Anxiety increases sexual arousal according to study, adding weight to the taboo argument

Hey guys ,

I've decided to share some interesting findings which I feel may bring some comfort and understanding to those who are struggling with porn addiction, or other sexual addictions which may not meet your more natural and preferred sex lifestyle.

As a very anxious person who also overthinks constantly, something which gives me a lot of comfort and more clarity is coming by peer-reviewed journals which seek to provide more clarity into themes which are still very much untapped in terms of research - porn addiction and its offshoot effects being one of them.

To provide some context into my own struggles, I have been chronically masterbating to porn since I was 14 (I'm now 28), and along the way my tastes started to become more extreme and out of the ordinary. I've sadly masterbated to repulsive themes such as beastiality and incest, and started to get turned on by gay sex, which is not repulsive in anyway or form, but isn't something which I have naturally gravitated towards (or at least I don't think so based upon me not finding men attractive). However, the gay fantasies have definitely been the ones which have taken over in terms of unwanted thoughts which don't appear to match my sexual orientation, and it has given me a lot of grief as I still find women attractive, but have sadly experienced PIED (I like to think as a result of chronic porn use), which has only served to further confuse me and have me doubt my sexuality.

Anyhow, the positive thing which has come out of all of this confusion is that because things haven't been black and white to me (and things don't seem to add up), it has motivated me to do some digging into potential explanations and causes relating to porn addiction, and how men can be aroused by things which don't appear to meet normal preferences.

So the first study I came across was quite an old one (1983), but co-authored by one of the most reputable and cited psychologists in the world, David H Barlow. I have linked the study below for those who want to delve more into it.

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1983-09491-001

The study basically maintains that anxiety increases sexual arousal, and I know almost immediately, many of you will find this study VERY interesting, and the reason I know this is because having read many people's stories on this forum, the one thing which nearly always comes up (directly or in-directly) is anxiety.

This is especially interesting because this would explain why certain out of the ordinary fantasies or habits may be arousing, as the 'illicit' or 'taboo' nature of these things do cause a lot of anxiety for people, and the psychologist Leon Seltzer appears to hold the opinion that this goes hand in hand with sexual arousal. I have placed his article below:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/...5/the-secret-taboo-aspects-male-sexual-desire

Here is an excerpt from the article which I think really resonates with me personally, and potentially with many of you too:

"The next topic I’d like to cover is the sexually arousing cue of transgression: that is, outrageous acts that are inordinately exciting precisely becausethey’re so fraught with danger. Interestingly enough, though this post centers on men’s secret or forbidden desires, these powerful activators of erotic impulse seem to be equally shared by women. This indirectly suggests that there’s something about abandoning ourselves to our id and behaving in ways that are physically or socioculturally risky that can powerfully turn us on"

Seltzer then goes on to reference Ogas and Gaddam (two noted neuroscientists on sexual desires), and the following is also incredibly interesting:

"Ogas and Gaddam are unable to find a logical societal, cultural, or evolutionary explanation for this (well) “uncivilized” preference. So by default, they attribute the phenomenon (in both sexes) to “a strange quirk of our brain wiring” (p. 176). As they describe it, our sympathetic nervous system, which controls many unconscious processes, is what governs our fight-or-flight response. This system, when confronted by something that scares us, prepares us to act by speeding up our heart, increasing muscular blood flow, and deepening our breathing. But—surprise!—the sympathetic nervous system also controls another autonomic behavior: namely, orgasm"


So as can be seen my fellow nofappers, there is an incredibly interesting (and quite convincing) explanation as to why certain 'taboo' or 'illicit' activities are a real turn on. This can 'potentially' (this is just one possible explanation) explain why people may pursue the following:

*Extreme porn

*Prostitutes/escorts

*Gay sex or fantasies (note: this will resonate more with guys who find women attractive, and don't really find men attractive outside of a taboo and illicit sexual setting)

*Role reversals (sissy play)

Anyway, I hope this was helpful to you all, and please feel free to give me your thoughts on everything I found. I am by no means an expert academic, however I do think for many of us, having explanations is incredibly important, and can potentially be the most important factor in recovery. No one likes to be left in the dark.