Pornography Addiction, Neuroscience now recognizes that the human brain is adaptive. It changes through experience, and the brain connects with everything we see, hear, or know. From actively participating in a philosophy class discussion to navigating a new city, to seemingly passively sitting around listening to music or watching TV — our brain makes instant connections with everything we do, and these connections define who we are as humans. Pornography Addiction is a silent but terrifying problem that has become an epidemic. Men are more likely to be affected than women.
Pornography Addiction
Most articles on the harmful aspects of this topic usually discuss the subject from a psychological and/or social perspective. However, this article will shed light on the harmful effects of watching Pornography Addiction, from a neuroscientific perspective.
The conventional model through which human learning and memory are explained is based on synaptic plasticity. Synaptic plasticity is the brain’s ability to control the strength of connections between its neurons (brain cells) in response to experience. This ability includes controlling how much and what kind of neural behavior will be expressed, as well as how much neurotransmitter (a molecular structure of a neurotransmitter) will be released. Most people know about dopamine from the cases of famous people such as Muhammad Ali or Michael J. Fox suffering from Parkinson’s disease. People develop this disease when dopamine malfunctions in the body.
Dopamine is an essential neurotransmitter in the brain. Its role is very important. Because it participates in conscious movement, motivation, reward, punishment, and learning processes. Dopamine is also involved in ADHD (Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder) in children, cognitive decline, and depression.
122366-425×425-crack3Dopamine plays an integral role in the feeling of pleasure, reward, learning, etc. The effectiveness of drugs like cocaine is centered on the dopaminergic system. The effectiveness of these drugs results in the release of large amounts of dopamine. As a result, a “high level of energy or feeling of pleasure” is created in the body, which gradually becomes addictive. According to the results of multiple studies, dopamine creates an atmosphere of pleasure or plays a role in providing direct pleasure. Depending on different regions of the brain, dopamine is released at the moment of extreme pleasure, or after pleasure. During this release, dopamine strengthens and reinforces the new connections in the brain with physical activity, which encourages the person to do the same thing again and again to get that pleasure.
How does this relate to Pornography Addiction? Watching scenes of sexual activity on screen creates sexual arousal, which activates the dopaminergic system. Drugs like cocaine do exactly this. The newly formed connections in the brain as a result of watching scenes of sexual activity on screen are further strengthened by the large amount of dopamine released. As a result, instead of going into short-term memory — where the scenes would be erased from the mind after the screen is turned off — the scenes seen on screen enter permanent memory due to the reinforcement process of dopamine. Here, the scenes become firmly embedded in the viewer’s mind in replay mode (replay mode – repeatedly flashing before the eyes). The problem is that the more something is remembered, the more it becomes permanent in the brain. Think back to those school days — when you were memorizing a topic for an exam, you would repeat it over and over again until it became ingrained in your mind!
Pornography Addiction is fantasy. Seeing a new woman in each new scene gives the viewer the illusion that he is having a new relationship with a new woman each time. The “star” actresses of Pornography Addiction make themselves the victims of degrading and humiliating sexual acts by men. These sexual acts are completely obscene and disgusting to most mentally healthy people. The function of the script of pornography is to insert sexual acts that are not sexually pleasurable into a couple of familiar and naturally sexually arousing behaviors. In this way, the viewer is introduced to new sexual behaviors. Along with the unrealistic fantasies, a kind of electromagnetic wave is emitted from the screen that causes a chemical reaction in the brain. As a result, dopamine is released. As a result, a kind of real feeling is created, but the pleasure and satisfaction that is created is nothing more than deceiving oneself. Dopamine strengthens the connections in the brain with the newly found sexual satisfaction. As a result, the man then calls his wife to engage in the imaginary sexual behavior stored in his subconscious mind.
The flow of events that occurs in the brain is very complex and simple. As a result of watching Pornography Addiction, synaptic plasticity creates new connections in the brain. As a result, newly acquired memories are stored. In this case, Since knowledge is associated with sexual arousal, the newly created connections are many times stronger through the release of dopamine, and as the scenes seen on the screen are stored in the permanent memory, two things happen:
1) Pornography Addiction stimulates the same brain structure that cocaine stimulates. As a result, addiction is born.
2) The man often wants to reenact these scenes with his wife, the inevitable result of which is disappointment. The expectation of this reenactment is not fulfilled. Because instead of several new women, there is only one wife. What is even more terrible is that the sexual tone, behavior, physical appeal, etc. of this one woman will never match those new women stored in the man’s mind. Maybe the first couple of reenactments can be quite exciting and enjoyable. But soon reality will come and when the pleasure is no longer available, the release of dopamine will also stop.
Sadly, the story does not end here. When unrealistic and unrealistic expectations lead to disappointment, the brain will not only stop releasing dopamine; in fact, the level of dopamine will drop below the lowest level and reach the level of depression. This will lead to disappointment, dissatisfaction, and unrest in the marital life. Because the wife is not “the way he expects.” Despite many women trying to make themselves more attractive, even giving themselves to their husbands for self-deprecating, perverted sexual acts, husbands addicted to pornography will experience only a short time of pleasure and will lose interest in a short time. As a result, despite their best efforts, the wife will feel unattractive and emotionally abandoned. Yet she will not even know that she is not able to compete with the dopamine of pornography.
The exciting fact about this is that the brain works as a whole; its scope of functioning is omnipresent. As a result, when a specific area of the brain changes, other parts are also affected. Pornography Addiction rearranges all the neural connections in the entire brain. How this affects other parts of the brain and their functioning is a different area of research that deserves close attention.
Although neuroscience paints a rather depressing picture of people addicted to Pornography Addiction, it is not entirely bad news. Although Pornography Addiction, and cocaine attack the same brain structures, the consequences of the two are not entirely the same. To detoxify the relevant brain structures, the cocaine addict must go through a systematic and consistent process. Otherwise, his life is at risk. On the other hand, many people who have learned about the real and obvious harms of watching pornography can immediately stop watching pornography without suffering any negative psychological consequences. This requires great willpower and keeping yourself busy with various activities. The distracting scenes of Pornography Addiction that one has seen in the past will continue to float before one’s eyes, which is a difficult test of one’s will and determination to give up Pornography Addiction. Fortunately, the brain’s neural connections that have been rewired due to pornography viewing can be rewired. The brain is a very efficient organ that can get rid of unused connections. The longer a person does not rewire the connections of Pornography Addiction, the more likely it is for the brain to rewire those connections. Again, if one engages in previous experiences and keeps the brain busy with sexually arousing things, it will inevitably rewire other connections. The brain only needs time and choice to perform the task. The brain will accept as its choice what the person repeatedly activates in his brain.
To get more about How Does Watching Pornography Addiction Change the Brain? If you found our post helpful leave a comment below.
