Porn-Induced Erectile Dysfunction: What Is It & How To Fix

Porn-induced erectile dysfunction (PIED) is a sexual condition where a man can get an erection while watching porn but not with a real-life partner. PIED isn't an official diagnosis, but a descriptive term for the condition that's commonly used by therapists and doctors. PIED is temporary and can be reversible by removing the root cause, porn.

Approximately 70% of men in the US seeking help for hypersexuality report some form of sexual dysfunction. In Europe, research on high school students reports that heavy porn consumers lose interest in real-life dating. Reports from countries like China and Japan show more young patients suffering from ED due to psychological factors rather than physical.

Watching porn can cause ED by altering what your brain and body require to feel excited. Your brain builds up tolerance to porn. This tolerance means you wind up needing more extreme porn material, greater friction to achieve climax, and a need for the visual perfection seen in porn.

You can overcome PIED by undergoing a reboot process. This process is a 90-day abstinence from porn and requires you to pay attention to lowering the friction from masturbation. Those attempting to overcome PIED are also encouraged to practice mindfulness to lower adrenaline levels induced by stress.

Stopping watching porn is important to recovering from ED since it is the cause of the dysfunction. To support the PIED recovery process, the QUITTR app offers several tools, including a Panic Button, QUITTR Community, content blocker, and more.

What Is Porn Addiction?

Porn addiction is a behavioural condition where a person feels an uncontrollable urge to watch porn. Porn addicts often struggle with this condition and find they can't stop watching porn despite wanting to quit. 

Research on behavior shows that many people are first exposed to pornography quite early, typically between the ages of 11 and 13. While the early viewing age doesn't guarantee porn addiction, it is considered a risk factor because the brain is still developing. The age group that shows the highest porn addiction rates is young adults between 18 and 25 years old. 

What Is Erectile Dysfunction?

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is when a man cannot get or keep an erection firm enough to have sex. Having ED means that things are inconsistent, with erections being possible sometimes, while not at others. Those with ED may also be able to start with an erection, but lose it halfway through.

There are two main drivers behind ED, which are physical and psychological. Physical issues refer to problems with the body, such as clogged blood vessels, nerve damage, or low testosterone. Psychological issues arise from stress, depression, or performance anxiety."

What Is Porn-Induced Erectile Dysfunction?

Porn-Induced Erectile Dysfunction (PIED) is when a man can easily get an erection while watching porn, but cannot get one with a real partner. The term PIED was first used by researchers at the Kinsey Institute shortly after the first porn websites started appearing around 2006.

PIED isn't an official diagnosis, but the term is commonly used by therapists and doctors because it perfectly describes the pattern they see in patients. The core symptoms observed in PIED include bodies that work with porn but not people, escalating needs for more extreme porn genres, an inability to climax, and no sex drive.

How Watching Porn Can Cause Erectile Dysfunction?

Watching porn can sometimes cause ED because it changes how your brain and body react to sexual excitement. Instead of responding to a real person, your brain learns to respond only to the specific, high-intensity stimulation of a screen.

The core ways in which watching porn can cause ED are through dopamine hijacking, where the brain's reward system gets burnt out, and physical conditioning, where the body gets used to the wrong kind of touch, and anxiety, which comes from the pressure to perform like an actor.

Below are specific causes related to these core issues:

Need For More Extreme Pornographic Material

Real sex is slower and less chaotic than clicking through 20 tabs of video, and insufficient dopamine is released through real sex compared to watching porn. The lower levels of dopamine numb normal feelings of arousal, preventing your body from responding to real sex.

Need for Aggressive Friction

Masturbation with a firmer grip and faster speeds conditions your nerves to specific intensities. Because of that conditioning, the softer, wetter, and warmer sensation of a partner feels too delicate or light, preventing you from staying erect.

Need for Visual Perfection

You develop performance anxiety because real sex is different from the perfect scripts you see in porn. Awkwardness, emotions, and intimacy lead to higher adrenaline levels, which kill the erection.

Signs Of Having Erectile Dysfunction Induced By Porn

Signs of porn-induced erectile dysfunction (PIED) include struggling to get or keep an erection with a real partner despite being able to with pornography, reduced interest in partnered sex, needing increasingly intense porn for arousal (desensitization), and prioritizing porn over real intimacy.

These signs can be summarized as listed below:

• Getting an erection with porn but not with a real partner.

• Needing porn or specific fantasies to climax.

• Preferring porn over actual intimacy.

• Delayed ejaculation or difficulty reaching orgasm with a partner.

How Can I Overcome Porn-Induced ED?

You can overcome Porn-Induced ED by stopping watching porn for 90 days, not touching too hard, and trying mindfulness. 

Stop Watching Porn For 90 Days

When you stop watching porn for 90 days, you're cutting off the constant flood of dopamine. This break gives your brain’s chemistry a chance to quiet down and reset. Eventually, your natural sensitivity returns, and simple things like a touch or a glance become enough to get you excited again.

Stop Touching Too Hard

If you masturbate during recovery without using porn, you should change how you do it. Use a much looser grip and plenty of lube to mimic the real thing. You’re basically retraining your body to recognize that gentle pressure equals pleasure. This returns sensitivity, so when you’re with a partner, natural sex feels intense enough to keep you hard.

Try Mindfulness

Trying mindfulness is an excellent way to stop performing and start feeling. Instead of worrying about how you look or how long you last, focus entirely on the sensations of warmth, texture, or breathing. By lowering anxiety stress, you stop adrenaline from killing the mood, and allow your body to relax so that blood can flow naturally again.

Should I Stop Watching Porn If I Have PIED?

Yes, you should stop watching porn if you have PIED. PIED causes your brain to have a preference for porn over people, so cutting off porn is the way to fix the problem. By cutting off porn, you give your mind and body time to heal so that real sex will feel exciting again.

How Can the QUITTR App Help With Overcoming PIED?

Overcoming PIED at its core means reducing or stopping watching porn. Since PIED occurs because your brain has been trained to respond to porn rather than people, the most important step in overcoming it is to remove porn so your brain can reset to normal levels of excitement.

The QUITTR app is designed to help you survive that reset period by providing the tools you need to stay on track. These tools include a Panic Button, education modules, the QUITTR Community, content blocking, and visualized recovery through a gamified progress system.