“Porned Out”

Brian McDougal

Erectile Dysfunction, Depression, and 7 More (Selfish) Reasons to Quit Porn

“It’s hard to imagine that a whole generation chain-smoked cigarettes without having any idea how harmful they are, but the same thing is happening today with online pornography. If you want to learn about the health risks of porn now instead of waiting a decade or two for society to catch up, all you have to do is continue reading.” —Brian McDougal

What inspired this book? Here’s what its author says:

After personal experience with porn addiction and a tumultuous 18 months of working to stay off it for good I decided to write a book about the negative effects pornography can have on one’s life. It is my hope that it can get some people to fully consider the effect their porn use is having on their lives. You know why you shouldn’t smoke, eat fast food, or drink excessive amounts of alcohol. But do you know why porn is bad for you?

YBOP Review:

In this short, readable volume, McDougal brilliantly, succinctly addresses some of the most common complaints that users have linked to over-consumption of Internet porn.

Researchers will need time to catch up with the newfangled phenomenon of highspeed erotica and its unexpected effects on users, but McDougal does a skillful job of extrapolating responsibly from the relevant existing research. He backs up his information with citations, clear logic and eloquence.

Here’s a taste of the book:

Like many, I was an uninformed porn-user. I refused to consider anything could be wrong with porn. I wasn’t religious, I didn’t buy into the moral arguments, and I wasn’t aware of any other reasons against it. If it was bad for you, it couldn’t be this popular. Hundreds of millions of men around the world couldn’t be wrong!

When I was 16, I spent an hour or two every week downloading a dozen or so naked pictures through a dial-up modem. By the time I turned 30, I’d escalated to streaming super-niche videos in multiple tabs, sometimes for hours each day.

But it wasn’t until I felt strong urges to peep on women and masturbate publicly that I realized something was going wrong. If I didn’t take back control, I was going to become a creep and a criminal, risking my marriage, my career, my friendships, and my spotless criminal record.

I stumbled upon a support group for people who wanted to give up porn. Reading their stories, I was amazed at the changes they reported in their lives after mere weeks without porn. Amazed and skeptical.

So I did the only logical thing: I tried it on myself. …

Like most former porn users, I gave it up for very selfish reasons.

 Here’s a look at the book’s contents:

Introduction

The Basics: What Happens in Your Brain During Porn Use

1. Porn Use Makes You Depressed

2. Porn Use Escalates and Spins out of Control

3. Porn Use Kills Your Concentration

4. Porn Use Makes You Forgetful

5. Porn Use Interferes with Your Sleep

6. Porn Use Is Escapism

7. Porn Use Causes Unwanted Sexual Thoughts

8. Porn Use Degrades Your Sexual Relationships

9. Porn use Causes Erectile Dysfunction and Delayed Ejaculation

Final Words

Appendix: Compulsion Checklist

Appendix: Further Reading

Final note