As more Indians surf for online pornography, despite efforts to ban it, experts caution that excessive exposure to explicit sex on the net may result in some of them turning into porn addicts and hypersexuals. “Obsessive porn viewing can turn some into hyper-sexuals and addicts. This may later lead to porn dependence or even promiscuity, leading to relationship break-ups,” says Dr Manish Jain, senior consultant (psychiatrist) at BLK Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi.
In India, porn watching on internet, particularly among women, is on the rise. They are slowly bridging the gap with their male counterparts who have traditionally been leading consumers of sex online. Today Indian women are 30 percent of the regular visitors to porn websites, says a study undertaken by New York-based news website, The Daily Beast in collaboration with popular sex website Pornhub.
The figure has risen from last year, when 26 percent of Indian visitors were women. The data was collated from nearly 40 million Pornhub users. According to Dr Sameer Malhotra, director (mental health and behavioural sciences) at Max Super Speciality Hospital, too much explicit porn can be associated with a need for stronger visual signals for arousal. “It can make the act feel too mechanical. It can also cause stress in a relationship along with various other problems in one’s romantic and personal life,” he told IANS.
Sexual behaviour and libido, however, vary from person to person. “There is evidence to suggest that watching pornography does result in a greater objectification of both men and women,” stresses Dr Samir Parikh, director of mental health and behavioural sciences at Fortis Hospital in New Delhi. Can excessive porn affect the libido in women? “Results can vary as in some cases, it can increase libido leading to promiscuity and excessive masturbation. In others, however, it may lead to decreased sexual activity in which gratification is attained only by watching pornography,” explains Dr Jain.
