Porn Addiction: The Reality

Hello and happy reading,

Today we have a fan requested review on the effects internet pornography can have on our health and behaviour. Internet pornography is highly addictive, toxic and the effects are under-appreciated in today's society. Furthermore by the end of this you will understand not just the addictive capacity of pornography but the negative side-effects associated with engagement.

Firstly, how internet pornography (porn) has become such a common and significant part of our lives must be established. Here are some facts (published 2010) that underline this obsession, 12% of websites on the internet are pornographic, 2.5 billion e-mails per day contain pornographic content, a quarter of all search engine requests are porn related, just over a third of all internet downloads are pornographic [1]. Clearly, we are consumed by porn; the internet has made high-speed porn easier to access but the reason for engaging has never changed, it stems from archaic mechanisms in the human brain responsible for pleasure. Pleasure is produced deep within the brain, so deep that locked-in patients (patient is aware but cannot move or verbally communicate as a result of complete paralysis of all voluntary muscles except the eyes) and even patients suffering from severe hydranencephaly (Fig 1.0) can still experience and express pleasure [2]. As a result we are slaves to our hedonistic ways. Orgasms and sexual arousal produce the highest rates of pleasure by producing the greatest amount of dopamine; dopamine is the brains reward chemical [3]. Porn creates a method of experiencing these extreme high's without the energy or time expenditure required to gain a real mate. Moreover, the use of porn plays into the hands of the 'Coolidge effect.' The Coolidge effect refers to a phenomenon in mammals (typically associated with rats), whereby sexual interest is renewed upon the introduction of a novel mate    attributed    to    increased    dopamine   release   in   response   to   the   induction  of  a   new

Figure 1.0 visual display of lack of 
cortex as a result of  hydranencephaly.

mate [4]. This response is not limited to rats and is present in humans [5], resultantly, habituated porn users commonly multi-tab to experience multiple (2D) mates in one sexual experience meaning high levels dopamine can be maintained. Getting more pleasure for less expense sounds like a good deal but this ancient hard-wiring of the human brain is not designed to experience such extreme pleasures frequently.

How porn addiction works

Excess chronic consumption of drugs (artificial pleasures), junk foods, or porn (natural pleasures) can override our natural satiation processes by creating chronic dopamine surges resulting in the production and accumulation of Delta-FosB (binge mechanism). Delta-FosB functions as a sustained 'molecular switch' capable converting acute responses to stable adaptations contributing to long-term addiction [6]. i.e Delta-FosB is your binge mechanism firing signals to 'get it while the getting's good;' this was invaluable when the arrival of your next mate was unknown but nowadays makes porn addiction very easy. Following this comes synapse alterations amounting to long-term potantiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD). LTP is the strengthening of synapses whereas, LTD is the weakening of them [7,8]. By engaging in porn LTP deepens the wiring between your reward circuit and pornographic cues. This process results in sensitization (hyper-reactivity [of pleasure circuit] only in response to specific cues associated with the addiction) [9]. LTP also strengthens corresponding glutamate pathways (also a producer of the 'get it now' signal) meaning that dopamine is not the only pathway to these extreme pleasures and cravings. However, chronic 'dopamine highs' mean that protective mechanisms activate reducing the sensitivity to dopamine (reduction in D2 receptors and baseline dopamine levels), this leads to desensitization (numbed pleasure-response to all other pleasures) [10]. Desensitization means the subject cannot experience the pleasures we all strive for, unless they activate the sensitized pathway that can only be activated by engaging in the same activity (porn) that brought about and further deepens both the sensitization and desensitization. As bad as this sounds there is a third neurological adaption associated with addiction and this is associated with abnormal activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (decision making) and orbital frontal cortex (emotional attachment) sectors of the brain. This can explain the significant importance attached and the sometimes astonishing active urge to seek out the pleasure. This lack of conscious intervention is known as hypofrontality indicating the cortex is no longer in control of the mid-brain [11].

Internet Porn: The good, the bad, and the ugly

As you can see addiction is most definitely something to avoid. However porn addiction is a reality. 'Addiction' carries serious connotations in the 21st century, so strong that you may have already dismissed this arguing that you do not experience desensitization or hypofrontality and therefore don't need to worry. Before you get defensive simply consider the multi-tabbing previously mentioned, This is escalation, this process was not required when the subject originally engaged in porn. This escalation illustrates the need for higher dopamine releases than originally. Also, try giving it up for 30 days, see if at any point you find yourself thinking about it or trying to justify watching it 'hard day' or 'helps me get to sleep.' It is only a percentage that are susceptible to serious addiction but there is no way of knowing if anyone is in that percentage Regardless it is pertinent to understand the effects porn can have even we you are mildly or not at all addicted.

The neurological changes that take place as a product of addiction is certainly serious and the slippery slope needs to be acknowledged however this is one impact porn has. Sociological and psychological changes also take place which can lead to some disturbing correlations. For example, Paolucci et al., [12] conducted a meta-analysis including 46 studies and a population sample of 12, 323 subjects assessing the effects of pornography exposure on human behaviour. This paper identifies a clear, significant link between porn exposure and negative human behaviours such as increased risk of sexual deviance (i.e non-normative sexual behaviours, excessive and ritualistic masturbation), sexual perpetration (i.e aggressive and sexual hostility), negative intimate relationships (i.e perceptions of dominance, stereotyping, and viewing persons as sexual objects),

and accepting rape myths (i.e believing women are to blame for rape, rapists are normal). This makes sense given that porn portrays women as objects wanting to have sex with everything, never getting pregnant and wishing to please a man in any possible way and men as perpetual soulless erections, expressing zero empathy for any partner they are with or may already have. Social learning theory and the imitation model suggest that by seeing these characters for, cumulatively, long periods of time similar attitudes may be justified in real life [12]. Porn has also been significantly linked to loneliness [13], and closely associated with early-age erectile dysfunction [14]. However, Short et al., [15] identified a lack of consistency with previous studies, particularly with the definition of pornography, suggesting subjects may have used subjective definitions of porn in the same study creating dichotomy in article results. Articles have highlighted negative and positives of porn, the negatives being impairments in interpersonal, financial, and occupational functioning, emotional problems, and sexual dissatisfaction and the positives being relieving stress, decreasing boredom, feeling supported, and increasing sexual knowledge [15]. It could be speculated that stress, support and boredom would be better controlled with an effective interpersonal functioning that porn directly shatters. There are additional dynamics to the negative effects of porn that are beyond the scope of this article. Watson & Welch, [16] assess the effects of porn from multiple perspective (advertising, impact of sexually-orientated businesses, empirical research results, correlation study results, media studies, experience of clinical psychologists, and anecdotal evidence) deducing that porn effects the surrounding areas it is produced in, the people who watch it, the people who make it and the people who are influenced by those who watch it (i.e. 99.9% of everyone). I highly reccommend giving this article a look, easy to locate specific sections and easy to read (Click Here). If you don't fancy reading Ran Gavrieli gives a spectacular talk covering important aspects of porn and other components not covered in this post in a capturing, and inspiring talk. 100% make time to watch this.

Conclusion

The evidence for porn addiction is strong, some people are heavily addicted, whereas, the majority are addicted to a degree that doesn't cause dissipation of normal everyday life pleasures. This does not mean there is no damage. Furthermore, these neurological changes are but one shade of deterioration, the effects of porn can span throughout your life. Consider the alterations porn may have had on your behaviour, sexual desires and perceptions of loved ones. Watch the video linked above and have a read through the linked article, see what your mind tells you. Make your decision.

Your very own health nut,

Chris

Main sources

[1] The United Families International Blog (2010) 14 shocking pornography statistics [Internet]. USA, The United Families International Blog. Available from: http://unitedfamiliesinternational.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/14-shocking-pornography-statistics/ [Accessed 23 September, 2014].

[2] Aleman, B. & Merker, B. (2014). Consciousness without cortex: a hydranencephaly family survey. Acta Paediatrica [Epub ahead of print].

[3] Krüger, T.H., Hartmann, U, & Schedlowski, M. (2005) Prolactinergic and dopaminergicmechanisms underlying sexual arousal and orgasm in humans. World Journal of Urology, 23(2): pp130-138.

[4] Fiorino, D.F., Coury, A. & Phillips, A.G. (1997) Dynamic changes in nucleus accumbens dopamine efflux during the coolidge effect in male rats. The Journal of Neuroscience, 17(2): pp4849-4855.

[5] Wilson, J., Kuehn, R. & Beach, F.A. (1963) Modifications in the Sexual Behavior of Male Rats Produced by Changing the Stimulus Female, Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 56: pp636–644.

[6] Nestler, E.J., Barrot, M. & Self, D.W. (????) ΔFosB: A sustained molecular switch for addiction. Proceedings of the National Achademy of Sciences of the United States of America, 98(20): pp11042-11046.

[7] Ohno, T., Hasegawa, T., Tsuruoka, T., Terabe, K., Gimzewski, J.K. & Aono, M. (2011) Short-term plasticity and long-term potentiation mimicked in single inorganic synapses. Nature Materials, 10: pp591-595

[8] Thomas, M.J., Beurrier, C., Bonci, A. & Malenka, R.C. (2001) Long-term depression in the nucleus accumbens: A neural correlate of behavioural sensitization to cocaine. Nature Neuroscience, 4(12): pp1217-1223.

[9] Vanderschuren, L.J. & Pierce, R.C. (2010) Sensitization processes in drug addiction. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, 3: pp179-195.

[10] Kim, S.H., Baik, S.H., Park, C.S., Kim, S.J., Choi, S.W. & Kim, S.E. (2011) Reduced striatal dopamine D2 receptors in people with Internet addiction. Neuroreport, 11;22(8): pp407-411.

[11] Kalivas, P.W. & O'Brien, C. (2008) Drug addiction as a pathology of staged neuroplasticity. Neuropsychopharmacology, 33(1): pp166-180.

[12] Paolucci, E.O., Genuis, M. & Violato, C. (2000) A meta-analysis of the published research on the effects of pornography. The Changing Family and Child Development, pp48-59.

[13] Yoder, V.C., Virden III, T.B., & Amin, K. (2005) Internet Pornography and Loneliness: An Association? Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity, 12(1): pp19-44. 

[14] Robinson, M. & Wilson, G. (2013) Porn-Induced Sexual Dysfunction: A Growing Problem. Psychology Today, Jan. 31,

[15] Short, M.B., Black, L., Smith, A.H., Welterneck, C.T. & Wells, D.E (2012) A review of internet pornography use research: Methodology and content from the past 10 years. Cyberpsychology, Behaviour, and Social Networking, 15(1): pp13-23.

[16] Watson, B. & Welch, S.R (2000) Just harmless fun? Understanding the impact of pornography [Internet]. USA, Enough is Enough. Available from: http://www.protectkids.com/effects/justharmlessfun.pdf [Accessed: 21 September, 2014].