How Watching Porn Can Escalate Into More Extreme Behavior
Consider Before Consuming
Fight the New Drug
4.8 • 779 Ratings
🗓️ 4 March 2026
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussions of sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse in an educational and prevention-focused context. Listener discretion is advised.
Dr. Alexandra Bailey is a forensic psychologist, Head of Psychology at the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, and a leading expert in the prevention of child sexual abuse.
In this episode of Consider Before Consuming, she shares how harmful online behaviors can develop, and how pornography can play a role in that process for some individuals. As content has become more accessible, anonymous, and extreme, we explore how patterns of use can shift over time, including desensitization, novelty-seeking, and reinforcement.
We also talk about how the internet and emerging technologies like AI are changing the landscape, and how factors like shame, isolation, and mental health can keep people stuck in harmful cycles.
Most importantly, this conversation focuses on prevention—what it looks like, why it matters, and how resources like Stop It Now are helping people seek support before harm happens.
Along the way, we get into questions people are already asking: Does porn escalate? Why do I need more extreme porn? Is AI porn harmful? What should parents know about porn, sexting, and online safety?
Episode Resources:
- Article: Can Porn Use Escalate to Illegal Content? What Research and Real Stories Show
- Conversation Blueprint: Let's Talk About Porn
- The Lucy Faithfull Foundation: Stop It Now
- Research Paper: What's Porn Got To Do With It
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Here at Fight the New Drug, we talk a lot about the impact pornography can have on mental health, |
| 0:06.6 | relationships, sexual health, and the world around us. And if you've felt that impact personally, |
| 0:12.5 | it's important to know this. You're not alone. That's why Relay exists. Relay is an app designed |
| 0:18.6 | to give you real support as you work toward lasting change. It connects you |
| 0:22.6 | with a small, private group of people who understand what you're going through, people who show up when it matters. |
| 0:28.6 | Relay isn't about shame or judgment. It's about accountability, encouragement, and learning how to move |
| 0:33.9 | forward together. And if anonymity matters to you, Relay has you covered, no names, just support. |
| 0:40.2 | If you're ready to stop doing this alone, |
| 0:42.3 | try Relay for free today at FtnD.org |
| 0:46.1 | forward slash join Relay. Today we're joined by Dr. Alexandra Bailey, a forensic psychologist and head of psychology at the Lucy Faithful Foundation, a UK-based organization focused on preventing child sexual abuse. |
| 1:14.3 | In this episode, Alexandra shares about how harmful online behaviors can develop, including the role |
| 1:21.0 | pornography can play and how escalation can happen over time. |
| 1:25.6 | We discuss how patterns of use can shift, how the internet has |
| 1:29.7 | changed access to more extreme content, and why shame can keep people stuck in harmful cycles. |
| 1:36.8 | We also talk about prevention, what it looks like, why it matters, and how resources like |
| 1:43.2 | Stop It Now are helping people get support before |
| 1:46.4 | harm happens. |
| 1:47.9 | With that, let's jump in. |
| 1:50.2 | We hope you enjoy this episode of Consider Before Consuming. |
| 1:55.2 | Well, Alexandra, thank you so much for joining us today on Consider Before Consuming. |
| 1:59.7 | To start, can you tell us a bit about |
| 2:01.1 | who you are and what led you into forensic psychology? So, obviously, I'm Alexandra Bailey. I am the |
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