A DANGEROUS ADDICTION

By Christopher Cardenas and Michelle Ma

From synthetic drugs to slot machines to sugar-packed snacks, our modern world’s constant stream of stimuli and stressors has produced a plethora of addictions familiar to us all. However, one concerning tendency has seemingly slipped under the radar – porn usage. With the rise and expansion of the global internet over the last 30 years, porn consumption has skyrocketed.

Videos, pictures, webcams, chats are now all accessible with the click of a button. Contrary to the popular belief that porn is harmless, new research suggests that chronic porn consumption is linked to addictive tendencies in men, which negatively impact various aspects of their lives and the lives of the women around them.

Drug addiction affects the brain by mimicking naturally occurring neurotransmitters in our bodies. A 2016 publication asserts that dopamine is directly involved in the “reward system” of the brain. In response to pleasurable or positive sensations, dopamine transmission increases. Contrary to popular belief, dopamine itself is not a “pleasure chemical” (like serotonin or oxytocin); however, it plays a motivating role, driving us to repeat the same actions later (and often in response to the same stimuli).

Arias Carrión found in 2010 that some substances cause addiction by affecting this reward system. For instance, cocaine inhibits the uptake of dopamine”, creating an artificial “overabundance”. Such dopamine surges motivate one to continue pursuing those massive levels of dopamine release – the “high” – thus creating a dependency on the substance. . Even as the drug’s pleasurable effects fade, the pursuit of a dopamine “high” keeps addicts locked in the cycle.

Through this dopamine-driven reward system, the instant gratification produced by pornography usage can result in addiction as well. Some have rallied against the idea of having a “porn addiction”, portraying it as a remnant of outdated beliefs such as purity culture. New research, however, however, has shown that the neural processes underlying internet addic- tion.

Moreover, when examining the neuroscientific effects of internet pornography addiction, researchers found “strong evidence for considering addictive internet behaviors sas behavioral addiction.” In contrast to naturally-occuring positive stimuli, “supranormal stimuli” was coined by Nikiolaas Tinbergen to describe the rise of “fake” stimuli such as junk food, TV, and unsurpisingly: pornography. Porn use is not restricted to any particular gender, but men are significantly more likely to use it and use it often. This gap can be quite dramatic, as the Institute for Family Studies finds that casually dating men are “42 times more likely” to view pornography at least weekly than casually dating women. Although there is much more to investigate concerning porn’s effect on the mind, preliminary studies indicate that porn addiction has negative physical, behavioral, emotional, and interpersonal impacts on men, the consequences of which impact women as well.

Excessive porn usage desensitizes men, leading to physical problems with intimacy and behavioral changes. Prestige Men’s Medical Center writes that “pornography is fantastical by nature” – it involves scripted actors putting on an unrealistic performance, often engaging in extreme or degrading sexual acts. According to Tim Jacobs, MD at the University of Antwerp, men who watch excessive amounts of porn men who watch excessive amounts of porn are more likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction because the “arousal level that porn induces through extreme content is often not matched in real life intercourse”. In fact, a study presented at the 35th

Annual EAU Congress found that “roughly 30-40% of men who watched 40 minutes of porn per day had ED, compared with 10% of men who watched less than 30 minutes per week”. Moreover, because porn often contains verbal and/or physical abuse, it has been found that, “Men look at women in a degrading fashion more often after viewing pornography”. PMMC furthers that men who regularly consume large amounts of pornography demonstrate a markedly higher tolerance of abnormal behaviors such as aggression, promiscuity, and violence. Sadly, this behavioral change has alarming implications for women. Fouberti finds in “Pornography Viewing among Fraternity Men: Effects on Bystander Intervention, Rape Myth Acceptance and Behavioral Intent to Commit Sexual Assault” that men who view pornography are less likely to intervene as a bystander, report rape, and deny rape myths. Although the direct cause of these results are unknown, the link between these measured effects display a correlation between consumption of pornography and indifference towards rape. This desensitization combined with the addictive nature of pornography also damages men’s relationships and emotional health. PMMC finds that men with porn addictions often find themselves choosing porn over people or social events, prioritizing their next “hit” over their goals and valuable experiences. Undoubtedly, this is one major reason why “more than 85 studies [...] suggest a link between poor mental and emotional health, and porn use.” Maddox further elabrate further elaborates on how porn use affects marriage.

Particularly, “Men tend to judge partners by comparing them to those he sees on the pornographic websites, and their sexual performance might give the man the idea that his partner cannot perform as she should.” This leads to dissatisfaction in the relationship due to the imposition of unrealistic expectations on the woman by the fantastical portrayal of women in pornography. These unrealistic standards are ultimately both created and perpetuated by the pornographic industry, solidifying the link between sexual dissatisfaction in relationships and porn consumption. Ultimately, a 2018 survey found that men who began watching porn regularly after their marriage were twice as likely to divorce than men who did not, demonstrating the important of sexual satisfaction in healthy and long-lasting relationships.

With effects ranging from increased rates of divorce to desensitization to sexual assault, the harmful nature of porn addiction cannot be overstated.. Alarmingly, as unrestricted internet access among children increases, boys as young as twelve are beginning to use pornography. For these boys, the physical and emotional impacts of addiction could potentially stunt their development, causing damage that will affect their relationships, mental health, and the women around them for a lifetime. As difficult as it may be in our hypersexualized culture, increasing public awareness of the dangers of pornography is essental to preventing this. For the sake of our children, and the men and women they will become, we can no longer afford to turn a blind eye.