Porn Changes the Brain
The following videos contain material about what happens to your brain when first watching porn, and when you try to give up watching porn and how your brain functions after quitting porn successfully and are trigger-free.
There are also some articles from medical journals in the link below.
There are also some articles from medical journals in the link below.
Extract from the article How to Be Happy: It Isn’t About the Dopamine
by Darya Rose Ph.D (neuroscientist)
The reward system of your brain (basal ganglia, for you neuroscience geeks) is responsible for reinforcing behavior that is immediately rewarding.
It is the neural system associated with addiction and habit formation, and is necessary for initiating movement (it is damaged in patients that have Parkinson’s Disease). Activation of this system involves the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine.
When a rat is taught to push a lever to stimulate the basal ganglia of its own brain it will do so repeatedly, to the exclusion of food and other rewarding activities. It will even subject itself to pain to get a hit.
One of the assumptions scientists made upon seeing this behavior is that activation in this area of the brain must feel very good. Euphoric even. Why else would the rat keep pressing the lever until it collapses from exhaustion?
Since we already knew that this area was responsible for the reinforcement of rewarding behavior this conclusion made logical sense.
The only problem is that it isn’t true.
Follow up studies (on humans who can actually talk) have shown that the release of dopamine and the activation of the brain’s reward center doesn’t lead to a feeling of bliss and satisfaction. Instead it leads to intense desire and frustration.
Like you are just on the brink of satisfaction, if only you could have a little more.
Dopamine fools your brain into mistaking reward for real pleasure. In the heat of the moment you believe that following your dopamine urges will guide you to certain happiness, but more often than not it leads you into temptations you later regret.
Read the whole article here:
https://summertomato.com/2016/03/22/finding-happiness-it-isnt-about-the-dopamine/
Dopamine doesn't make you happy - it has the ability to just frustrate you.
by Darya Rose Ph.D (neuroscientist)
The reward system of your brain (basal ganglia, for you neuroscience geeks) is responsible for reinforcing behavior that is immediately rewarding.
It is the neural system associated with addiction and habit formation, and is necessary for initiating movement (it is damaged in patients that have Parkinson’s Disease). Activation of this system involves the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine.
When a rat is taught to push a lever to stimulate the basal ganglia of its own brain it will do so repeatedly, to the exclusion of food and other rewarding activities. It will even subject itself to pain to get a hit.
One of the assumptions scientists made upon seeing this behavior is that activation in this area of the brain must feel very good. Euphoric even. Why else would the rat keep pressing the lever until it collapses from exhaustion?
Since we already knew that this area was responsible for the reinforcement of rewarding behavior this conclusion made logical sense.
The only problem is that it isn’t true.
Follow up studies (on humans who can actually talk) have shown that the release of dopamine and the activation of the brain’s reward center doesn’t lead to a feeling of bliss and satisfaction. Instead it leads to intense desire and frustration.
Like you are just on the brink of satisfaction, if only you could have a little more.
Dopamine fools your brain into mistaking reward for real pleasure. In the heat of the moment you believe that following your dopamine urges will guide you to certain happiness, but more often than not it leads you into temptations you later regret.
Read the whole article here:
https://summertomato.com/2016/03/22/finding-happiness-it-isnt-about-the-dopamine/
Dopamine doesn't make you happy - it has the ability to just frustrate you.
PORN AND ITS EFFECT ON THE BRAIN
Dr Donald Hilton - Explains the Effect of Porn on the Brain
https://vimeo.com/245120968
https://vimeo.com/245120968
Dr Hilton - the Truth About Porn
https://vimeo.com/190633252
https://vimeo.com/190633252
Paula Hall - We Need to Talk About Sex Addiction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=-Qf2e3XZ8Tw&feature=emb_logo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=-Qf2e3XZ8Tw&feature=emb_logo
Gary Wilson - Your Brain on Porn
https://youtu.be/7oFVOJf0TzY
https://youtu.be/7oFVOJf0TzY
The Side Effects of Pornography Addiction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE1ihwvAtb4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE1ihwvAtb4
Noah Church - A Story of Porn Addiction and Recovery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXtEcQGLWW8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXtEcQGLWW8
Raised on a Diet of Internet Porn - the Health Consequences of Long-Term Use
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fisxr1Rh4oI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fisxr1Rh4oI
Porn use and addiction cause changes in the physical structures of your brain. Porn imbalances the neurotransmitters in your brain. Porn causes deep pathways to be eroded into your brain. These embedded neural pathways make it difficult to quit porn. Quitting porn however is possible and the focus is on developing new pathways in the brain. Transition can be a difficult time for the first 3 weeks due to the high levels of Delta Fos B (a normal chemical produced in the brain designed to ensure bonding between loving partners, but which with obsessive/compulsive porn use can raise to high levels). The next challenge comes at about 3 months, but if the thinking has been corrected, the body and brain will follow in the same path. Complete freedom from the Porn Merchants is achievable and so worthwhile.
When we understand that the brain needs to build new structures and rebalance neurotransmitters, we can de-stress. The 'compulsions' are a sign of an imbalance of neurotransmitters. This will change and you will find relief - permanently. The new pathways will be established and there is no need for continued relapses. New pathways are established primarily when a person starts to think in new, healthy ways and to act repeatedly in healthy ways.
Don't believe the porn merchants' lies. You were born free and you still deserve to be free - not a slave ever again.
When we understand that the brain needs to build new structures and rebalance neurotransmitters, we can de-stress. The 'compulsions' are a sign of an imbalance of neurotransmitters. This will change and you will find relief - permanently. The new pathways will be established and there is no need for continued relapses. New pathways are established primarily when a person starts to think in new, healthy ways and to act repeatedly in healthy ways.
Don't believe the porn merchants' lies. You were born free and you still deserve to be free - not a slave ever again.