The Reward Foundation is a pioneering health education charity looking at the research around love, sex and relationships. Most people want to fall in love and live happily ever after as we see in films, but alas, it's not as simple as that. Good relationships don't come ready made. They are carefully created over time. They require kindness, a variety of interpersonal skills and an awareness about why love is important in our lives. 

Today there is also the challenge of internet pornography. Many people think that it provides a short term cure for stress, boredom, loneliness, anxiety and generally feeling low. As it turns out, short term fixes like porn usually lead to more problems in the long term. Few people appreciate that these websites and social media platforms are specifically designed to be addictive, to change our brains and to keep users hooked with ever novel stimuli. Bingeing on this material over time can lead to unwanted brain changes. It can result in a feeling of deep emptiness, emotional separation from those around us, paranoia, jealousy and even produce sexual dysfunctions in some.

Our charity looks at these matters in detail along with effective coping mechanisms for stress and information on problematic pornography use. 

Our name comes from the 'reward system' of the brain, the part responsible for motivating behaviour of all kinds and learning. It's where we fall in and out of love. It works best when it is in balance. This system can be hijacked and diverted by artificially strong 'rewards' such as drugs, alcohol, nicotine and the internet, especially pornography, throwing it out of balance. Internet pornography is  a super-normal or "industrial strength" sexual stimulus. As with cocaine and heroin use, it can lead to compulsive or addictive use in some people.

 “The computer is 'electronic cocaine' for many people. Our brains are wired for finding immediate reward. With technology, novelty is the reward. You essentially become addicted to novelty.” (Professor of neuroscience, Peter Whybrow, UCLA, 2012).

“Of all internet applications, porn has the most potential to become addictive.” (Meerkerk et al., 2006).

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to its effects because of their developing brain. It has emerged that neurodiverse people too can be more vulnerable than neurotypical people to its effects. For instance, autistic people are prone to high levels of stress not least because of challenges with social communication. They are also often great systems thinkers and love the complexity of the internet. They may use the internet therefore as a means to self-soothe emotional distress.

From puberty onwards, many young digital natives are motivated to use porn. They hope to learn how to become great lovers and successful adults. Sadly porn does not teach us about intimacy or love. It can't love you back, but it can distort a user's view of what love and intimacy are in real life. The way this extra strong stimulus pounds the brain can leave the user with depression, social anxiety, sexual dysfunction and even suicidal ideation over time especially in young adults. Some heavy users escalate to illegal material like child sexual abuse material or act out sexual violence. Such offences can lead to time in prison.

Who needs to know?

Parents, users, doctors, psychologists, criminal justice professionals, counsellors, guidance teachers, HR professionals, politicians, and pastoral care leaders and users themselves. Our free online course provides access to the evidence and support you need to make informed decisions about the person you care for and take appropriate action. While the course was originally developed for healthcare professionals, and approved by five senior clinicians at the Royal College of Genera Practitioners, it is suitable for anyone wishing to learn from experts in an accessible way about porn's impact on the brain and behaviour. 

We do not offer therapy nor provide legal advice. However, we do signpost routes to recovery for people whose porn use has become out of control.