Three Shocking Truths About Porn
#1 People Find Porn at a Young Age
The truth about porn is that most people find it during adolescence or at a very young age. The younger that someone consumes pornography the faster their brain is hijacked. This is because children’s brains are going through a crucial developmental stage in their life. They are learning how to interact and react with the world around them. When they begin to watch and consume a large amount of porn, they train their brains to use porn to get dopamine from the screen instead of in real life.
#2 Porn is Not About Sex.
Porn is not about sex so much as it is about mood regulation. When watching porn when stressed, bored, or depressed, the brain is trained to use it as a self-soothing tool.
Porn also starts to distort your sexual arousal template and makes it so that what you’re consuming in the screen is what your brain becomes linked to it as the thing that provides the highest level of arousal for you. It creates this flood of neurochemicals to make your brain feel great, better than it can feel in the real world.
#3 Porn Damages Your Brain
Porn changes your brain’s structure and function.
If you use your brain in a certain direction those neural pathways are being traversed over and over again and that is the direction your brain is going to go in for self-soothing. So, when relying on the screen for that unhealthy dopamine rush, it may feel good in the moment, but it will then create a dopamine deficit. One that affects how you live your life and it damages the brain by throwing its healthy, regulated brain chemicals off.
Porn addiction is especially dangerous because it’s addiction through tolerance. The more that you go back, the more your brain needs higher levels of arousal. That leads to loss of control, which means instead of just desiring porn you actually NEED porn. There becomes a shift into compulsion.
Symptoms of porn addiction include:
- erectile dysfunction
- depression
- anxiety
- stress
- brain fog
- trouble sleeping
- trouble focusing
- lack of motivation
- it puts a strain on your relationships
- it makes it so you can’t get aroused with your partner
Porn Damage Can Be Reversed
Porn damage can be reversed by rewiring the brain to get dopamine in the real world instead of the screen. This can be accomplished in many ways:
- Find a hobby that you enjoy. This can include reading, writing, painting, drawing, cooking
- Find an exercise that you enjoy. This can include yoga, dancing, running, swimming, paddleboarding
- Work on your relationships. whether it’s with a romantic partner, friendships, or family members and build up the emotional connection that is shared.
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