IRVING, Texas – Heads up, guys. The next time you can’t get the little head up, blame porn. Maybe you can found an online community dedicated to helping other men deny a potentially serious medical condition.
Gabe Deem, 26, did exactly that. When he found himself unable to perform with a woman he found attractive, he turned to the only possible explanation: “a steady and increasingly shocking diet of online porn.”
He now calls the condition “porn-induced erectile dysfunction.” After cutting the cord to internet smut, he said he required nine months to reclaim his ability to perform.
Deem subsequently founded the online community Reboot Nation, which is devoted to helping other sufferers overcome porn-induced sexual problems. He now travels North America speaking about the way porn deprived him of a healthy relationship with his body.
Erectile dysfunction is caused by a lack of blood flow to the penis. The condition can be symptomatic of life-threatening medical problems including heart disease, as well as transient conditions including depression and performance anxiety. No man should assume chronic erectile dysfunction is due to any specific cause without consulting medical professionals.
Deem claims to have eliminated other potential causes before deciding a nearly lifelong fascination with porn “trained” his brain to prefer masturbation over intercourse. He said he began masturbating to magazines at eight and worked his way up to graphic internet porn by age 12. He has not mentioned how he came to possess material clearly not intended to be in his possession.
Nevertheless porn, not poor parenting, is the villain.
“Internet porn has a never-ending novelty which keeps the dopamine soaring in the brain, which is where you’re looking at brain changes,” he told the Toronto Sun as an explanation for his inability to maintain an erection when not viewing porn. “The good news is when you unhook from porn, some of those acquired tastes reverse themselves.
“Internet porn is really screwing with a whole generation of younger users who aren’t aware of its negative effects.”
Perhaps someone should a found a community to help “younger users” place the blame where it belongs: on irresponsible and inattentive parents who allow their children to access inappropriate materials.
