Introducing a great resource researching the side effects of porn addiction.
Few things tug at my heart strings more than reading the search terms people type into Google to find my sight. Particularly when it deals with pornography. A few examples:
“my husband had an affair and is addicted to porn”
🙁 See what I mean? I hosted a series for help with pornography addiction this time last year and have been anxious to re-visit the subject since. Thankfully, Garrett recently reached out to me and shared a great resource he wrote on the side effects of pornography addiction.
Garrett writes for a site called “PILLRS” whose mission is to help addicts get the help they need and not feel alone while doing it.
This article, which also comes in e-book format researches more than 100 side effects of pornography on the brain, on sex, emotions, relationships, physical health, life consequences, and society. It is thorough.
Here are a few snippets:
Hypofrontality
“Hypofrontality is a weakening of the frontal lobes, or ‘executive functioning’, parts of the brain.
As defined by YourBrainOnPorn, hypofrontality causes “Weakened self-control systems, [which] are overwhelmed by the cravings emanating from sensitized addiction pathways and a desensitized reward circuit. In other words – your willpower has eroded.”
With weakened willpower, it is no longer enough to know that you shouldn’t look at porn, because the more ‘basic’ parts of the brain are now in control, not your executive brain.”
Loneliness
“One of the signs that usage has migrated into addiction is a deep sense of loneliness.
This applies not only to the addict, but to their partners (both long term and short) as well. As Naomi Wolf states:
“Mostly, when I ask about loneliness, a deep, sad silence descends on audiences of young men and young women alike. They know they are lonely together, even when conjoined, and that this imagery is a big part of that loneliness. What they don’t know is how to get out, how to find each other again erotically, face-to-face.”
Difficulty Making Decisions
“Your striatum (reward circuitry), is involved in both motivation and decision making. Because addicts now have reduced grey matter in the striatum, as stated earlier, they also often report that both motivation to act, and decision making when acting, is impaired.”
Read the rest of the 98 listed side effects here.
And now a call to action:
The side effects I’ve listed here affect mostly the individual, but the pervasiveness of pornography negatively affect so many facets of our society (degrading to women, supports sex trafficking, crippling the future of our youth). The idea that porn is harmless is shockingly accepted today. I think its up to us who disagree to speak out that PORN IS NOT HARMLESS!
Share it, speak it, preach it.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/women-who-stray/201704/religious-conflict-makes-porn-bad-relationships
Grateful for help in showing hubby that porn today is like playing with fire. We had our porn nights even if we had small kids.
It wouldn’t be on long though and we be off to top what we just saw.
Now he will sit there for days & watch it. Ignoring me. I thought I was a Kool wife ,none of my friends were watching porn with there hubby.
I didn’t think of myself as the jealous type but the porn today is Soo different than what we had.
It’s always a barely 18 looking girl. With a small build with a guy hung like a freak show.
The whole industry is geared towards youth.
Now he won’t even look at maturer porn.
And also developed a friend ship with a girl who chose to dress or wear as little as possible to work at our store.
When I got to work and saw what little she was wearing for a neighborhood store. I called her a few deserved names and asked her to go home and come back with some clothes on. Well, hubby saw nothing wrong with the way she dresses.
Of course not…
There was something wrong with me. I couldn’t believe his words.
What a betrayal…
After always giving him what he wants sexually. He was taking the side of the dick tease. In front of me. He still sees nothing wrong with defending slut.And bashing me physically and mentally. I believe he got so desenseatized from the amount of porn & content.
Now he has a porn addiction. Still can’t believe this.
Our intamacy & connection gone forever. 34 years of my life gone.
What a hard lesson to learn.
So beware. Porn should come now with a strong warning of easily becoming an addict loses of things you would of never expected.