dialtone
Moderator
One of the most common problems I see on here besides gyno and hair loss is erectile dysfunction. A lot of people on here always claim that if you are having these problems, there is a problem with either your test levels or estrogen levels. I can't tell you how many posts I've seen of guys experiencing ED and everyone tells them to get their bloods done because it must be due to low test levels and/or improper pct. This could not be further from the truth. The ability to achieve or maintain an erection has nothing to do with test levels. Libido, yes, is certainly affected by test levels, but not the ability for a penis to become erect. How this does play a role is that if a man has low test, his libido will likely be affected therefore with a lower drive or interest in sex, erections may be infrequent...not because of the low test, but because of the low libido.
In the clinical field, both medicine and psychology, has noticed an outrageous increase in the cases of diagnosed erectile dysfunction within the past 10 years, particularly in the last 4 years. A little over ten years ago, it was extremely rare to see a man under the age of 50 having erectile issues. Now, it's practically normal to see a man in his 20's with ED. This has been a cause for concern for many professionals but maybe not as concerning as it should be due to the fact that ED drugs have also become widely used and have been effective, for the most part. At the same time, should a 20 year old male have to resort to blood pressure medicine to make his perfectly healthy body function properly? I think we are making the problem worse by doing this because it is not a medical issue, it is psychological.
What we have started to see is an increase in the number of men diagnosed with ED reporting that they are also porn addicts. The thing with porn addicts is that they view porn at least daily and also masturbate at least once daily to porn, and they have been doing this for many many years. Some men have reported averaging between 15-20 times a day of masturbating to porn (although it can happen with just single daily use). What they notice is that in the presence of actual women, they can no longer achieve an erection. This happens, the woman becomes upset, they become upset, assume there is something wrong with their body because they can get it up when they are alone, so the doc prescribes viagra, yet the problem remains. It's interesting, they have taken admitted porn addicts, asked who their favorite pornstar was, brought the pornstar in, and placed electrodes on the heads of the men to measure brain activity. They measured brain activity when they presented the man with the pornstar...nothing happened. They presented the same pornstar on a computer screen and brain activity went crazy.
Here's what's happening - we are conditioning ourselves to only be able to achieve an erection in the presence of a computer screen to images while we are alone. Remember Pavlov's dog from psych 101? That's what's happening here. In his experiment, Pavlov trained dogs to salivate in the presence of a bell that had been associated with food. Well, with porn addicts, they are associating erections with computer images and no longer will achieve erections in the presence of women. It's not low test for most men, it's the use of porn and masturbation. There are recovering porn addicts now that we have started to understand the problem. Porn withdrawal looks exactly the same as withdrawals from elicit drugs - depression, insomnia, agitation, sickness, no libido or sensitivity in the penis.
The good news is that after about 4-8 weeks of no porn or masturbation, men are able to achieve full erections in the presence of women and their arousal in the presence of any woman is significantly increased. I can go into more detail about the behavioral and neurological mechanisms that are active during addiction and withdrawal if you guys would like. I think this is a seriously misunderstood issue with all men because we figure that all guys masturbate all the time and always watch porn so they never consider it to be a problem - it is. Now maybe you'll understand why when I see a guy complaining about ED one of the first questions I ask him is how often does he masturbate...not has he gotten his bloods done.
In the clinical field, both medicine and psychology, has noticed an outrageous increase in the cases of diagnosed erectile dysfunction within the past 10 years, particularly in the last 4 years. A little over ten years ago, it was extremely rare to see a man under the age of 50 having erectile issues. Now, it's practically normal to see a man in his 20's with ED. This has been a cause for concern for many professionals but maybe not as concerning as it should be due to the fact that ED drugs have also become widely used and have been effective, for the most part. At the same time, should a 20 year old male have to resort to blood pressure medicine to make his perfectly healthy body function properly? I think we are making the problem worse by doing this because it is not a medical issue, it is psychological.
What we have started to see is an increase in the number of men diagnosed with ED reporting that they are also porn addicts. The thing with porn addicts is that they view porn at least daily and also masturbate at least once daily to porn, and they have been doing this for many many years. Some men have reported averaging between 15-20 times a day of masturbating to porn (although it can happen with just single daily use). What they notice is that in the presence of actual women, they can no longer achieve an erection. This happens, the woman becomes upset, they become upset, assume there is something wrong with their body because they can get it up when they are alone, so the doc prescribes viagra, yet the problem remains. It's interesting, they have taken admitted porn addicts, asked who their favorite pornstar was, brought the pornstar in, and placed electrodes on the heads of the men to measure brain activity. They measured brain activity when they presented the man with the pornstar...nothing happened. They presented the same pornstar on a computer screen and brain activity went crazy.
Here's what's happening - we are conditioning ourselves to only be able to achieve an erection in the presence of a computer screen to images while we are alone. Remember Pavlov's dog from psych 101? That's what's happening here. In his experiment, Pavlov trained dogs to salivate in the presence of a bell that had been associated with food. Well, with porn addicts, they are associating erections with computer images and no longer will achieve erections in the presence of women. It's not low test for most men, it's the use of porn and masturbation. There are recovering porn addicts now that we have started to understand the problem. Porn withdrawal looks exactly the same as withdrawals from elicit drugs - depression, insomnia, agitation, sickness, no libido or sensitivity in the penis.
The good news is that after about 4-8 weeks of no porn or masturbation, men are able to achieve full erections in the presence of women and their arousal in the presence of any woman is significantly increased. I can go into more detail about the behavioral and neurological mechanisms that are active during addiction and withdrawal if you guys would like. I think this is a seriously misunderstood issue with all men because we figure that all guys masturbate all the time and always watch porn so they never consider it to be a problem - it is. Now maybe you'll understand why when I see a guy complaining about ED one of the first questions I ask him is how often does he masturbate...not has he gotten his bloods done.
