The Positive Effects of Quitting Pornography
As we discussed in the last article on how pornography affects the form and function of the brain, the research around the effects of pornography hasn’t exactly been abundant. Likewise, there isn’t much material describing the experience of trying to quit using pornography, whether it be positive or negative experiences, or which characteristics are common among the people seeking to quit their usage.
This is understandably quite frustrating for anyone seeking a sense of community and relatability in their preparation for attempting to quit pornography using reliable, research-based methods. Notably, a common sight when visiting one of the many online anti-pornography forums is that there is no sort of systematic fact checking, and that a number of the “success reports” describing positive effects from prolonged abstinence are downright supernatural. Now, there is absolutely something to be said about the value of community provided by pseudo-scientific online forums advocating for a pornography-free life. At the same time, there is a certain sense of confidence in knowing that your methods of approach have been proven effective in research that is helpful when trying to tackle a challenge as uncharted as problematic pornography usage.
As mentioned, there is a shortage of clear evidence of certain positive or negative effects as a result of prolonged abstinence from pornography, but there is a study (Fernandez et al., 2021) compiling the most frequently occurring themes in reports of attempting to quit pornography, retrieved from an online “rebooting” forum consisting of a total of 15,000 users at the time of the study.
The study compiled reports from 104 men, ranging from ages 18-64, who all fulfilled two essential criteria: Firstly, the reports had to be detailed enough to allow researchers to perform a meaningful analysis of their similarities, meaning that there had to be useful insights on the individual’s thoughts, feelings and behavior during the abstinence attempt. Second, the abstinence attempt had to have had a duration of at least a week, but could not have lasted for more than a year total to be included in the study.
Descriptives of the population used in the study
The results of the study show a number of interesting insights into why people choose to quit and challenges often met in attempting to abstain. For the purpose of this article, here is a concise summary of the positive effects experienced by subjects in this study after prolonged abstinence from pornography:
Cravings decrease with time. A common phenomenon during initial attempts of abstinence are cravings to return to old behaviors, as is seen in all types of addictions. Subjects experienced a decrease in cravings over time, some to the extent that they hardly thought about their old behavioral patterns at all. Interestingly, another major theme observed in these participants was a developing sense of control over their use of pornography as well as their lives overall, with subjects’ perception of their own increased self-efficacy spreading to other parts of their life.
Improvements in everyday life. Most positive effects attributed to abstinence were reported as subtle, but definitive, constructive changes in day-to-day life. Many subjects experienced improved mood, increased energy and motivation, as well as heightened mental clarity, focus and productivity. Some subjects also felt a stronger connection to their own emotions, which spread to their connection to friends and family. Providing some comparability to the observations in our discussion on how pornography affects the brain, some subjects felt a greater capacity to experience satisfaction from lesser everyday events, like spending time with friends or sitting down to write a paper for school.
Increased relationship satisfaction. Other subjects felt an increased ability to socialize, while some felt a stronger connection- and quality in their close relationships. This might in some cases have been a side-effect of subjects experiencing a better connection to their own emotions, but some subjects also stated a definite improvement in their sexual functioning, observing an increased desire for partnered sex (as opposed to previously only being interested in masturbating to pornography), as well as increased sexual sensitivity and responsiveness.
Taking into account the possibility that these positive improvements are the result of a placebo effect, it is nonetheless noteworthy that these specific themes were frequently reported by individuals of all ages, and with many different motivations for abstinence. Further, of the 104 subjects in the study, only 4 individuals specified that their reason behind the decision to quit pornography was based on moral incongruence, suggesting that the reported positive effects are, at the very least, not solely a side effect of the self-perception that one has started to act in accordance with their moral values. In other words, the positive effects observed here seem to have more credit to them than the mere feeling that you’re not doing what you’re not supposed to do.
This summary is by no means exhaustive of the available material on online forums containing many thousands of abstinence reports, but it is nice to have some basis in research around what positive effects can realistically be used as motivators when preparing to challenge one’s problematic pornography usage.
Reference
Fernandez, D.P., Kuss, D.J. & Griffiths, M.D. (2021). The Pornography “Rebooting” Experience: A Qualitative Analysis of Abstinence Journals on an Online Pornography Abstinence Forum. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 50(2), 711–728. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01858-w
