The science of pornography addiction

PORNOGRAPHY ADDICTION

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Sexual tastes vary from person to person. But with the current pornography epidemic as some call it, one has to wonder how exactly this may affect our desires and perception of sexuality. Moreover, how does it affect our sex lives. Pornography constitutes about 25% of all search engine requests, and is the 4th most common reason people give for going on the internet. And well may seem to simply facilitate an instinctual sexual response linked to millions of years of evolution. The truth is pornography has dynamically changed over time ultimately moulding our tastes and desires. The not so shocking truth is that pornography has profound consequences for the brain and acts in many ways like a drug.

Internet porn

With prolonged exposure our tolerance is increased and many often find themselves addicted. Though it is not a physical substance, it leads to the same general loss of control, the compulsiveness to seek out the activity despite negative consequences and withdrawal when it goes away. Much like that of gambling or running for example. The issue is the continued exposure can cause long term or even lifelong neuro-plastic change in the brain. During sexual process, the brain begins narrowing its focus as it releases a tidal wave of endorphins(any of a group of hormones secreted within the brain and nervous system and having a number of physiological functions) and other neurochemicals like dopamine(creates a sharp focus on finding porn), norepinephrine(makes the brain more alert and ready for action), oxytocin(binds the person to the images he sees) and serotonin(elevates someone’s overall sense of excitement and enjoyment). These “natural drugs” produce a tremendous rush or high. 

Dopamine

 

Serotonin

 

Norepinephrine

Dopamine is released as reward whenever we accomplish something whether it be eating to sustain life or sexual activity to produce future life. And this dopamine consolidates neural connections in order to drive us to perform the activity in the future. In other words, it alters and forms the brain cells to motivate certain actions. It rewires our brain. The national institutes of health measure drug addictiveness by testing rats. The rat is trained to press a button in order to get a drug, and the harder it works indicates how addictive the substance is. It turns out that the more addictive a drug is, the more dopamine we see released. And while there is unfortunately no rat porn that we can give to them, we do know that dopamine is also released during sexual excitement which pornography plays right into. The more time we spend doing it, the more dopamine gets released which reinforces the behaviour and makes us not only desire it in the future but require it. And as we begin to imagine these images away from the computer or while having sex, they become reinforced. Further more each orgasm releases even more dopamine which consolidates the connections made during the session. It’s a feedback loop that becomes harder to escape and just like a drug our tolerance for visual stimulation has now compounded, making it more difficult to be turned on by reality. Pornography addiction can often lead to finding our mate less attractive. 

Dopamine causes addiction

 The good news is, it doesn’t have to permanent. Usually when people understand the mechanism and realize it’s affecting their relationships, they can stop. There is logical, scientific explanation behind how and why individuals get trapped in pornography addiction, there is also a tested and proven process for getting them out. The brain is often described as a “use it or lose it” system because the neural connections we stimulate grow stronger and desire to be activated while the ones you ignore become weakened. Much like our muscles which if sitting all day itch for activity but after prolonged non-use they become complacent. Luckily, because this “use it or lose it” brain, the same neuro-plastic system that proliferates these habits can also also be used to acquire healthier ones.