Overcoming the Silent Addiction: Pornography on College Campuses

OVERCOMING THE SILENT ADDICTION

© 2020, J.M. Sumpter. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Educational purposes only.

OVERCOMING THE SILENT ADDICTION

After this lecture, listeners should have a broad overview of: • PHILOSOPHICAL GROUNDING • DEFINITIONS • STATISTICS • ADDICTIONOLOGY • THE ADDICTIVE CYCLE • IMPACTS ON LIVES • OVERCOMING • RESOURCES

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Pivotal to pornography

Jean Baudrillard

is a sexuality haunted by its own disappearance.

Everywhere it is the same stereophonic effect, the absolute proximity of the real: the same effect of simulation.

French Philosopher and Sociologist

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Narcissus does not fall in love with his reflection because it is beautiful, but because it is his. If it were his beauty that enthralled him, he would be set free in a few years by its fading.

W. H. Auden “Narcissus 1927”

With pornography, a person can get stuck in a fantasy, a simulation of a reality, present only in the person’s head. This reality can be addictive, leading to a loss of self and fulfilling intimacy.

THE IRONY of Circe to Odysseus

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First you will come to the Sirens who enchant all who come near them. If anyone unwarily draws in too close and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will never welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble him to DEATH with the SWEETNESS of their song.

Odyssey Book XII

PHILOSOPHICALLY SPEAKING Primarily, pornography is a simulation and distortion of the true essence of:

1) TRUE BEAUTY (Virtue and form) 2) TRUE INTIMACY (Deepest emotional need)

3) TRUE PLEASURE (Coping and learning) 4) TRUE SENSE OF SELF (Based in reality)

DEFINITIONS

Pornography Materials of various mediums, containing the explicit description or display

DEFINITIONS

of anatomy or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic (true beauty) or emotional feelings (true intimacy/coping).

(Societally determined and usually does not include erotica, specific culturally religious expressions, and the like.)

From the Greek pornographos: pornē ‘prostitute’ + graphein ‘write.

Differentiating Terms

DEFINITIONS

Is there a difference: Addiction, Dependency, & an Addict?

If so, why does it matter?

Chemical Dependency DEFINITIONS

Physical and psychological reliance on and habituation of the use of a mind-altering substance, despite adverse consequences in their environments, that may cause physiological withdrawal symptoms, and meets medically defined criteria.

Addiction “Addiction is a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual’s life experiences. People with

DEFINITIONS continue despite harmful consequences.

addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often

Prevention efforts and treatment approaches for addiction are generally as successful as those for other chronic diseases.”

- Adopted by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Board of Directors September 15, 2019

Process/Behavioral Addiction DEFINITIONS

Persistent, sometimes impulsive or compulsive behaviors that do not include the use of a substance that produces short-term

positive rewards despite knowledge of adverse consequences and increase the neurological reward circuitry to have diminished control over the behavior.

DEFINITIONS Generally identified process addictions: Gambling Shopping

Sex & Love Pornography

Screens

Eating Exercising

Addict

Definition: one who exhibits a compulsive, chronic, physiological, or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity.

DEFINITIONS

Colloquially: a pejorative term (beginning in the 1920s) to shamefully* separate those with chemical dependency from the rest of the community (usually not including addiction to alcohol,

caffeine, or tobacco, or the proper use of dependency causing prescription medications).

ADDICTIONOLOGY

of the addicted mind

ADDICTIONOLOGY Addicted Brain Mirror Neurons “Affect”

(feelings,

mirror the emotions,

moods) of those we come into

contact.

The actor's brain scans light up

the same as the audience's. *NEURONS THAT FIRE TOGETHER, WIRE TOGETHER.

ADDICTIONOLOGY Addicted Brain Dopamine

is the hormone that is most associated with the reward center (liking, wanting, or

learning) of the brain – is released before a reward is received, and reinforces the identification (approach/avoid) of and reinforcing the importance of environmental rewards (not necessarily the

actual pleasure of the event itself).

The Reward Center

- The Dopaminergic pathways, especially the mesolimbic

and

mesocortical pathways. Specifically: the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the nucleus accumbens (in the ventral striatum **) and the cerebral cortex primarily make up the brain reward center.

ADDICTIONOLOGY STUDY OF PORNOGRAPHY ADDICTION fMRI studies observe similar to brain scans with

chemical dependency and behavioral or “process” addictions, the neural and behavioral mechanisms associated with the anticipatory processing of cues predicting erotic rewards relate importantly to clinically relevant features of “problematic pornography use.”

Indicating a behavioral addiction. (Gola, Wordecha, Sescousse, et al., 2017)

fMRI studies have shown the dopaminergic reaction to pornography use and the increase of the ventral striatum** (Brand, Snagowski, Laier, Maderwald, 2016).

ADDICTIONOLOGY

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ADDICTIONOLOGY CYCLE OF ADDICTION Passage of Time

Cessation

Overconfident Zone

Internal Frustration (not dealing with the world around us in healthy ways) – kicks relapse into gear Fantasizing

Relapse Zone

Despair Zone Shame* & Guilt

Most Important stages:

Internal Frustration*

Shame – drives the entire addictive cycle Cessation/Passage of Time Law of 3s – Highest statistical points of relapsing

Use/Abuse Zone (Loss of control,

And/or escalation)

Obsession

Acting out

3 Days – Due to acute withdrawal 3 Weeks – Due to post-acute withdrawal (starting at 2 weeks and lasting up to a year depending on addiction type) 3 Months – Due to complacency, habits, and lack of adjustment to healthy coping mechanisms in times of internal frustration.

IMPACTS ON LIVES

IMPACTS ON LIVES Relationships Additional sociological, psychological and anthropological studies continue to show…

• Higher breakup rates for those who engage in pornography use.

• There is some evidence that pornography use may diminish selfidentity in monogamous relationships.

• There often is an incongruence of expectations in relationships

between partners when one or both use pornography.

IMPACTS ON LIVES Sex Trafficking 35% of women who were trafficked disclosed unwanted exposure to pornography as part of the trafficking process, as pornography was used to try to groom (normalize and desensitize) them into performing.

Prostitution

49 % of prostitutes in 9 countries report pornography was unwantedly made of them.

47% were upset by attempts to make them do what the individuals had previously seen in pornography.

The Protection Project Journal of Human Rights and Civil Society

IMPACTS ON LIVES While the exact numbers are difficult to obtain, there is strong evidence

that shows that pornography and sex trafficking are linked (not in totality, but statistically significant numbers).

Growing evidence continues to show an increase in appetitive sexual violence amongst pornography users, despite the belief of many that pornography satiates this particular appetite.

Sex and violence centers of the brain are relatively close in proximity.

IMPACTS ON LIVES Due to the escalation of pornography, many behavioral impacts can be

seen clinically: (Not limited to these – from Sumpter’s practice and those of others who have consulted with him)

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OVERCOMING

OVERCOMING 7 Keys to Recovery All are necessary. None are sufficient alone.

1. Increased External Barriers 2. Increased Accountability

3. Increased Prosocial Supports 4. Effective Coping Mechanisms 5. Professional Supports 6. Proactive Routine 7. Internal Motivators

Š 2019, The Mental Well, PLLC. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Local Treatment Options • UDCC • Sante Center for Healing • Email us for other referrals Free Community resources • Refuge Recovery @ UNT • Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous • Twelfth Step Ministries • Celebrate Recovery Some internet resources • FightTheNewDrug.org • IntegretyRestored.com • RestoredMinistry.com • Freedom-Coaching.com APPS • SMART Recovery Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) • Victory • Sober Grid • Nomo-Sobriety Clocks • WoeBot

RESOURCES

• Head Space • And others

SEEK YE 1) TRUE BEAUTY in virtue and form.

2) TRUE INTIMACY through authenticity.

3) TRUE PLEASURE coping and learning.

4) TRUE SENSE OF SELF based in reality.

REFERENCES Banca, P., Harrison, N., and Voon, V., (2016). Compulsivity Across the Pathological Misuse of Drug and Non-Drug Rewards. Front.

Behav. Neurosci., 03 August 2016 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00154

Kühn, S.; Gallinat, J., (2014). Brain Structure and Functional Connectivity Associated With Pornography Consumption: The Brain on Porn.

JAMA Psychiatry. 2014;71(7):827-834. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.93

Brand, M, Young, K., and Laier, C., (2014). Prefrontal Control and Internet Addiction: A Theoretical Model and Review of Neuropsychological and Neuroimaging Findings. Front Hum Neurosci. 2014; 8: 375. Published online 2014 May 27. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00375

Laier C., Schulte F., Brand M., (2012) Pornographic picture processing interferes with working memory performance. J Sex Res. 2013;50(7):642-52. doi: 10.1080/00224499.2012.716873. Epub 2012 Nov 20.

Brand, M., Laier, C., Pawlikowski, M., Schächtle, U., Schöler, T., and Altstötter-Gleich C., (2011). Watching pornographic pictures on the Internet: role of sexual arousal ratings and psychologicalpsychiatric symptoms for using Internet sex sites excessively.

Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2011 Jun;14(6):371-7. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2010.0222. Epub 2010 Nov 30.

Ellydar, H., Pratama, P., Edison, R., Suaidy, S., Amani, N., Carissima, D., (2019). Impaired Recent Verbal Memory in PornographyAddicted Juvenile Subjects. Neurology Research International, 2019, 5. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/2351638 Empirical Evidence and Theoretical Considerations on Factors Contributing to Cybersex Addiction From a Cognitive-Behavioral View Gola, M., Wordecha, M., Sescousse, G. et al. Can Pornography be Addictive? An fMRI Study of Men Seeking Treatment for Problematic Pornography Use. Neuropsychopharmacol 42, 2021–2031 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2017.78 Gola, M., Wordecha, M., Sescousse, G., Lew-Starowicz, M., Kossowski, B., Wypych, M., Makeig, S., Potenza, M., Marchewka, A., (2017).

Can pornography be addictive? An fMRI study of men seeking treatment for problematic pornography use.

Neuropsychopharmacology, 42, pages2021–2031(2017). doi: 10.1038/npp.2017.78 Guinn, D., and DiCaro, J., (2007). Pornography: Driving the Demand in International Sex Trafficking. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris, 2007), 145

Laier, C., and Brand, M., (2014). Empirical Evidence and Theoretical Considerations on Factors Contributing to Cybersex Addiction From a Cognitive-Behavioral View. The Journal of Treatment & Prevention, Volume 21, 2014 - Issue 4 Laier, C., Brand, M., (2017). Mood changes after watching pornography on the Internet are linked to tendencies towards Internetpornography-viewing disorder. Addictive Behaviors Reports, Volume 5, June 2017, Pages 9-13 Laier, C., Pawlikowski M., and Brand, M., (2014). Sexual picture processing interferes with decision-making under ambiguity. Arch Sex Behav. 2014 Apr;43(3):473-82. doi: 10.1007/s10508-013-01198. Epub 2013 Jun 4.

Laier, C., Pawlikowski, M., Pekal, J., Schulte, F., Brand, M., (2013). Cybersex addiction: Experienced sexual arousal when watching pornography and not real-life sexual contacts makes the difference. J Behav Addiction. 2013 Jun;2(2):100-7. doi: 10.1556/JBA.2.2013.002.

Laier, C., Pekal, J., Brand, M., (2014). Cybersex addiction in heterosexual female users of internet pornography can be explained by gratification hypothesis. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2014 Aug;17(8):505-11. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2013.0396.

Laier, C., Pekal, J., Brand, M., (2015). Sexual Excitability and Dysfunctional Coping Determine Cybersex Addiction in Homosexual Males.

Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2015 Oct;18(10):575-80. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2015.0152. Epub 2015 Sep 16.

Leppink, E., Chamberlain, S., Redden, S., and Grant, J., (2016). Problematic sexual behavior in young adults: Associations across clinical, behavioral, and neurocognitive variables. Psychiatry Res. 2016 Dec 30; 246: 230–235. Published online 2016 Sep 26. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2016.09.044 Mechelmans, D., Irvine, M., Banca, P., Porter, L., Mitchell, S., Mole, T., Lapa T., Harrison N., Potenza M., and Voon, V., (2014). Enhanced Attentional Bias towards Sexually Explicit Cues in Individuals with and without Compulsive Sexual Behaviours. PLoS One. 2014 Aug 25;9(8):e105476. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0105476. eCollection 2014.

Miner, M., Raymond, N., Mueller, B., Lloyd, M., and Limb, KL, (2009).

Preliminary investigation of the impulsive and neuroanatomical characteristics of compulsive sexual behavior. Psychiatry Res. 2009 Nov 30; 174(2): 146–151.

Perry, S.L. & Davis, J.T. (2017). Are pornography users more likely to experience a romantic breakup? Evidence from Longitudinal Data. Sexuality & Culture, July 2017. Pre-publication online access. DOI 10.1007/s12119-017-9444-8.

Prause, N., Steele, V., Staley, C., Sabatinelli, D., and Hajcak, G., (2015).

Modulation of late positive potentials by sexual images in problem users and controls inconsistent with "porn addiction."

Biol Psychol. 2015 Jul;109:192-9. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2015.06.005. Epub 2015 Jun 18.

Reid, R., Karim R., McCrory E., Carpenter, B., (2010). Self-reported differences on measures of executive function and hypersexual behavior in a patient and community sample of men. Int J Neurosci. 2010 Feb;120(2):120-7. doi: 10.3109/00207450903165577.

Seok, J., and Sohn, J. (2015). Neural Substrates of Sexual Desire in Individuals with Problematic Hypersexual Behavior. Front.

Behav. Neurosci., 30 November 2015.

Snagowski, J., Laier, C., Duka, T., and Brand, M., (2016). Subjective Craving for Pornography and Associative Learning Predict Tendencies Towards Cybersex Addiction in a Sample of Regular Cybersex Users. The Journal of Treatment & Prevention, Vol 23, 2016 - 4.

Snagowski, J., Wegmann, E., Pekal, J., Laier, C., and Brand, M., (2015). Implicit associations in cybersex addiction: Adaption of an Implicit Association Test with pornographic pictures. Addict Behav. 2015 Oct;49:7-12. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.05.009. Epub 2015 May 16.

Steele, V., Staley , C., Fong, T., Prause, N. (2013).Sexual desire, not hypersexuality, is related to neurophysiological responses elicited by sexual images.

Journal of Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology. 3, 2013-1.

VRTIS, J., (2011). PLAGUE AND MIRROR: METAPHORS OF EMOTIONAL TRANSFER AND THEIR EFFECT ON THE ACTORAUDIENCE RELATIONSHIP IN THEATRE. (Doctoral thesis, University of Oregon) retrireved from https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu /xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/11613/Vrt is_Robert_%20James_phd2011sp.pdf?se quence=1 Voon, V., Mole, T., Banca, P., Porter, L., Morris, L., Mitchell, S., Lapa, T., Karr, J., Harrison, N., Potenza, M., and Irvine, M., (2014). Neural Correlates of Sexual Cue Reactivity in Individuals with and without Compulsive Sexual Behaviours.

Cambridge University. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.010 2419.

OVERCOMING THE SILENT ADDICTION

QUESTIONS?

OVERCOMING THE SILENT ADDICTION

© 2020, J.M. Sumpter. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Educational purposes only.