Research & Evidence
This platform keeps two kinds of information separate: what people report, and what scientific research has found. The detailed, sourced evidence layer lives on the knowledge base, where claims are tied to their sources and clearly marked when the evidence is missing or mixed.
How evidence is handled
Scientific content is sourced independently from community experience, using authoritative tiers: the WHO / ICD-11, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, peer-reviewed journals, and professional organizations. Community material is never used as scientific evidence. See Methodology.
Key topics
Problematic Pornography Use
What PPU is and how it is defined in research.
Compulsive Sexual Behaviour Disorder (CSBD)
The ICD-11 diagnosis and how it relates to pornography use.
Withdrawal
Whether a distinct withdrawal syndrome exists and what evidence shows.
Pornography and Erectile Function
The debated link between pornography use and erectile function.
Dopamine and Pornography
What the brain's reward system does and does not tell us.
The Flatline
A community term, and what evidence exists for it.
The Addiction Debate
Whether PPU is best understood as addiction, compulsion, or impulse-control.
Relapse
What is known about relapse in compulsive behaviors.
A note on the state of the evidence
Much of this field is genuinely unsettled. Whether problematic pornography use is best understood as an addiction, a compulsion, or an impulse-control problem is debated. Whether a distinct withdrawal syndrome exists, and whether pornography use affects sexual function or the brain in lasting ways, are open questions. This platform says so plainly rather than presenting a settled picture.