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How It Begins: The Trauma of Early Exposure

One of the influences that lead men into a struggle with pornography is early exposure. The emotional climate of a man’s upbringing can isolate him with this sexual secret and cause the images to become a confusing yet soothing excitement for him.

Matthew remembers his cousin exposing him to a black-and-white photo of a naked woman when he was twelve. He never forgot it. That event and image imprinted into his brain and ran through his mind in such a way that it controlled his thinking and resulted in addictive patterns.

Steve was six the first time he was exposed to pornography. He even remembers that it was the month of June. His dad was a pastor. His parents had invited a visiting missionary to spend the night at their home. When Steve emptied the guest room trash the following morning, he came across a Playboy magazine in the wastebasket. From that moment, he felt awash with interest and fixated on those images – he felt controlled and attached to them. For his young mind, it was a traumatic event. He had innocently come across an image as a child that remained in his mind into adulthood and paved the way for addictive pornographic behavior.

As technology makes pornography more and more accessible, exposure to it is coming earlier and earlier.

Next, we’ll look at men’s lack of connection.