Porn Effects Your Brain
I speak with men daily about how nothing seems to work to help them stop looking at porn. They fear they are not strong enough, or spiritual enough, to conquer their addiction or habit. But, many of them have never considered that their brain may be conditioned to look at porn. In fact, habitual porn use changes the brain. Many men and women carry around unnecessary guilt and shame, and will even give up on the fight before they even understand how to treat their addiction.
“When an one looks at porn, dopamine (the “gotta have it” molecule) is released into the system. The more intense the experience, the more dopamine is released.”
The sheer intensity of internet porn creates a level of stimulation your brain was never intended to experience. As a result, the brain pathways involving the connection between dopamine and porn change neural pathways, and can resemble pathways of an alcoholic or drug addict. Internet porn provides unnatural novelty, as there is no limit on the amount we can consume, and is always on demand. When these elements are combined, it’s no wonder there are so many addicted men and women to porn.
“Your brain can adapt to being over-stimulated, and will continue to crave more and more dopamine because that is how it has been conditioned.”
The more porn you consume, the more dopamine you will get. When a human’s system is overloaded with that desire, the signaling in your brain that is trying to stop it gets desensitized, and leads to the helplessness that so many individuals feel in their fight against porn.
While porn can and does rewire your brain, it can always be rebooted. Our brains are constantly changing, and can be re-wired to the point where the brain no longer has the same kind of reaction to the thought of porn as it used to. To find out more on how to do this, contcat me for a free consultation with our Neurofeedback center @AspenNeuroLab.
Also, check out the book, Surfing for God by @michaeljcusick. That is the reference for this blog post, and I use it with my client’s daily. It is possible to overcome your porn addiction, and that can start with re-wiring your brain.
Contact me at michael@aspencg.com to schedule a free consultation, individual sessions and to learn more about the addiction groups we are offering along the front range.
Additional Resource for you:
The neuroscience of pornography addiction
Pornography addiction is not sex addiction
3 ways pornography rewires the brain