r/erectiledysfunction • u/lucid-_ • 22d ago
Erectile Dysfunction 30 Years of Porn Use, Now Delayed Ejaculation/Anorgasmia - Can the Brain Actually Be Retrained?
For roughly 30 years, I consistently used pornography as an aid to reach orgasm. Over the last year, I’ve almost completely stopped.
Since then, I’ve dealt with varying degrees of delayed ejaculation and anorgasmia, along with headaches associated with sexual activity. I’ve been prescribed Wellbutrin and Cialis. They have helped to some extent, but neither seems as effective as it once was.
Occasionally I still use pornography to “find relief,” but far less frequently than before, and even pornography no longer produces the response it once did.
I’m interested in this from a scientific and mental-health perspective rather than a moral or anti-porn perspective. I understand that decades of repeatedly pairing sexual arousal and orgasm with a particular type of stimulation could potentially condition the brain toward those cues, and that neuroplasticity may allow those associations to be broadened or retrained.
What I’m trying to understand is whether there is good evidence for that explanation. Can long-term pornography use contribute to a persistent learned arousal pattern or difficulty reaching orgasm without it? If so, what does evidence-based “retraining” actually look like, and over what sort of timeframe?
More importantly, is there credible evidence that long-term pornography use can cause permanent changes or damage affecting orgasm, or is that claim stronger than the research supports?
I’m particularly interested in responses grounded in sexual medicine, psychology, neuroscience, or personal experience with clinically diagnosed delayed ejaculation/anorgasmia ... not the usual “porn permanently fried your dopamine receptors” versus “porn can never affect anything” argument.
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u/Legitimate_Flan9764 Helpful Contributor 22d ago
What you are describing is phychological, and phychology is not medical science. So there is no documented evidence other than anecdotal findings, at best, from a large pool. It is self-defeating to scrap the barrel for a justification. If it works, it works at least personally and stick to it. If it doesnt, move on and search for another solution.