The Impact of Pornography on Marital Sex

What it is

About a thousand words from Dr. Juli Slattery, and it explains something couples often experience for years without understanding. Pornography use escalates: over time it takes rougher, more explicit, more deviant material to produce the same arousal. The consequence inside a marriage is that a real partner — with her own needs, moods and body — cannot compete with an infinitely novel supply delivered entirely on his terms, and the husband may find himself unable to be aroused by the person he actually loves. Slattery covers the performance anxiety and emotional withdrawal that follow, and insists on approaching it without blame, since neither spouse chose this. The article includes embedded audio and points on to counseling. Free. Its particular value is naming a specific mechanism the couple can then talk about, instead of two people each privately concluding the problem is them.

What it may help with

• We're rebuilding our marriage
• My spouse's porn use has hurt me
• I want to understand the science

How to access it

Web article with embedded audio, about 1,000 words None

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