37 questions · each answer graded

Straight answers.

The questions people actually type, answered from the same 47-claim evidence register the course is built on. Where the evidence is mixed, the answer says so in the first line. Where it's a myth, it says that too. Each answer links to the lesson it comes from; the whole thing, in order, is the free course.

Read the course in order The evidence register →

Does porn cause erectile dysfunction?Nobody knows yet, and anyone who tells you otherwise is guessing.Mixed evidence
Does porn lower your sex drive?The evidence is mixed.Mixed evidence
Is porn addiction real?It depends which of the world's two diagnostic manuals you ask.Well established
What is compulsive sexual behaviour disorder?Compulsive Sexual Behaviour Disorder is the WHO's ICD-11 diagnosis (code 6C72) for a persistent pattern of failing to control intense sexual impulses or urges, with real cost to the person's life.Well established
How common is porn addiction?There is no single defensible number.Mixed evidence
How do I know if porn is a problem for me?Not by counting.Well established
How much porn is too much?There is no number.Well established
Why do I feel addicted to porn when I don't use much?Because feeling addicted is predicted by moral disapproval of porn, on top of how much you actually use.Well established
Does porn ruin relationships?The largest meta-analysis found a small association, not a catastrophe: across 50 studies and over 50,000 people, porn use was linked to lower sexual and relationship satisfaction, with an effect around r = −.11 to −.13, significant for men only, and unrelated to how people felt about their own bodies or selves.Well established
Should I tell my partner about my porn use?There is no universal answer, and be suspicious of anyone who gives you one.Mixed evidence
Can women be addicted to porn?Yes, and the research has mostly ignored them.Mixed evidence
Do I have to quit porn completely?Not necessarily.Mixed evidence
How do I stop watching porn?Change your environment before you rely on willpower, decide your responses in advance with if-then plans, and treat a slip as information rather than a verdict.Mixed evidence
Do porn blockers work?They help, and not in the way they are sold.Mixed evidence
What are if-then plans, and do they work?An if-then plan is a decision made in advance in a specific format: "If [situation], then I will [action]." Researchers call them implementation intentions, and across 94 independent tests they reliably improved goal attainment with a medium-to-large effect.Well established
How do I stop a porn urge right now?You don't stop it; you outlast it.Well established
What is urge surfing, and does it work?Urge surfing is turning toward an urge and observing it rather than fighting it.Well established
What should I do after a porn relapse?Stop the episode now, log the bare facts, do the thinking tomorrow, and change one thing.Well established
What is the abstinence violation effect?It is the finding, from Marlatt's relapse-prevention model, that what happens after a lapse depends on how you explain it to yourself.Well established
Why does shame make quitting porn harder?Because shame is a concealment emotion: it makes you want to hide, and hiding is exactly the state in which a private behaviour thrives.Well established
Do accountability partners help you quit porn?One or two people who don't perform disappointment help.Anecdotal
Does NoFap work?The part that holds up is peer support: in an analysis of over a hundred rebooting journals, abstinence became attainable with cognitive-behavioural strategies plus other people.Anecdotal
Is No Nut November a real thing?It began as an Urban Dictionary entry in 2011, went mainstream around 2017, and started as satire.Well established
Is semen retention backed by science?No.Mixed evidence
Does not ejaculating increase testosterone?The evidence says no.Mixed evidence
Does porn fry your dopamine receptors?No.Well established
Why do porn urges feel so strong when the experience is so flat?Because dopamine is about wanting, not liking.Well established
What is the flatline when quitting porn?The flatline is a stretch during abstinence when libido drops, arousal goes quiet and mood flattens.Anecdotal
How long does the flatline last?Nobody knows, because it has never been studied.Anecdotal
What are porn withdrawal symptoms?What people consistently report is a flat stretch: libido drops, arousal goes quiet, mood dips.Well established
How long does it take to quit porn?Nobody knows, and anyone confident about it is selling something.Anecdotal
Does porn cause depression?The link is with problematic use, not with use.Well established
Why does it always happen late at night?Because late at night stacks the conditions: alone, tired but not sleepy, nothing planned, phone in hand.Mixed evidence
Does lack of sleep make porn urges worse?Sleep loss reliably makes mood worse and anxiety higher, which is the state urges thrive in.Mixed evidence
Does therapy work for porn addiction?There is meta-analytic support for CBT and ACT for problematic pornography use and the depressive symptoms that travel with it, with the caveat that the studies are small and carry a high risk of bias.Mixed evidence
Why does every generation panic about porn and masturbation?Because the same pattern has repeated for three hundred years: a social change, a confident new biology, dramatic claims of harm, and a product to sell.Mixed evidence
Has the UK's porn age verification law worked?Measurably, yes, on its own terms.Well established

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One tap for the moment an urge hits, offline, and an evening check-in that turns lessons like this one into a plan for your own triggers. Free.

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