As per a new study, addiction to pornography and video games is leading to a “masculinity crisis.”
Stanford University’s Phillip Zimbardo, who conducted a detailed study into the lives of 20,000 young men and their relationships with videogames and porn, said that their focus is on young men who play videogames in excess and do so while they are alone.
Zimbardo added that since these men are playing excessive video games and as a break, watching at least two hours of porn per week, there is a “crisis” amongst them, a high number of whom are experiencing a “new form of addiction” to excessive use of porn and video games.
Citing the research, Zimbardo noted that playing videogames for long hours begins to change the reward centre of the brain and produces a kind of excitement and addiction, resulting in brains becoming digitally rewired.
He also mentioned the growing problem of a disputed phenomenon called “porn-induced erectile dysfunction or PIED” in which young boys who should be virile are now having a problem getting an erection.
In his opinion, the solution is to accept that the problem is serious, parents must become aware of the number of hours a child is spending alone in their room playing games and watching porn at the expense of other activities.
He also called for better sex education in schools, which should focus not only on biology and safety, but also on emotions, physical contact and romantic relationships.
Zimbardo has made the arguments in his latest book ‘Man (Dis)Connected.’
