Many men say pornography is to blame for their sexual difficulties. A recent Canadian Affairs article on erectile dysfunction drew hundreds of comments linking erectile dysfunction to porn use.
But specialists caution that the picture is more complicated.
Research has found no direct link between porn use and sexual functioning.
Instead, experts say excessive porn consumption often develops as a coping mechanism for underlying struggles such as depression, anxiety or relationship dissatisfaction — which are the same mental health challenges also linked to erectile dysfunction.
“It’s a false correlation. There’s now data showing that there’s no correlation between sexual functioning and pornography use,” said Jason Winters, a B.C.-based psychologist and sex therapist who specializes in sexual problems and disorders.
“Most of these guys that are reporting porn addiction are simply struggling with depression.”
Porn addiction and ED
Canada is a major player in the global porn market. Pornhub — the Montreal-based company that operates the world’s most visited porn site — ranks Canada seventh worldwide for total site traffic, with Albertans leading the way.
“People from Alberta view on average the most pages on the site,” a Pornhub report says.
Outside of Pornhub’s self-reported figures, however, there is little formal data on Canadian porn use.
“Porn addiction” is not an official medical diagnosis. But excessive pornography use is recognized by the World Health Organization’s ICD-11 as a form of compulsive sexual behaviour disorder.
Addiction counsellor Seth Fletcher likens excessive porn use to a substance use disorder.
“It’s just like the individual that’s using cocaine on an ongoing basis,” said Fletcher, who is also general manager at the Canadian Centre for Addictions in Port Hope, Ont.
“The body becomes quite used to that stimulus for the release of dopamine, and so things that previously would trigger the neurotransmitter dopamine … may not do it anymore. The body is so used to requiring that one specific stimulus that is very intense.”
The belief that porn addiction causes sexual dysfunction can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, says Winters.
“If you believe that porn is going to cause you problems getting an erection, you’re going to be anxious as shit about that when you’re having sex, and because you’re anxious about it, you’re not going to get an erection,” he said.
“You end up with this feedback loop wherein things just get worse and worse … So the depression increases, the behaviour probably increases in frequency as well, and so on.”
Eric Pierni, a psychotherapist and founder of the male counselling clinic Men Therapy Toronto, says he sees clients who turn to pornography as a coping mechanism after experiencing erectile dysfunction, which is diagnosed if it persists for more than six months.
“It starts with the [erectile] dysfunction, which then leads to porn as a safe way of feeling like, ‘I got my mojo back,’ because now they’re not living in the world feeling neutered or castrated,” he said.
Pierni says porn consumption can feel safer than sexual encounters because it removes performance pressure.
“They don’t have to worry about ‘not performing’, not being man enough, not showing up the way [another] person wants — so it’s safe, and that’s the part that becomes addictive.”
Relational cost
Sources also pointed to a number of factors that make it easy for porn to be consumed excessively.
The internet has made porn ubiquitous and easy to access.
A 2022 study of Quebec adolescents found about 70 per cent of participants had seen pornography, typically starting at age 12.
The internet, including AI-generated pornography, has also made it easy to find and lean into kinks and fetishes, says Fletcher.
“If you were into a specific fetish 50 years ago, it might be 10 years before you met anybody else with that same fetish,” he said. “And now you can find those people instantly,” he said.
But the cost, Fletcher says, is relational.
“[They] substitute [porn] instead of nurturing their relationship.”
An April survey found one-in-four Americans had engaged in “gooning,” a practice of slowing sexual activity just before climax to enter a trance-like state, sometimes for sessions lasting from half an hour to an entire day.
Many respondents reported that porn obsession, diminished desire for real-life partners and desensitization to sexual stimuli often drove them toward increasingly extreme or niche content.
“I’m sympathetic in the sense that people are suffering and … they’re going to look for ways to alleviate that suffering,” said Winters. “[But] how is this impacting your quality of life?
“I’m sure there’s some that … it actually increases their quality of life. But I imagine for others it can start to feel pretty out of control, which is usually when people start to define things as an addiction.”
Roots of behaviour
Abstinence-focused online communities have emerged in response to concerns about porn addiction.
One of the best-known, NoFap, promotes reducing or eliminating pornography use and masturbation. Members commit to periods of abstinence, often called “rebooting,” with the goal of improving mental health, sexual function and self-discipline.
Winters cautions that despite its popularity, NoFap lacks scientific support.
“It’s a bit of an echo chamber. There’s repetition of misinformation and myths,” Winters said, adding that extreme abstinence can actually worsen shame.
“There is no evidence to support the idea that NoFap does anything,” he said. “If anything, in my experience, and I’ve met alumni over the years that have tried NoFap, it just ends up making them feel worse.”
Still, Winters sees value in how some participants begin probing the roots of their behaviour.
“It can be an entry point into then trying to figure out what function the behaviour serves, what’s driving the behaviour … and you might look at some behaviour regulation strategies,” he said.
Many in these communities, he reiterates, are struggling with depression and anxiety — particularly social anxiety — and would benefit more from proper mental health support.
“I mean, if you go on the forum and read it, it’s pretty sad. It’s so clear that so many of these guys are really struggling,” he said.
“What they really need is good mental health help.”
