Does gooning lower testosterone? It might feel like a strange question if you are unfamiliar with gooning and online forum discussions.
Testosterone is a popular point of discussion on online communities about masturbation and abstinence. Naturally, in the case of gooning also, we can find increased discussions around “Does gooning increase testosterone?” or “Does gooning affect testosterone at all?”
There are two angles to understand the discussion around gooning and testosterone. The first one would be about the scientific and medical evidence. The second angle would be about what people have experienced – anecdotes.
Because, as of now, in discussions around ‘Does gooning affect testosterone?’ There is a huge gap between clinical consensus and what people are sharing on online forums.
Understanding this gap between actual science and ‘bro science’ is the point of this blog.
What Is Gooning?
“Gooning” is a term that is becoming popular in online forums to describe an extreme masturbation habit of extended edging.
As far back as in 2005 itself, the Urban Dictionary defined the word “goon” as a chronic masturbator – a person “stupid on his own cock.” The Reddit forums began to recognize the practice of extreme masturbation and edging as “gooning” around 2019.
A member of a Reddit forum described gooning as “fetishizingporn addiction and edging yourself to porn to kind of enter a brain-dead state where it’s all you can think about.”
Generally, when people watch porn and masturbate, the goal is to achieve sexual release. But when a person is gooning, they practice extreme edging, where they maintain arousal for hours to stay in the trance-like orgasmic state for as long as possible.
H2: Why People Feel “Low Testosterone” After Gooning
Does gooning affect testosterone? We do not have any studies that can answer questions that many people have about gooning, like, does gooning lower testosterone or does gooning increase testosterone?
Then, where do these online theories and anecdotes about gooning lowering testosterone come from?
You can find many people on forums like Reddit sharing that they ended up feeling terrible and lethargic after a gooning session. And these experiences are often falsely linked to gooning when there are scientifically proven and logical factors at play.
Porn and Dopamine Crash
Watching porn is a common method used during masturbation and gooning. But when you watch porn too frequently, it can result in intense dopamine spikes. These spikes are also followed by sharp dopamine falls.
When your brain experiences the high-intensity dopamine rush too frequently, it dampens the receptors. Basically, your brain refuses to expose itself to the dopamine of porn you are hitting with it.
Once the dopamine receptors are dysregulated, the current levels of watching porn can not give you the same dopamine high. You have to escalate your porn use by finding more exciting or extreme content.
As your dopamine high keeps peaking, so do the following crashes. Eventually your brain’s baseline dopamine sensitivity is so hijacked by porn that you will be stuck feeling low all the time – similar to a withdrawal from an addictive drug.
This state of dopamine crash and tolerance can make you feel
- Extremely lethargic, like your body feels too heavy and you can’t muster the motivation to move.
- Brain fog – Your thinking becomes slow and cloudy, and you simply can not concentrate no matter how hard you try.
- Low libido – It seems a bit contradictory because while gooning, you have spent hours in sexual overstimulation. But, post that, your libido can crash.
- Mild depression or feeling of constant low mood.
- The hobbies and activities that you used to enjoy start to feel dull because they cannot match the dopamine high of porn.
All these symptoms are also common in cases with low testosterone. That’s why people often get confused with questions like Does gooning affect testosterone?
Prolactin Effect
After you have an orgasm, your body is flooded with the hormone prolactin. It signals sexual satiety and tells your body that it’s time to rest and recover.
Naturally, to promote rest, prolactin inhibits dopamine, which is a reward-anticipating hormone that motivates you to act and do stuff.
If you have just finished a gooning session with porn, your dopamine is already falling sharply. If prolactin is also released and inhibits dopamine further, then you will feel the low motivation and energy and commonly confuse it as a decrease in testosterone.
Does Gooning Actually Lower Testosterone?
Does gooning lower testosterone?
We do not have any evidence that shows that gooning lowers testosterone permanently.
Endocrinologists agree on the fact that any sexual arousal temporarily increases testosterone and the hormone levels fall back to baseline soon afterwards. It is the physiological design.
The NoFap advocates often quote a 2003 study where it was found that testosterone levels rose after 7 days of abstinence. Therefore, the logical case made is that, the opposite must be true – that frequent masturbation and release should lower testosterone.
But the study has already been retracted. Moreover, the change in testosterone was too small and too temporary, and the sample size was just 28 – all indicators that the data is not representative and can not be relied upon for making clinical decisions.
The Real Effects of Excessive Gooning
We do not have enough evidence to answer questions like, does gooning lower testosterone? Or does gooning affect testosterone?
But should you consider gooning totally harmless? Definitely not! Because gooning, especially excessive gooning, can seriously affect you.
Porn-Induced Erectile Dysfunction (PIED)
You know it’s serious when there is an acronym involved.
When your brain is exposed to too much porn that is highly arousing and high in novelty, your brain gets hooked and drives you to watch more and more.
Eventually you reach a point where real-life sex begins to feel unstimulating. So, men with PIED need porn as a scaffolding even during real-life sex. Otherwise, they cannot get aroused or reach orgasm.
People who practice gooning often do it with the assistance of porn to keep themselves stimulated for hours. As a result of frequent gooning along with porn, you may develop difficulties like PIED.
A Reddit user described the effect of gooning as “Both my brain and my genitals are so desensitized at this point that I could have the hottest girl in the universe right in front of me, and I wouldn’t be unable to have sex with her.”
Changes to Your Brain
We now know that excessive porn watching can change your brain’s reward pathways. It is not an abstract change; it’s an actual physical change in the structure of your brain that results in more porn-seeking behavior.
As you spend more time gooning and watching porn, it becomes harder to quit because your brain has already built that addiction architecture.
Lost Time
When you are gooning for hours, either you are using a big chunk of your day or missing sleep to stay aroused for hours.
So, naturally this lost time will affect your productivity and performance. As with any addictive habits, real-life goals begin to get abandoned to feed the gooning habit.
How can BlockP help You Quit Porn and Gooning
When you have decided to quit gooning, what should be the first step?
It should be to stop gooning before the urge builds. The starting point of a gooning session is usually porn and masturbation. So, quitting porn is the first step towards a life free of gooning.
But when porn is so easily available on your phone and you keep seeing sexual content on social media and mainstream websites, how do you quit it? It feels so hard.
That’s where a porn blocker like BlockP can change the game for you. BlockP is the best adult content blocker because it not just blocks porn but also helps with behavior change.
1. Block Porn
BlockP uses AI-powered filters to detect any adult content, whether nudity or semi-nude content, on any website or app on your phone.
It also has a blocklist where you can add any website or keyword that you find personally triggering. You can also completely block social media apps or restrict short videos or searches.
2. Prevent Relapse
Your willpower can get weak at times, and you will be tempted to watch porn and go back to gooning.
During these times of vulnerability, BlockP keeps you safe with features like password protection, uninstall prevention, reboot prevention, and blocking access in incognito or guest mode.
3. Accountability
People often find workarounds when the urges become too strong. So, just digital protection can not be complete in itself. For such moments, BlockP has an accountability partner option.
Your accountability partner will get an immediate notification if you try to watch porn. So, they can intervene and help you prevent relapsing into old habits.
4. Community Support
BlockP has support communities on Reddit and Discord where you can connect with others who are struggling with gooning.
When Should You See a Doctor?
Does gooning lower testosterone? No, but if you have stopped gooning and porn for a significant time (say 30 to 60 days) but are still experiencing the symptoms like brain fog or low energy or mild depression, then you must consult a medical professional.
There may be other health reasons – hormonal or otherwise that are causing your issues. In such a case, you may need medical intervention and not just a lifestyle change.
