A simple Google search away, pornography is more accessible now than ever before.

With it being so readily available at our fingertips, porn use is more rampant than ever. Pornhub.com, which prides itself on being the world’s biggest porn site, released its 2017 stats last month. Last year alone, the site had 28.5 billion visits, averaging 81 million daily views.

This past September, an Ottawa woman’s daughter caught someone viewing pornography at a local library. This has once again brought porn into mainstream conversations.

And although most people viewing porn will likely do so from the comfort of their homes, a question has been raised regarding what we are to do about the consumption of such sensitive material – or if we should view it at all.

There are national organizations such as Fight the New Drug (United States) and Strength to Fight (Canada), which seek to inform people of the harmful effects of pornography, in an effort to discourage people from viewing. And it’s a subject about which many people have strong views.

So it’s not just your grandma who’s trying to steer you away from the pornographic world. But before you decide to get down and dirty in your next porn viewing, here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Porn damages a person’s dignity

Although viewing porn might seem as though it’s only between you and your laptop, some say it strips away the dignity of those you are watching. In the past few months alone, five prominent female porn stars died from suicide due to cyberbullying, drug overdoses and more.

“The most harmful effect of porn use, I believe, comes from the objectification of the women and men in porn,” says Kate Keenan, a first-year civil engineering student at Carleton University.

“It’s also jarring and saddening to witness the effects of porn on fellow students,” she says. “To hear a group of boys objectifying female classmates or discussing their porn use in lectures, for example. It can feel like an uphill battle to fight for the dignity of the human person, but it is most certainly worth fighting the porn culture.”

2. It harms relationships

One of Fight the New Drug’s popular taglines is, “Porn kills love.”

The organization, which is an anti-porn group based in Utah, says that pornography consumption harms relationships and “many partners of porn users end up depressed, anxious and feeling like they can never measure up to the impossible standard of porn.”

The organization says that when young people view porn, it’s harder for them to connect with real romantic partners and they are unable to be turned on by something other than images on a screen – leading to less satisfying sex for one or both parties.

3. You can become addicted

Although it’s uncertain as to whether or not the compulsive use of porn can be considered an addiction, it is possible for you to reach a point where you can’t stop.

“Unlike food and water, you can survive without porn,” says Michael Browning, an Ottawa-based certified sex addiction therapist at The Whitestone Clinic. “You can survive without it if you want to, but if you become a compulsive user, you’ll feel as though you can’t survive without it.”

Of all sex-related addictions that Browning helps clients overcome, pornography seems to be the most difficult to give up.

“Not everyone gets addicted (to porn), but everyone who gets addicted has a horrible experience with it,” says Browning. “No one gets into it thinking they’re going to get addicted. But if you compulsively use (porn) over a period of time, your brain is going to think it’s the norm.”

4. A screen can’t replace a person

Those whom you see in porn are people you’ll never meet. They are people you can’t touch, speak to or develop a relationship with.

“I think the most harmful effect of porn use is the fact that people turn to porn instead of human relationships,” says Hunter Langill, a first-year biology student at the University of Ottawa.

“I think there’s an important need for human relationships. But with porn, who really needs those relationships when all your sexual desires are at your fingertips on your phone?”

5. Porn use may damage your brain

The brain’s prefrontal cortex, which controls our ability to make decisions, is not developed until 25. Viewing pornography can hinder the development of your prefrontal cortex. While viewing porn might seem harmless, it may be hindering your decision-making abilities. This, in turn, could cause one to lose the ability to act freely once pornography becomes a regular habit.

“We tell people to do what they want, but the scientific reality is you’re losing the ability to do what you want,” says Josh Gilman, executive director for Strength to Fight, an Ottawa-based group that exists to “equip and empower people to live porn-free lives and porn-free communities.”

Gilman says the hours people spend viewing porn could be used for more productive things, and that’s worth talking about.

“Whether or not it’s a moral or amoral issue, we need to be able to have a conversation of what we’re actually doing and what we’re allowing. Is this a net good for the world?”