Internet Pornography: Why We’re Obsessed and How to Rewire the Addicted Brain By Erin Del Toro, Licensed Clinical Therapist As harmless or neutral as internet pornography can seem, it changes brains, body chemistry, moods, motivation, and sexual function, and by many scientific opinions, it’s easily one of the most addictive behaviors. It’s been found to be a massive contributor to relationship decline and divorce, it adds to the problem of human trafficking, and it’s responsible for young and old losing interest in connection, learning, and life. Pornography is tricky. It can have the appearance of being almost harmless. But for even the mildly addicted, it always takes its toll on the brain and body while it pushes behaviors, feelings, and brain patterns away from healthy states. 44 www.sghealthandwellnessmagazine.com
To know how pornography addicts us, we start with our biology. Our bodies are hardwired to be rewarded for doing the things that will preserve and perpetuate our species. So when we engage in activities like eating food or having sex, natural reinforcements of dopamine increase in our systems. Dopamine is a feel-good chemical our bodies produce, and while it is released as a reward, it’s main purpose is to help us remember the reason behind that reward so that we repeat the behavior. Because of this, dopamine is also the door to addiction.
When this reward system was created, our paleolithic ancestors did not have the life span or population sources we have today. When they came across a potential mate,
they were strongly met with a dopamine reward for connecting sexually with a partner. Nature cleverly configured this feature into their wiring to perpetuate the species, and it’s still active in us today..
Since the majority of the pornography industry is male-centric, to understand the addictive component of porn, it’s also important to know the nature of the dopamine delivery system with the male sexual reproductive system. A man can ejaculate only so many times in any given time period with one woman, but animal studies have shown that if a new partner is introduced, the time it takes for recovery decreases and dopamine goes up, allowing his genetic line to capitalize on mating season. Again, this is nature’s ancient strategy for maximizing the number of potential babies, and it is the same for nearly all mammals. Today, pornography viewers can see and imagine interacting with any number of new sexual partners, many more than ancient men and women would have even seen or known existed in their lifetimes. The issue with the internet is that there is no end; there are always more videos, novel bodies,
