Problems readers mentioned include becoming desensitized to milder cues to sexual arousal, having unrealistic expectations of physical characteristics for oneself or others, and having increasing difficulty achieving orgasm. Some people reported gradually weaning themselves from pornography so that sexual fantasy and non-pornographic sexual cues regained strength for them. Others described just getting bored with it, so they found fantasy and stories to be more interesting.
Of the people who were quite enthusiastic about using pornography often, most tended to be males between age 12 and 16. Fewer older males and no females were in this group. Males and females who reported having a problem with overusing pornography tended to be older. Whether or not they had overused pornography previously, most respondents see nothing wrong with using visual stimulation in balance with other forms of sexual stimulation.]
Magazines and videos should be used to start a sexual session, but not so that you depend on them. Pornography should not destroy the aesthetic beauty of making love with someone to whom you are emotionally attached.
- age 23, India (female)
There is no limit to visual stimulation. I ejaculate more and have a lot longer orgasm when I use some kind of visual aid.
- age 16, California
I don't think it becomes unhealthy. I've been masturbating to both forms for about 12 years since discovering a couple of magazines and later buying videos. But I can also masturbate quite happily using just my imagination.
- age 25, United Kingdom
I use magazines all the time! It's fun to imagine yourself in different positions. It also gives you a chance to get the feeling of doing it. When you look at the pictures and videos, you can imagine the vagina tight around your penis, and this makes for a great orgasm. I usually masturbate with magazines around for stimulation. I think you should use pornography as much as you want.
- age 17, Illinois
It could be unhealthy if you got to the point where you preferred looking at videos and magazines to actual human contact. But I suppose the same thing applies to masturbation itself. As long as the visual stimulation isn't violent or illegal (such as child pornography), I don't see any harm in it. I personally use magazines or occasionally videos almost every time I masturbate, and I don't believe it's been a problem for me.
- age 43, Tennessee
Pornography becomes unhealthy only when it distorts your view of reality. If you come away from porn with eyes only for buxom, supermodel blondes, you'll be severely disappointed. Further, hardcore porn is dangerous when it sets up women as no more than a man's playthings, devoted to his pleasure. That's not the way the world works, and this view could *severely* hamper your relationships. Porn is okay if you see it just for what it is – pure fantasy.
- age 16, New Jersey
When I masturbate I can't have an orgasm unless I look at porn, usually on my computer. I have been doing this for years and have experienced no physical or psychological problems from it. I'll probably never stop.
- age 22, Kentucky
I have never found visual stimulation of naked women appealing. I usually masturbate while thinking about a friend, acquaintance, or someone I just saw that day wearing sexy clothes. Some people may like it, but I don't.
- age 19, Canada
It depends on the person. Males are quite visual creatures. However, I think it's also good to exercise your most erotic organ, the brain. Actually, a friend and I had this running joke that if I kept using porn and later had sex with a real person I would try to fold him up and put him under the bed after I was done.
- age 42, North Dakota
My father sits at his computer night after night, looking at dirty pictures, watching adult films, or reading Club International or something similar. He no longer wants to do stuff with the family – all he does is sit in his office. He is so obsessed with pornography that not only does he whittle his life away in his office, he also spends a small fortune amassing a collection that would make an adult-bookstore owner envious. If it's possible to like pornography too much and be obsessed with it, then that is my father. I know he has a problem because he refuses to admit it's bad to spend 4 hours a day looking at pornography.
- age 18, California
It's definitely possible, or has been in my experience, to use pornography to the point where you can lose the ability to generate your own fantasies – it becomes an erotic crutch. I have found that too much dependence on pornography lessens my ability to enjoy real-world erotic stimulation, like thinking about my girlfriend.
- age 22, Canada
I have heard of sexual addiction, and I think my dad had a problem of sorts. He would spend a lot of money on porn magazines. But it is kind of hard to believe – too much porn? Come on!
- age 16, Texas
I don't think erotic material is unhealthy unless you come to depend on it exclusively for arousal. If you can fantasize and still masturbate without any visual stimulation (except seeing yourself, of course), then you are fine. I use visual stimulation, and a lot of stories, to help me fantasize. But I sometimes just fantasize about someone I am attracted to – especially about someone I know or work with.
- age 20, Ohio
I have found that using magazines and pictures helps me to orgasm faster. Two of my friends also like to look at magazines. But sometimes we masturbate together, and then there isn't much need for the magazines.
- age 13, California
Visual stimulation may not be unhealthy, but I don't think it's good to use it too much. If I don't have a partner, erotic movies can work as a substitute for a while. But using it many times a week leads to an addiction. My boyfriend and I sometimes watch erotic movies together, and it can actually improve the sex if it's a good movie.
- age 20, Sweden
I suppose that if videos and magazines were to become *preferred* to a real-life partner, then you may want to question yourself. In my case I'll pick up a Playgirl magazine to reacquaint myself with the male body, since my work on the "corporate ladder" has limited my ability to form attachments with males. But I still hope for a *real* partner, and I prefer flesh to photos – and hopefully that is in my near future.
- age 39, Ohio (female)
I don't think it can become unhealthy – just less interesting. For instance, I sometimes get bored with my 10 or 12 porno tapes, so I take a break from watching them. When I start to use them again, they are even better than before.
- age 17, Canada
I need to have 3 or 4 orgasms a week, but my wife's needs just don't allow us to get together that often – so I make up the difference by masturbating, which she understands. However, quick, dry, solitary masturbating is much less satisfying than spending a half hour or so looking at good pictures of inviting models (well-photographed, unstressed, not silicone-enhanced, etc.) while enjoying my erection. To me this is the full masturbating experience – more like long foreplay followed by many minutes of moving together in intercourse plus ejaculating in her vagina, then followed by resting and bonding together – the way we prefer intercourse to be. She doesn't see it that way and says she can't compete with those models. (If only she'd believe me.) She admits that the pictures turn her on, too, but I think we're doomed to have two different opinions as to whether pornography is okay to use, and how often.
- age 51, North Dakota
When I was around 12, I rarely masturbated. Then one day I took out an old porno magazine and read through it. I noticed the magazine had a Web site, so I found porn on the Internet for the first time – which is hard to believe, since it's so common. I started quite a collection, fascinated with the mysteries of love. I eventually moved past the still frames and downloaded movies whenever I could. When I was 14 I started collecting videotapes. Now I just like to relax with a porno and let my hands work their magic. I think it is possible to use porno too much, like when you start to schedule your day around masturbating. This has happened to me. But after a while, I just snapped out of it. Now I usually masturbate only every 2 or 3 days, so it's not a problem anymore.
- age 16, Canada
I found it very unhealthy to use erotic pictures too often. At one time I did use pornography way too much. It left me with a burning desire to have "impossible" women whom I could never be with. I also remember looking at pictures of men whom I thought were more attractive than I was, as I masturbated to the thought of actually being them instead of myself. This left me with an overwhelming desire to look like other guys, an inferiority complex, depression, and homosexual feelings. Now, even though I may need more time to become aroused, I find that using mirrors or making up people in my mind is a much healthier way to think during masturbation.
- age 24, Pennsylvania
I try to have nude pictures or the porno channel on whenever I can (when no one is around, that is). It makes the experience a lot more fun and the orgasm more powerful. I've done this since I began masturbating, and I don't think it's affected me in any way. It's not like I have a psychotic need to watch the porno channel or look at nude pictures all the time.
- age 15, California
I don't think it can be unhealthy, unless you're obsessive and spend 18 hours a day looking at porno. My problem is that after seeing so many videos and magazines, they lose their ability to arouse me. I find I need newer material, or different (kinky, or unusual in some way – though never involving animals or children) just to get an erection. After I go a few weeks without any visual stimulation, it once again serves its purpose. So, I guess it *is* possible to have too much of a good thing!
- age 36, Alabama
At one point I had to use visual stimulation, or else masturbation wasn't nearly as good for me. I had to slowly wean myself from the porn, using stories or fantasy instead, to get rid of that problem.
- age 17, Canada
I've been looking at porn on the Internet, and it's made me think about sex in a very unhealthy way. What I have noticed is a need to escalate the "dirtyness" of the pictures to get the same level of arousal as before, like needing to use more drugs to get the same high. I deleted all of my bookmarks and links that I had set up. Once a week seems to be the most I can look at nudie pictures and still be sex-positive. This applies only to visual stimulation; erotic stories are still good for me. "How much is too much" is probably different for each individual.
- age 28, California (female)
I used to masturbate a lot using magazines, but after a bit I found I couldn't have an orgasm without one. I stopped reading the magazines and didn't masturbate for a week or so. Then I found I could have an orgasm much more easily. Besides, it was more fun to have my own fantasies or try new techniques. So I think visual stimulation can be used too much, but not because it's unhealthy – it's just more fun without it!
- age 16, United Kingdom
I frequently use male videos or magazines as an aid in masturbation. My partner doesn't mind and sometimes helps out. So, I don't think videos or magazines are unhealthy. They're just another way to become aroused.
- age 62, Texas
Well, like most boys in middle school, I looked at so much pornography then that now I'm not affected by it that much. It still turns me on, but I prefer just thinking about things to excite me.
- age 17, Illinois
I don't know if "unhealthy" would be the term I'd use – but yes, I do think it's possible to have too much of a good thing, including even looking at porn. I think it dulls the imagination. I enjoy watching a video occasionally when I masturbate, but I also enjoy fantasizing without visual stimulation. And I've found from personal experience that too much of the former inhibits the latter.
- age 37, California (female)
You can watch porno every now and then (perhaps a couple of times a month) and be perfectly healthy. But one of my friends uses it all the time – at least every 2 days. He is starting to get bored with the idea of sex and girls. He says porn has desensitized him to the fun of sexual thoughts and acts.
- age 19, Rhode Island
If you get too much visual stimulation your body begins to go into the old "ho-hum" syndrome. Then you can watch even very graphic stuff and not even get an erection. Plus, overuse can make you very jaded with respect to actual sexual encounters. However, using such stimuli can be very valuable to begin the warm-up period just before sex (either masturbation or with a partner). In other words, a little can go a long way. Constant use can eventually wear very thin.
- age 65, Alabama
Visual stimulation can be unhealthy if you see so much of it that you become desensitized to it or you start confusing that stimulation with reality. I'm not even a turn-on for my boyfriend anymore because he watches so much pornography. When we try to have sex, he keeps thinking he's in a porno movie.
- age 19, California (female)
The only thing that makes visual stimulation unhealthy is to need that kind of stimulation when you want to masturbate. After years of watching porn videos while I masturbate I now need them to orgasm. If I don't have that stimulation I almost have to force myself to complete the session. It doesn't have to be videos; I can watch my wife masturbate while I do. I don't have any problems then. I just always seem to need some type of visual stimulation.
- age 45, Colorado
It's possible to use visual stimulation too much. I have this problem now. For a long time I used hardcore videos and pictures for stimulation. I began to have problems becoming aroused just by fantasizing or looking at erotic pictures of women without exposed genitals. I had to stay away from porn for over a year to return to normal stimulation by erotic stories, pictures, or thoughts. Pornography can become like a drug – you need it to feel okay.
- age 24, Germany
Yes, too much can be unhealthy. I have viewed so much pornography that things that once aroused me, such as tight jeans or short skirts, no longer do. Therefore I've stopped looking at pornographic pictures.
- age 16, Pennsylvania
As long as sexual erotica is used as an aid to sexual gratification, I don't think it's unhealthy. I often use aids like these both for masturbation as well as when I am with my wife. Too much would be if I want to use erotica only and not be with another person to enjoy sex and masturbation.
- age 55, Alabama
I like to use magazines or videos when I can get my hands on them. I get so turned on by seeing naked bodies, male or female, that it seems even when I am not masturbating I'm thinking about it. I know if I had more access to videos, I would masturbate even more.
- age 14, Massachusetts
Absolutely unhealthy. I spend hours upon hours of totally unproductive time staring at pictures and videos and masturbating to oblivion. If I didn't have all of this stuff to go through, I wouldn't spend so much time playing with myself! I used to masturbate once or twice a day; now, with all the stuff that's available, it's more like 4 times a day!
- age 27, California
Magazines and videos can create a perception of sex focusing far too much on the physical rather than the emotional and romantic. And they create a perception of normal sexuality that is not in fact normal. An occasional flick or magazine can be fun. When it becomes a regular activity, it is too much.
- age 24, Texas