most convenient and apparent fixes to this low mood is masturbation and watching pornography. Sexual activities can feel good due to the dopamine that gets released when presented with something a person can find pleasing; with this fact in mind, it'd be easy to connect that people tend to watch porn to feel happy.  However, this post is not made to promote that.

It's definitely okay to masturbate and watch pornography but much like drugs and other vices, too much is a problem. Porn addiction isn't recognized as a problem, but there is definitely an issue that the addicted person isn't fully confronting or healthily dealing with. In the past, I've had issues with dependency on certain medicine and while it isn't exactly the same as porn addiction, I can say that I understand the sentiment behind it. I had my own issues that I wasn't directly nor productively coping with and the supplement that I was taking at the time had certain side effects that made me feel relaxed; I was convinced that it was convenient enough to be a solution to my problems when in reality it was a new problem entirely. The same applies to porn addiction; its convenient, instant, and cheap (if not free, with how accessible things are online). 

My relationships with others and habits were somewhat affected but I think the main issue was my mental health overall; I was avoiding dealing directly with my issues because, again, I felt like I had an easy solution that made me temporarily okay. My loved ones had noticed my dependence on the supplement/medicine I was taking before it got too bad and I'm quite grateful for that. If you have any loved ones that you feel may be going through something and coping with it in an unhealthy way, confront them!

Relevant meme, hehe

It's difficult to come to terms with your actual situation but external pressure and concern can make the healing process much easier. Do note though, while others can make the process easier, it all boils down to you; make sure to be mindful of what can trigger you and what other habits you can do to replace your unhealthy one/s (working out instead of watching porn, for instance!). Since I can somewhat sympathize with people dealing with this addiction, I'd actually like to link two certain videos that may be helpful:

This one video is directly for people that may have porn dependencies and addictions. Dr. K/HealthyGamerGG is a wonderful psychiatrist and content creator that helps people on the internet come to terms with any problems they feel aren't commonly brought up.

This second video from CGP Grey is a more general self-help sort of video, framing your brain and personal space in a way that might be easier to digest if you have issues in confronting your problems and habits. I still find it helpful since its essentially a guide to being mentally and physically stable throughout the on-going lockdown and I think people with porn dependencies and addictions (or any other personal struggle!) can find this to be helpful.

SOURCES:

Gita-Carlos, R.A.  (2021).  Addressing teenage pregnancies declared as ‘national priority’ | Philippine News Agency. Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1145373.

Lalu, G.  (2021).  Filipinos spend longest time watching porn in 2021, says Pornhub | Inquirer News. Inquirer.net. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1530362/filipinos-spend-longest-time-watching-porn-in-2021-says-pornhub.