Watching pornography, or porn, is something many people do or have done. In fact, nearly 6 in 10 (or 58%) of Americans have reported watching porn at some point in their lives, including more than one in four (27%) who’ve watched it in the last month.
Given the various controversies surrounding porn, many people have trouble deciding whether or not it’s okay to watch sexually explicit content—especially when it comes to its potential impact on mental health.
To better understand the connection between consuming porn and mental health disorders like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), we spoke to a mental health expert for their insights.
Is it okay to watch porn?
There’s no definitive answer to this, as it depends on what you’re watching and how often you consume this content. According to Tracie Ibrahim, LMFT, CST, NOCD’s Chief Compliance Officer, it’s okay to watch legal porn (e.g., between consenting adults) if it aligns with your values. “If it is something you enjoy, then there is nothing wrong with it,” she says.
However, she adds that watching porn can become a problem if you’re viewing content that’s not legal or if it’s affecting your ability to navigate your day-to-day life.
5 ways that porn can affect your mental health
When it comes to consuming porn, having boundaries in place and not consuming excessive amounts of this content is crucial. Watching porn becomes a mental health concern if you’re consuming it in a compulsive manner—meaning that you have persistent sexual urges to engage in this sexual behavior to the point where it causes dysfunction in various aspects of your life.
Below are five potential negative effects of watching porn:
1. It can impact sexual relationships
Consuming too much porn could affect your sex life. “It can impact your ability to show up for sex with your partner because, at some point, maybe the content you’re watching isn’t realistic, so now it feels hard not to do something equivalent to what you’re watching,” explains Ibrahim.
2. It may affect your sleep quality
As you may already know, sleep is a key component of your mental well-being. If you’re frequently staying up late to watch porn as part of your bedtime routine, it could lead to sleep disturbances like insomnia, according to a 2022 study. This is because extended exposure to blue light from your device can lower melatonin levels, a hormone responsible for sleep.
3. It might worsen existing mental health problems
Excessive porn consumption can exacerbate existing mental health conditions. In a 2021 study involving college students, researchers found that 13.5% of students reported having severe or extremely severe levels of stress, anxiety, and depression that were associated with compulsive porn use.
A 2019 study discovered that men who found porn to be morally wrong had a higher chance of developing or worsening depressive symptoms because they thought they had a porn addiction (which we’ll cover next) and felt sexual shame.
Problematic porn use could also cause isolation. A 2017 study found that relational scripting in porn—the portrayal of a real emotional connection between performers and viewers that goes beyond sexual acts—can give people the fantasy of being in a real relationship. This unrealistic relationship bond can lead to isolation and distorted perceptions about relationships.
There’s also a link between porn and low self-esteem. Viewing porn may decrease a person’s self-esteem, as sexually explicit content can set unrealistic beauty standards that many may be unable to obtain, a 2023 study reports.
4. It can lead to porn addiction
A 2023 study found that viewing explicit sexual content can become compulsive and potentially lead to an addiction. Porn addiction is not recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), but is sometimes considered a subtype of hypersexuality. Hypersexuality, also known as compulsive sexual behavior or sex addiction, is an umbrella term for extremely intense and frequent sexual urges or activities that are uncontrollable and cause significant distress—such as excessive porn use.
“I’ve treated people who had a porn addiction,” says Ibrahim. “When they were at work, they would go out to their car to look at porn and masturbate, or go to the bathroom stall several times a day.”
5. It could cause functional impairment
Functional impairment refers to difficulty with handling your daily obligations and relationships.
If you’re compulsively watching porn to the point where it’s affecting your ability to handle responsibilities and relationships, causing you to avoid work, school, or social obligations, it’s time to seek mental health treatment.
The link between porn consumption and OCD
In addition to the link between porn and anxiety, depression, and stress, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can also cause porn-watching compulsions. OCD is a highly treatable mental health disorder that can cause a cycle of obsessions and compulsive behaviors, such as excessive use of porn.
Obsessions are intrusive thoughts, images, urges, feelings, and/or sensations that cause intense fear and anxiety. Compulsions are the mental or physical actions performed to relieve distress from obsessions or to stop something bad from happening.
Here’s a deeper look into the connection between the effects of porn use and OCD.
Porn-related obsessions
There are many themes or subtypes of OCD that are associated with re-occurring sexual obsessions about porn. “It could link into scrupulosity OCD because people could think they’re going to hell because they look at porn,” says Ibrahim. “It could also have a lot to do with false memory OCD. “‘What if I accidentally searched for something like porn, but I accidentally clicked the link, and it wasn’t legal?’”
Watching porn as a compulsion
People with OCD may watch porn and/or masturbate to cope with fear and anxiety from their obsessions. Ibrahim says that some people will view porn to “check” if their obsessions are true. For example, if someone who doesn’t identify as gay has sexual orientation OCD, they may look at gay porn to see if they get aroused, says Ibrahim. They may think, “‘If I get aroused, that must mean I’m gay,’” she says.
Watching porn is also common among people with pedophilic OCD. “I had a patient who actually looked at child porn because looking at ‘barely legal’ porn didn’t really confirm if they were attracted to children,” explains Ibrahim. “The FBI found out that he did that and confiscated his computers, and that’s why he ended up in therapy with me so I could figure out if he was a sex offender or not. I realized this was a case of standard pedophilic OCD.”
Consuming porn could also be an avoidance compulsion. “Using things like porn and masturbation to escape anxiety can be a dysfunction that happens in some cases,” says Ibrahim.
Exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy for sexual OCD
If you’re consuming porn in excessive amounts and believe it’s linked to OCD, your best bet for addressing your symptoms is exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy. This evidence-based therapy is specially designed to treat OCD symptoms, with the goal of helping you address your fears head-on without performing compulsions. ERP is supported by decades of research, with 80% of people with OCD who do this therapy seeing significant improvement in their symptoms.
You’ll work with a therapist specializing in ERP to develop a personalized treatment plan that identifies your triggers, obsessions, and compulsions. ERP is split into two parts—exposures and response prevention techniques. Your ERP therapist will gradually expose you to your triggers while teaching you strategies to refrain from engaging in compulsive behaviors.
An example of a common ERP exercise is worst-case scenario scripts. Ibrahim says she may have someone with pedophilic OCD say, “‘I was clicking on my normal porn, but I accidentally downloaded child porn, and the FBI is after me.’ We might also look at pictures of children’s clothing ads, kids playing with toys, or having their diapers changed,” she says.
Doing ERP can also help you address checking compulsions. “If you’re using porn to check [or confirm something], then we’re going to stop because that is a compulsion,” says Ibrahim. “You’re not looking at it because you want to—it’s because you’re compulsory.”
If you’re using porn to check [or confirm something], then we’re going to stop because that is a compulsion. You’re not looking at it because you want to—it’s because you’re compulsory.
Tracie Ibrahim, LMFT, CST
Find the right OCD therapist for you
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Bottom line
Porn is consumed by millions of people each day. While this sexually explicit content can provide pleasure, if it’s not consumed in moderation, it could be detrimental to your mental health—especially if you’re already managing a mental health condition. If you have anxiety, depression, or OCD and are having obsessive thoughts about porn or using it as a coping mechanism, please seek help from a licensed mental health professional. They can work with you to find the underlying cause and create a personalized treatment plan to improve your symptoms.
Key takeaways:
- There’s nothing wrong with consuming legal porn if it’s something you enjoy and do in moderation.
- Porn becomes a mental health concern when it’s consumed in excessive amounts, which could affect your day-to-day functioning, sex life, and sleep and worsen existing mental health conditions.
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one mental health condition that can cause porn-related obsessions or compulsions.
- Exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy is the best treatment for addressing OCD obsessions and compulsive behaviors.
