As many as 50% of all Christian men and 20% of Christian women admit to being addicted to porn.
You don’t need me to tell you that viewing pornography is immoral. As Christians, and as pro-life people, we must oppose porn use.
Much could be said on this topic, and we will begin to tackle it here. For now, let us look at the effect porn has the brain. This is, by no means, an exhaustive look at all the brain chemicals affected by viewing erotic materials, but it is a good starting point.
With no further ado, here are six chemical changes that occur in the brain due to viewing porn:
1. THE WEAKENING OF THE CINGULATE CORTEX
The cingulate cortex is a part of the brain that helps to control ambition and willpower, as well as moral or ethical decision-making ability.
Porn use damages the cingulate cortex, according to Dr. William Struthers, a neuroscientist and professor at Wheaton University. In a talk he gave at a conference, he says that cingulate cortex is the part of the brain we use to make moral decisions.
Thus, using porn causes the brain to literally lower one’s moral standards, and thereby also possibly justify one’s use of pornographic materials. It also deadens one’s willpower or ambition to change one’s behaviors.
2. THE VENTRAL STRIATUM “LIGHTS UP”
The ventral striatum is a fancy term for a reward center of the brain. Porn use excites this part of the brain in the same way as addicts of alcohol, drugs, etc.
Just as an alcoholic will become excited at seeing a bottle of beer, a study found, viewing erotic pictures can cause a similar stimulation in the porn addict’s brain.
The implication here is that a porn viewer feels good upon seeing the images, so he associates them in his mind. Then later, he is predisposed to desiring those images and it is a hard cycle to break.
3. MIRROR NEURONS ARE ACTIVATED IN MALE BRAINS
Porn affects men neurologically differently and more intensely than women. This is one of those instances.
Mirror neurons can transfer a man into the porn scene in his mind. These neurons mirror the image in his mind.
This means that, rather than just viewing the naked woman and registered a response, he gets drawn into the scene, according to another study. In the male porn mind, she is performing just for him.
This effect of porn appears to me to be a contributing factor as to why boys and men are dissatisfied with physical sex. This can also explain why men, especially boys, feel the need to act out scenes they saw in porn movies. Here are three disturbing, recent stories:
(a) 10-year-old boy raped male classmate after watching porn
(b) Two teenage boys tied teen girl to chair and raped her
(c) 13-year-old brother admits “trying out” porn moves on 8-year-old sister
God have mercy.
4. THE HYPOTHALAMUS IS PUT INTO OVERDRIVE
The hypothalamus controls one’s primal needs, such as water and food intake. It also controls a person’s sex drive.
In porn use, the hypothalamus is activated. In addicts, the result can be literally a mentality that looking at porn is a physical need like that of water or food, in order to function properly, as another study finds.
This is all the more reason why withdrawal from porn use altogether is both the best cure to the addiction, but also the hardest to accomplish.
5. DOPAMINE PRODUCTION SKYROCKETS
Dopamine is a chemical highly associated with all addictions, whether it be tobacco, alcohol, drugs, or pornography, as researchers have found.
Among other many important functions, dopamine provides a reward for what feels good and creates cravings for those behaviors.
Therefore, since porn images set off the reward center of one’s brain, its viewers, especially men, feel euphoric while looking.
In the law of diminishing returns, for porn users, new images are sought out to increase the level of dopamine production, as previously-viewed content does not have the same effect. This means, over time, harder materials are sought to achieve the same euphoria.
6. DELTA-FosB CAN PERMANENTLY DAMAGE ONE’S GENES
Delta-FosB is a protein that can build up inside one’s brain, after repeated exposures to stimuli. This protein, scientists have found, then affects a part of the brain called the Nucleus Accumbens, which helps to regulate pleasure responses and addictive behaviors.
Repeated stimulation, such as by porn use, builds up the protein, and it can take as many as eight weeks of zero exposure to flush the entire amount of that protein out of the brain, say scientists… But not before permanent damage is done.
The Delta-FosB protein can lead to lifelong damage to one’s genes, to the dopamine system and lead to greater susceptibility to addictions in the future.
THE MORAL OF THE STORY
Given what we have reviewed here, one cannot deny porn has a detrimental, physical effect on the brain. Anyone caught up in porn use needs to give it up and get help. It is a tough vice to overcome.
Covenant Eyes is a Christian company doing good work to provide internet accountability and filtering. I recommend using them. They have done a lot of research in this area, and I relied on them for a portion of my post.
YOUR TURN
It is hard to imagine anyone these days who has not been affected by porn use, or does not know someone who has. Care to share your thoughts on the topic?
