This article is great and important for young people (and their parents) to know. Porn addiction is starting younger and younger now, with 8 or 9 being when most children will stumble across porn online (if not earlier). Nothing wrong with masturbation if done in moderation, but masturbation with porn is a psychological recipe for disaster.

Using porn to combat any sort of unhappy feeling is exactly the same as gambling, drinking or taking drugs. It’ll be addictive and get harder (no pun intended) to get your dopamine hit the longer you do it. Replacing a desire for human closeness (and the soothing chemicals that come with it) with any dopamine inducing activity feels good in the short term but ultimately will self sabotage.

I gave up porn the same time I gave up social media. Spoiler: It was far more difficult, but it can be done. Porn is a massive existential threat to our psychological wellbeing that society doesn’t really have an answer for. Social media only plays on your desire for inclusivity, porn plays on a much deeper rooted human drive and messing with it (particularly as a teen) can be very dangerous.

Great article, loving your work as always.