Internet porn 'rewiring' young brains, Halifax therapists say

Two Halifax psychotherapists say they’re treating an increasing number of young men who can't feel emotional attachment to sexual partners after watching years of internet pornography.

Mary and Peter Goodman were prompted to speak publicly about their concerns in the wake of the Dalhousie University dentistry student Facebook scandal and other headline-grabbing stories of misogyny.

They say in the last 10 years that more men between 25 and 35 years of age are coming for therapy because they are unable to feel close to their partners.

“When they start to open up and talk more freely about it, essentially what they’re saying is they really don’t care about the person they’re with at all. But they want to,” Peter Goodman says.

These men have become emotionally walled-off from partners as their brains are rewired, Goodman says.

The problem for some men who watch large amounts of porn is, as time goes by, they need more stimulation and aggressive porn in order to get aroused.

“I think we’re at a tipping point with this phenomenon,” Mary Goodman says.

The Goodmans, who operate EastWind Health Associates in Halifax, say the problem is treatable through therapy.

Peter Goodman says some men initially deny viewing any porn online, but later reveal they do. He says they’re not lying; internet porn has simply become so much a part of society that they don’t view themselves as “hard core” users.

There’s been increasing concern in recent years over the ease at which young people can access porn. With a couple of keywords and the click of a mouse, internet users can watch degrading and violent videos.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said in 2013 that pornography was "corroding childhood, and introduced a plan for internet providers to block access to porn unless customers specifically opted-in.

Closer to home, Tri-County Women’s Centre in Yarmouth recently hosted a conference called The Impact of Growing up in our Porn Culture.