Do you find yourself ditching dates and shags in favour of your right hand? Well, you could be a f**king narcissist. That’s according to Dr. Ramani Durvasula a clinical therapist who specializes in narcissistic behavior.

In a recent video, she explained the correlation between pornographic consumption and narcissistic behaviour and why these types of people are drawn to digital sex over that in real-life.

“The architecture of narcissism fits well with what pornography delivers,” she tells Men’s Health.

“One of the core deficits in narcissism is a deficit in the capacity for intimacy. For narcissistic individuals, relationships largely serve as a tool to regulate their self-esteem, and so their relationships aren’t really about love, reciprocity, respect or mutuality, but rather with the narcissist getting what they want and need from the other person.”

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For those with less toxic tendencies, sex feeds connection, and intimacy, but “for a narcissist, it becomes about power, gratification, control, performance, and validation. And pornography delivers on all of that; it takes sex and boils it into a consumable commodity, and it’s consumable on demand,” Durvasula explains.

“It requires no empathy, no connection, no reciprocity, no respect, and no regard for the other person. It’s superficial and visual, and can feature themes of degradation, control, and power. Above all else, it makes no demands on the narcissist… No demand, all gratification.”

Due to porn’s online accessibility, narcissists continue to feed their intimacy deficit; a problem which often goes undetected until they get into a relationship and the issue is shared between the two partners.

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Durvasula goes on to say that the narcissists relationship with porn often affect their relationship with their partner; resulting in a shame/rage response when confronted by it.

“Too many people in relationships with narcissists will stretch their boundaries to an uncomfortable point. They go along to get along, and it’s not good for your mental health to do that. Don’t feel pressured to give in to their gaslighting.”