Overcome Porn: The 40 Day Challenge Sample

Day 8: Blame it on the brain: The neurology of addiction

How does porn use impact our bodies and brains?

It shouldn't surprise us that pornography might have a negative impact on us physiologically. Dr. William Struthers teaches that viewing pornography and masturbating actually weakens the region of our brain known as the cingulate cortex, which is responsible for moral and ethical decision-making and willpower.

When having sex or watching porn, dopamine is released into a region of the brain responsible for emotion and learning, giving the viewer a sense of sharp focus and a sense of craving: “I need this thing, and I need it now.” It supplies a great sense of pleasure. The next time the viewer gets the “itch” for more sexual pleasure, small packets of dopamine are released in the brain telling the user: “Remember where you got your fix last time. Go there to get it.”

Norepinephrine is also released, creating alertness and focus. It is the brain’s version of adrenaline. It tells the brain, “Something is about to happen, and we need to get ready for it.”

Sex or porn also trigger the release of oxytocin and vasopressin. These hormones “bind” a person’s memories to the object that gave him or her the sexual pleasure.

The body releases endorphins, natural opiates that create a “high,” a wave of pleasure over the whole body.

After sexual release, serotonin levels also change, bringing a sense of calm and relaxation.

This system works the way it is supposed to work when you’re having sex with your spouse. Together you can experience a high, an alertness of sexual pleasure, and the deep calm afterwards (norepinephrine, endorphins, and serotonin). With each sexual embrace, when the two become one flesh (Matthew 19:5), you are emotionally bonding to this person (oxytocin and vasopressin). Over time a craving for sex is transformed into a desire for one another (dopamine).

But porn short-circuits the system.

Paul wrote that the sexually immoral person sins “against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18). This is one of the great negative motivators for fleeing from porn: we avoid porn knowing the damage it can do to us and others.

Action Step

Download the book, The Porn Circuit. In it you’ll learn how we are wired sexually and how pornography hijacks our natural drives and warps them.