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Is Porn Poison for the Brain?
Does porn actually damage the brain? Might sound far-fetched, but there is some very interesting research on this topic that might convince you that it does. This week, I plan to post each day on a different topic related to my new book, Sex & God at Yale. Chapter 2, entitled “The Great Porn Debate,” details a rip-roaring Oxford-style porn debate starring porn performer Ron Jeremy, which was held in New Haven during my junior year.
Just this morning, a current Yale student sent me this fascinating TEDx video, featuring a talk by physiologist Gary Wilson, host of www.yourbrainonporn.com. According to the video description, Wilson’s research “arose in response to a growing demand for solid scientific information by heavy Internet erotica users experiencing perplexing, unexpected effects: escalation to more extreme material, concentration difficulties, sexual performance problems, radical changes in sexual tastes, social anxiety, irritability, inability to stop, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.”
The video lasts about 15 min, but you can catch the main drift by watching only the first 5. Do so and I promise you’ll learn something:
Fascinating stuff, huh? Especially considering how extreme and how universal porn has become among youth in the internet age. It has shaped an entire generation already.
So what do you think? Is porn harmless, or is it poison for the brain?
Published in General
Finally, if anyone’s reading this and is stuck in this addiction and wants to get out, there are resources. Again, it’s an insidious problem because most people don’t want to talk about it. But there are more and more people talking about it now.
The video mentions a number of secular support groups. Watch the video toward the end for a quick list. If you are Christian, a good resource I recommend is XXXChurch.com.
I didn’t use them, but came to be free from this addiction through a variety of different inputs and understandings and steps, including as I have mentioned above acknowledging the problem, accepting the idea that I can postpone my urges for another day, and understanding how the brain works on addiction.
(cont)
I would have to add that although we probably should keep this discussion relatively secular, I personally feel that God helped me through it and that breakthrough only came once I accepted that God had already freed me from my sin– I just needed to live in that freedom. It’s hard to explain, and I know that sounds frustrating and unhelpful if you’re not there yet. But I know every effort I made on my own always ended up in failure. And it took a lot of help from a (non-porn-related) church ministry to get me to finally really understand and accept this freedom from God.
You’re not married if I remember correctly, so those of us who are married will have to excuse your misunderstanding of how marriage works, but love and fidelity in marriage are not conditional vows. You don’t vow to be faithful to someone “as long as I’m happy with our sex life” or even “as long as she/he loves me.” The traditional vow is “as long as we both shall live.”
A woman that withholds sex from her husband isnotliving up to her part of the contract, and he should leave her just as surely as she should leave him if he stops working and becomes a bum.
Why on Earth would it be OK for a wife to stop having sex with her husband?
No one said that it would. CoolHand suggested that porn addiction on a husband’s part was acceptable because (and of course this is his assumption) it must have been preceded by the wife’s doing something. Rather than challenging the assumption he was making, I pointed out that even if that were the case (a huge leap) it would not be an excuse.
Sometimes people in AA who are in recovery seem convinced that anyone that drinks must have a problem.
I do not think porn is clear and present danger to society. I agree it causes problems for some people. I think things like meth and crack are much more damaging to individuals and families.
There is nothing in this science presented about brain change that you cannot say about drugs, even alcohol.
In some sense you are right. Addictions are all fueled by the same brain chemistry processes.
However, porn is a) highly addictive to most men and b) exploits women even if men don’t get addicted (see my comment #174).
Besides, bringing up meth and crack is evading the topic at hand. So what if they are worse problems? Should we ignore this one?
Can’t help but notice how outraged are against men’s porn, but how there is not a word against women’s porn.
Do you need a conclusive list of behaviors that are destructive in order to talk about one? Many people think porn is no big deal; a growing body of evidence suggests that it is very destructive. Saying “yeah, but other stuff is bad too, why don’t we talk about that?” doesn’t change the evidence.
Also, please address the point made in the video and elsewhere that porn is drastically changing the way an entire young generation views sex and handles the sexual impulse.
You may be (and I am) from an older generation that discovered internet porn after our inhibitions and social behavior were pretty well ingrained in us. But teenagers’ brains are extremely plastic, and porn makes a much larger impression on their thinking and their behavior.
Do you think it’s healthy or even neutral that they are modeling their sexual behavior after porn videos?
Can’t help but notice how outraged are against men’s porn, but how there is not a word against women’s porn.
Do you need a conclusive list of behaviors that are destructive in order to talk about one? Many people think porn is no big deal; a growing body of evidence suggests that it is very destructive. Saying “yeah, but other stuff is bad too, why don’t we talk about that?” doesn’t change the evidence. ·3 minutes ago
Perfect.
In some sense you are right. Addictions are all fueled by the same brain chemistry processes.
However, porn is a) highly addictive tomostmen and b) exploits women even if men don’t get addicted (see my comment #174).
Besides, bringing up meth and crack is evading the topic at hand. So what if they are worse problems? Should we ignore this one? ·1 minute ago
Edited 0 minutes ago
As of yet, I have missed a proposal for how to manage this problem.
My point on meth and crack, which I guess I am not being clear on, is that these are much more addictive. I have not seen evidence that porn is even close. I would rather spend my time worrying about the more dangerous substance.
You may be (and I am) from an older generation that discovered internet porn after our inhibitions and social behavior were pretty well ingrained in us. But teenagers’ brains are extremely plastic, and porn makes a much larger impression on their thinking and their behavior.
Do you think it’s healthy or even neutral that they are modeling their sexual behavior after porn videos? ·2 minutes ago
Edited 0 minutes ago
I don’t think the root issue is viewing porn, I think there are other cultural forces at work. To assert that porn alone is making this change is over the top.
It is said that before the movie “Deep Throat” people engaged in less oral sex. I have no idea if that is true or not. Porn does introduce ideas people did not think of. 50 Shades clearly has done that.
Like many things, I think that is mixed,., There is some bad and some good that will come out. It is not 100% either way.
As of yet, I have missed a proposal for how to manage this problem.
You’re missing the entire discussion, then.
First, acknowledge that it’s a problem. You seem not to be able to.
Second, there are resources out there to help people stuck in this.
Third, which I acknowledge hasn’t been discussed on this thread yet, is to enforce existing obscenity laws which are already on the books and are constitutional.
However, that will never put the Internet genie back in the bottle, or undo the opening of Pandora’s box.
So what are we left with? Points 1 and 2. We raise awareness about the problem (as we are doing), acknowledge that it is a problem, and provide resources and help for people who want to get out of it.
Finally, as a society, we should continue to discourage the creation and use of porn, but we should also find a way to talk more openly about it, as on this thread. One of the ways in which porn has such a grip on people is the sense of shame it causes– at least in many people. This prevents them from seeking help.
Can’t help but notice how outraged are against men’s porn, but how there is not a word against women’s porn.
Do you need a conclusive list of behaviors that are destructive in order to talk about one? Many people think porn is no big deal; a growing body of evidence suggests that it is very destructive. Saying “yeah, but other stuff is bad too, why don’t we talk about that?” doesn’t change the evidence. ·7 minutes ago
Yes I do. Men’s sexuality is what is being attacked, not women’s. By all means have all sorts of high dudgeon about men’s porn, but to leave out women’s porn is only addressing half the issue.
If men’s porn is bad for relationships, so is women’s. Isn’t it interesting that all the research is towards men’s porn?
Again, if porn is that bad for marriage, where is the spike in divorce in the last 20 years? Is this Evidence of that?
It seems to me people are disgusted by porn and look for justification for that disgust. It seems little different that Prohibitionists in 1920’s
I don’t think the root issue is viewing porn, I think there are other cultural forces at work. To assert that porn alone is making this change is over the top.
No one has asserted porn is solely responsible, but it’s one of the largest factors that we don’t normally talk about.
Like many things, I think that is mixed,., There is some bad and some good that will come out. It is not 100% either way.
I can’t think of a single redeeming value to porn.
Can you name any?
Even if it were 5% or even 20% “good,” what about the overwhelming negatives?
In fact, with no fault divorce, women are more likely to leave their husbands these days than the other way around. Can we say for sure that unrealistic relationship expectations are not partially to blame.
You are absolutely correct, Bryan, porn victimizes both sexes in that it cultivates false expectations. Airbrushed is far from reality, as is the immature male of female fantasy.
What a shock for each when they meet reality! :-)
Considering the level of disgust that has seeped through in this conversation, I am not sure that this thread has been all that open.
And while I acknowledge it can be a problem, I don’t think it is as much of one as others post. Porn is very widely consumed. I keep coming back to this, but if it were such a problem, where is the explosion of issues in the last 10 years that are clearly porn related? Porn access had exploded, and if there were strong causal effects on behavior, we should have seen massive behavior changes in men. We have not.
Saying “First, acknowledge that it’s a problem. You seem not to be able to.” casts me not as someone who disagrees, but someone that is crippled in some way that I cannot just see things are they really are. What is self-evident to you is not to me. I don’t think that means there is a problem with me, it just means we disagree.
It seems to me people are disgusted by porn and look for justification for that disgust. It seems little different that Prohibitionists in 1920’s ·2 minutes ago
Agreed!
What a shock for each when they meet reality! :-) ·7 minutes ago
Reality is a vastly overrated concept. Fantasy, fiction, there are places in the world for these things. Just ask any book seller, film studio, or law maker.
Nabokov correctly observed that pornography is the antithesis of art. Porn is conventional, trite, and predictable. Always. Because the consumer demands it. And rebels against any deviation from formula. My dad said, “pornography is for people without imaginations.” An unimaginative production for an unimaginative audience.
There’s a video store clerk’s blog out there somewhere that touches (god, I hate the English language some days) on the phenomenon (and yes she does talk about hand sanitizer a bunch).
Looks like someone is stumbling towards an explanation for this curious state of affairs. How can anything so butt-numbingly dull (after the first 15 minutes, as noted above) and dull by design be addictive? Why wasn’t the internet the death of porn? What gives?
Good discussion so far. Traditionally, most conversation about porn centers on the morality (or immorality) of it. For instance, at Yale’s infamous “Sex Week” I once saw a film of a man beating a naked woman, and calling her a w**** and a s***. That was pure degradation–done purely for the “pleasure” of others. There’s no question in my mind that that is deeply immoral. But I’m fascinated by the neurological question in Gary Wilson’s talk. Could we actually be damaging our brains? Is there something about how we are wired that makes the rapid and perpetual novelty of internet porn truly destructive to our brains? In that sense, the pornographic “paintings found in Pompeii” that one commenter cited as evidence that this is nothing new and that there’s nothing to worry about really misses the point. An addiction that can not only destroy one’s relationships but can actually alter the brain–that’s serious business.
Let me save some time:
Why Porn can be good for you
Why does a Man Watch
Porn can lead to couples trying some new things that expand on their sexual expression. Some couples might even watch it together and enhance their sexual play.
Do I think kids need to be watching it? No, and I think that is harmful. But if we are worried about body image distortions (for instance) we need to go after Cosmo and such first.
I need to get to work, so I am gone for the day.
The idea that most married guys use porn as an outlet for their “sexual frustration” is extremely demeaning to women. Most guys that indulge in porn do so irrespective of how good their sex lives are, and when the quality of their sex lives inevitably degrade they use that as an excuse for their continued use. It’s a selfish, evil practice, and it’s all the worse when it’s blamed on women.
-E ·
Two points:
First, CandE’s theory is, I believe, supported by the studies.
Second, I don’t think anyone suggests that porn consumption is equivalent to adultery, but fidelity (cleaving in mind and body to one other person) is of a different, higher order of things. One may avoid adultery while falling far short of fidelity. Porn is probably less harmful than adultery, but that’s far different than say that it’s a harmless diversion.
Eating a sandwich alters the brain. Drinking alters the brain. So does smoking pot. We have had robust discussions here about those things.
Porn clearly is a problem for some people. Chocolate Cake is a problem for some people.
I work with people with addictions to drugs. Porn has nothing on meth.
Untrue. Seriously.
I’m in no position to argue whether feminism or pornography has weakened marriage the most. There are a lot of reasons why marriage is under attack–my only point is that pornography, especially since it has become available via the Internet, has become a major factor in the destruction of marriages. And the data support that conclusion.
I don’t know if strychnine or arsenic is worst. But I do know that both will destroy you. Just because a poison is only the second most lethal doesn’t mean I should ingest it.
There was a time when cigarette smoking was considered a fairly harmless vice for adult men. I think eventually, pornography will hold the same “prestige” as cigarette smoking holds in 2012. Even atheists will find plenty of reasons to shun pornography.
Nathan Harden, Guest Contributor: In that sense, the pornographic “paintings found in Pompeii” that one commenter cited as evidence that this is nothing new and that there’s nothing to worry about really misses the point. An addiction that can not only destroy one’s relationships but can actually alter the brain–that’s serious business. ·9 minutes ago
Addictions can destroy lives, but the mere act of looking at porn is no more addicting that merely drinking a beer. Must we judge things by the extreme?
Untrue. Seriously.
You see a lot of this on porn sites, do you?
I am hesitant to sign on too quickly to work related to Zimbardo, because I am unwilling to categorize porn, videogames, and introversion into the same bin (which is my primary complaint with Zimbardo -he talks about porn and then indicts games and people who don’t like being social in the footnotes).
Nonetheless, the comparison to alcoholism seems apt. While drunk, it is fun. Once not drunk, the mind fixates on the next drink. The alcoholic tries to fixate on something else, but this wears down willpower and eventually the alcoholic gives in, takes a drink, and the cycle repeats. Same for food. Same for porn.
I suppose it is even possibly the same for books, movies, and games, but I will require convincing.
It’s the fixation which AA says is destructive (at least, this is how it has been explained to me), which is why the meetings help, and why talking about it helps. It gets people to break out of the fixation and put their mind to something or someone else -teaching, making amends, whatever.
Idle hands and devil’s playgrounds and all.
So is porn itself more damaging than the fixation?
The idea that most married guys use porn as an outlet for their “sexual frustration” is extremely demeaning to women. Most guys that indulge in porn do so irrespective of how good their sex lives are, and when the quality of their sex lives inevitably degrade they use that as an excuse for their continued use. It’s a selfish, evil practice, and it’s all the worse when it’s blamed on women.
-E ·11 minutes ago
Can’t help but notice how outraged are against men’s porn, but how there is not a word against women’s porn.
Am I missing something? ·2 hours ago
What are you talking about? The comment I was addressing was about men excusing their porn use by blaming women. I’m not sure why you think I have to condemn bodice-rippers in order for my outrage to be legitimate.
If it makes you feel any better, I agree that no-fault divorces are a scourge on our society and they have disenfranchised countless men throughout the decades. I just didn’t mention it because it’s off topic.
-E
The ratio is said to be 1000/1
As my late grandfather would say, “That feller’s fruit’s out in the wind.” ·2 hours ago
So funny! :-) Hey, isn’t this meant to be a serious conversation! :-))
Be honest, men, does that picture of a beautiful statue make you uncomfortable? I will be totally honest and say that pictures of naked women, no matter how artistic, make me uncomfortable. Cynically, I always think that the artist was needing money and knew what would sell.
I am not a prude, but I do prefer modesty in public. That includes pictures, both male and female. We are primates and, objectively, not really very pretty to my mind. Have you ever been on a nude beach? Too bad some images can’t be easily removed from the mind. Not pretty! :-)
I think this thread clearly illustrates what a problem internet pornography has become in our society as several male Ricochetians are defending it, or at least trying to minimize it’s impact on individuals and society.
Yes, pornography has always been with us but if you watch the video the problem clearly is internet pornography. No one’s brain was altered by paintings on the wall in ancient Rome!
Internet pornography is poison for the mind – to posit otherwise is deep denial.