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supressing extreme desires

Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2026 9:22 am
by xtr
sorry for bad english not a native

I discovered porn really early (when i was in 5th grade) and since the last 3 years or so I've been watching it pretty regularly (basically everyday 1-2 times), as you may have heard that the more you watch the less you find the vanilla and mainstream stuff provocative and drift on to more extreme and niche stuff. I am at this point now where i can only watch extreme content (extreme in the sense that most people don't watch these, nothing illegal).

I feel that if I date a regular person in the future most probably they aren't into this stuff. So what should I do, live with these desires and don't ever confront them or either look for someone who is into this stuff. Both the options are kinda undesirable and especially the last one because first, it will get exponentially harder for me to find someone (since most people don't have these kinks) and second, there are a lot of things that I value in a relationship other than sex.

Even if I quit porn in the future (which I want to do) and these desires and fetishes get suppressed in some part of my brain, I strongly feel like they will resurface in some form (because watching these videos has basically been a daily routine for years) and will affect my relationship in a negative way.

Will these desires completely disappear if I quit porn?

Is there a big difference between getting aroused by something and actually wanting to try it in real life (is the arousal itself a sign that you want to try it)?

Are there people who have weird fetishes but don't end up actually trying them in real life and are also pretty satisfied with their sex life?

Re: supressing extreme desires

Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2026 11:13 am
by Sofi
Hi xtr, don’t worry about your English, it’s great.

It’s actually not necessarily true that the more someone watches porn the more they drift into “extreme stuff”. Plenty of people consume sexual media that you’re considering “vanilla” and stick to that. Either way, it’s not morally right or wrong to watch more niche categories on mainstream sites, although there are general problems with mainstream porn. You can read more about that and how it often affects people in real life here:
Sex on Screen: Reality-Checking Mainstream Porn

There’s also so much for us to talk about here, but instead of overwhelming you with information right away, let’s try to address just one or two things first and take it from there.

To answer this question: “Is there a big difference between getting aroused by something and actually wanting to try it in real life (is the arousal itself a sign that you want to try it)?”
Yes, it’s very common for people to get aroused by types of sexual media and fantasies that they don’t actually want to do in real life and/or never do. That’s why it’s so important to be able to separate fantasies from reality and porn from real sex. They’re not the same thing and while sexual media and fantasies can be a great way to connect with and explore your sexuality, it’s important to understand that that’s just what they are.

We don’t often use the terms ‘kink’ or ‘fetish’ here because they’re honestly overused and usually don’t apply when people use them. A lot of what people call a kink or a fetish is just a sexual preference. We don’t believe there are “weird fetishes” either as we also don’t use the word ‘weird’ to describe sexual preferences.

A question I want to ask you that will help us continue this conversation is: why do you think you will have to give up exploring your sexual interests just to be in a relationship?