Addiction to porn destroying lives, Senate told - link via Drudge
Mary Anne Layden, co-director of a sexual trauma program at the University of Pennsylvania, said pornography's effect on the brain mirrors addiction to heroin or crack cocaine. She told of one patient, a business executive, who arrived at his office at 9 a.m. each day, logged onto Internet porn sites, and didn't log off until 5 p.m.
A friend of mine is a divorced mother of a 17 year old. She tells me she keeps track of what her son is doing on the internet with the computer in his room. "I don't mind him looking at porn as long as it's not too sick," she said.
That's a real problem. I explained to her what the probable effects of a habit of pornography begun during such formative years. How is he going to view women if he looks at porn all day? As sexual objects for his own gratification. Do you think he's going to be able to be chaste when he's dating if he spends a good chunk of time watching porn every day? Do you think he'll have a long-term, loving marriage with a woman if all he's focused on is sexual gratification. Do you think he'll want to get married at all or just shack up while it's convenient and expedient?
She wasn't willing to consider any of the potential effects of his budding porn habit. I think she was afraid to confront him about it, perhaps she didn't even see anything wrong with it. But that's just one kind of victim of pornography. The "performers" themselves are also victims, probably the worst victims. I know the Old Oligarch has posted on this in the past but I can't find any links on his site. O-O, if you're reading, post a link if you will.
I am not a proponent of porn at all, so I don't want to seem like I am with this posting.
Comparing porn to a heroin addiction? That is a bit of a stretch, if you have ever known a heroin addict. And I don't think too many people have died from pornography, at least not physically. Both do 'kill' a person spiritually, to different extents.
Porn is pervasive, to be sure, and addictive, yes, but to compare it to a heroin addiction is absurd.
I remember reading about a study of convicted murderers that mentioned parenthetically that virtually all of them used pornography. Granted, they were in jail, but as I recall, almost all of them had used it before their incarcertaion. That doesn't imply a causal effect, but any behavior that tracks so well with extreme violence should at least be cause for concern.
I think that what the study points out is that the part of the brain that causes one to keep doing an activity because it is 'pleasurable' (despite the overall cost) is triggered both in heroin addiction and in porn addiction.
I've known quite a few heoin addicts (professionally, let me add - there is a clinic for pregnant addicts) and most of them don't know how they would live without their next fix. We substitute methadone for them but the heroin has permanently altered their brain chemistry and helping them to deal with ordinary pain is a real challenge. I think that porn addiction may also diminish the ability of the porn addict to deal with the everyday emotional pain of real life relationships. The addiction may be as much to a fantasy life as to the sexual aspect of the material.
+J.M.J+
There are many facets to pornography addiction. The reason it is compared to a heroin addiction is because viewing porn releases chemicals in the brain which are believed to cause one to become addicted to viewing it. Of course, there is also the fact that a climax is a powerful "positive reinforcer" (from a purely behaviorist point-of-view) which will thus encourage future behavior of that nature.
Pornography is a powerful snare of the devil. Anyone caught in this addiction/compulsion needs the help of God to overcome it. Prayer, devotion and Scripture reading can ultimately cleanse the mind of impure images viewed in the past. It's not easy, but one can overcome it with the grace of God through the Sacraments, avoiding near occasions of sin and practicing fasting and mortification.
I recently wrote a book to help Catholics who struggle with this compulsion, it's called Clean of Heart: Overcoming Habitual Sins Against Purity. I haven't promoted it too much, but if anyone is curious he can read more about it at: http://www.cleanofheart.info/
In Jesu et Maria,
I need to know how porn affects a person's actions and if someone you are close to is into porn.
What are the signs that a person is addicted.