Porn addiction is a neural addiction. When you start watching porn, it changes the neural pathways in your brain and the brain then starts to rewire itself and creates an addiction. It’s similar to being addicted to drugs, where the brain and body needs a fix, and what started off as “I want to” feel pleasure, very quickly changes into a “need to” feel pleasure.
You are not addicted to "boobs and arse", your body is addicted to the chemical release in the body.
How does this happen? The brain and body produces all the happy chemicals and hormones (e.g. dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin) when you watch porn, and your body gets addicted to the pleasure created. Just like a drug addiction, your body needs this chemical fix to survive. Whether you’re taking drugs or viewing porn, the addiction process is the same. Your brain rewires itself to accommodate the extra chemicals and you build up a tolerance and a dependency to these chemicals. The part of the brain that’s responsible for making decisions and logically thinking through situations, is the part that’s most affected by porn addiction.
Here’s an excerpt from an article that explains Hypofrontality and the effects of porn on the brain:
"The porn-addicted brain has trouble thinking logically. When impulses and desires come from the midbrain, instead of being moderated, the brain feels these desires as compelling needs. The prefrontal region is supposed to be able to weigh consequences and situations and judiciously shut down cravings, but hypofrontality means the addict’s ability to do this is impaired. To the addict, when the craving for porn surfaces, their whole body gears up for action. As unhindered hormones are released and neurotransmitters fire, the craving consumes them. The heart begins to race, blood pressure rises, and the addict is consumed by a single thought: “Just one more time.”"
I personally don’t believe it even matters what you watch anymore, or how unrealistic it is, or how degrading it is to women, or how violent it is. I think it’s the fact that you’re watching any kind of porn or erotica that starts the addiction and changes the neural pathways in your brain. Many clients say to me that they don’t even like watching it or they wish they didn’t watch it, but they can’t help it. Not only is it a neural addiction, it’s also filling a void for most men…whether it be because they’re single and lonely or alone a lot, or their partner isn’t sexually receptive anymore and they’re looking for a sexual release (because they don’t want to cheat).
Watching porn drains your life force energy, almost to the point that you’re an empty vessel. The average level of energy and motivation of men surveyed was 6 out of 10. That’s very low. When I get guys to get off porn, they often feel like they’ve lost their “sex drive”, and that’s because the organic sexual energy has been depleted from porn usage. When they stop the addiction and stop fabricating “sex” through visual stimulation and brain chemical activity, they actually discover they’re not horny at all anymore.
Men that suffer from depression, for example, are often alone, bored and isolated, and the pleasure they feel during these porn and masturbation sessions is the only “good feeling” they’re experiencing in life. But what’s actually happening is they’re making their situation worse because the addiction is completely neural and is draining their life force energy, which means they will spiral even further into depression…and the cycle continues.
So where do we go from here? I’m here to educate and provide a quick and easy solution for all men addicted to watching pornography, and to help them overcome so many other issues that arise due to the addiction. You can find me all over social media (links below) or on www.integratedmenshealth.com.au. Get in touch if you'd like more information or to discuss how I can help you.
Catherine Lyell
Integrated Men’s Health Solutions
Bonbeach, Vic, Australia
Phone: +61401 541 571 Email: integratedmenshealth@outlook.com
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/integratedmenshealthsolutions