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.