Does Porn Make You Socially Awkward
Can watching a lot of porn make you feel more awkward in social situations?
Well, strange as it may sound, that seem to be the case.
Yes, porn can make you socially awkward, especially if you have formed addiction related brain changes and are now a bit addicted to internet porn. And some guys who watch porn feel that they become more socially awkward even though they are 100% sure that they have not developed an addiction to it.
The good news is, once people give it up, their social confidence tends to increase. And for some, it skyrockets to levels they did never expect.
A poll showing porn addiction making people more socially awkward
Let's start by taking a look at a poll I did on my YouTube channel Project Stronger Self
The question I asked was…
Do you feel that addiction to adult sites made you more socially awkward?
Here's the results…
As you can see, more than 1100 people participated in the poll.
- 12% said: my addiction is better now, but nothing has changed socially
- 52% said: my addiction is better now, and I feel a lot more at ease in social situations
- 29% said: I'm still too addicted, so I can't say, and yes, I feel socially awkward
- 6% said: I'm still very addicted, but I don't feel socially awkward at all
So, an overwhelmingly clear majority of the votes points towards porn making people feel more socially awkward.
Comments about social awkwardness from guys trying to quit porn…
Let's take a look at a few comments some of the guys left in the community section under different polls I've made over the months…
I’d say at 54 days in mate it got so much worse before it got better. Only now am I slowly starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of anxiety and flatline depression. Socially it was the same story. -Virtually Walking-
“I don't feel awkward in social situations anymore” -Severus Vape-
“I used to think that I was an introvert, but now that I drastically reduced porn, I've been craving social interaction a lot more. It's a huge difference, maybe that “introvert/extrovert” thing is a myth. I'm guessing we all have a natural tendency to be more extroverted because that's just human nature, perhaps it's our addictions that limit our true potential in life.
However, there are 2 exceptions: – When my gf and I have too much sex, I feel really sluggish and much less outgoing the next day or couple of days. Perhaps too many ejaculations in a short period of time cause this “introverted” effect. – The flatline made me feel shy and social awkward again. It's a really tough time but I'm sure it's temporary, when the flatline is over I expect to get back to my normal state again.” -Nuno Santos-
“Yes it's a lot more easy to be sociable. Energy is higher” -Himato Thoughts-
Nofap has made me a whole different person. From childhood I was a shy, anxious and introvert type of person who would always choose flight in a fight or flight situation, but now after about 50+ days of nofap I can face any person or situation with utmost calmness. My built up sexual energy is like a inner fire within me which is always ready to attack and resolve any problem with minimum efforts. -Deepak Meena-
When i was addicted deeply, I felt more ashamed to talk to opposite genders. This had created a negative self esteem to me, and made me think I was introvert. But before this addiction, I was a extrovert. I used to speak with everyone and had no anxiety. And now I'm on nofap, socializing has became easy to me. -Rahava Prasanna-
“I'm generally an introvert so I do not seek interactions with strangers, however, addiction has made me quite awkward, etc. Now that I'm over it I think I'm back to my usual self: not seeking social interactions but functioning ok in them and not being awkward, etc. I can do them now easily and confidently just choose to avoid usually.” -Anterope-
“Meeting people is fun, talking to them too, but when you are addicted to P, your dopamine level is low, so talking to people is not that fun, just like many other activities. So when something doesn't makes you happy what is the point of doing that? That's why I'm avoiding people very often.” -Gacuch Gackowski-
So, those where just a few comments I've got about social confidence and quitting porn.
Very much related to this is another poll I made where I asked the following question…
Do you notice less social anxiety after going without porn for a while? (poll #2)
More than 2600 people participated in the poll, and 84% said that they notice less social anxiety when going without watching porn for some time.
The poll definitely shows the same as the poll at the top of the page, namely, a big correlation between porn and social awkwardness and social anxiety.
But how can porn make you socially awkward?
There are probably several reasons for this, shame and guilt certainly may play a part fro some guys, but another reason has to do with your dopamine system.
Here's the deal…
Too much online porn can cause a disrupted dopamine system in your brain. And that, in turn, can cause a host unpleasant symptoms. Symptoms like for example…
- Decreased motivation and drive
- Poor concentration and focus
- Lower libido
- Depression
- Lower self-esteem
- Social anxiety
- Feelings of fear and shame
The last three pointers there really do a good job of explaining how porn could make a person start feeling socially awkward, wouldn't you say?
The dopamine system can be fixed…
The good news is that, once the porn addicted guys decide to give it up, and tear themselves away from the screen, the dopamine system will slowly, but surely, return to normal.
It takes a few weeks though.
30 to 90 days…
It usually takes guys anywhere from 30-90 days to start seeing improvements, but once they do, the changes can be so profound that many of them feel like they've been giving a new lease of life.
Now, some may need a longer time than 90 days -as we all have different brains- but most people who give up the porn have started to see some really nice benefits by the third month mark.
But how can porn cause a disrupted dopamine system?
Porn is a so called supernormal stimulus.
Meaning, it's an exaggerated version of what we've been biologically programmed to respons to. E.g. sex. But then the novelty of the internet makes it so that it's very easy to override your natural satiation mechanism.
I made a video a while back, showing exactly how this happen…
How porn causes a disrupted dopamine system…
I hope you found the video informative.
If you did, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel here for more helpful videos.
Remember now, you can ‘reset' your dopamine system…
I feel it's important to end on a good note, and really make sure that you understand that a disrupted dopamine system is not something that is permanent. Not if it's caused by an addiction or overstimulation of dopamine.
You can “reset” it by simply removing yourself from what caused it. I.e. quitting your addition.
In the porn addiction community, this process is called “rebooting” or doing a PMO reboot (PMO stands for porn/masturbation/orgasm).
You can >>Download<< my Quit Porn Guide for FREE right now!
Fix your brain…
I highly recommend you check out my YouTube channel for this, as it is filled with helpful tools and tips on exactly that; how to reboot in the best and fastest way.
Some other helpful resources…
- You can download my free quitting porn guide
- You can check out my 1 on 1 coaching page
- You can read about a good course for overcoming porn addiction
I also recommend you educate yourself more about what happens inside your brain when you become addicted to porn. To do so you can check out the following three articles…
Thanks for reading,
-Scandinavian Bob-
F.A.Q's About Quitting Porn…
Q: I gave up porn 2 weeks ago, but I feel much worse now. What's going on?
A: This is very normal. Believe it or not, but one can actually get withdrawal symptoms when giving up porn. This happens if a person has formed addiction related brain changes from all the many sessions he has been logging in over the years. Don't worry, though, the first 3 weeks are often the hardest. Most people start feeling a whole lot better after about a month or so. For more info on this, see the article, PMO withdrawal symptoms.
Q: My friend told me that when he gave up porn he started getting stronger morning erections. Can this really be true?
A: Absolutely. In fact, most guys notice this. Porn really desensitize your sexuality, often to the point of hammering your libido, erections and everything associated to it. Remove the porn and your libido and boners come back to life…so to speak. And not just morning and night wood, but erections during sex as well, be it night, morning, day or whatever.
Q: Is quitting porn hard?
A: It can be very hard for many people, yes. For many, it has become a real addiction.