Addictions can be dangerously subtle. Cocaine users don’t begin their addiction purposely; similarly, alcoholics don’t pick up a drink thinking they will turn into addicts.
Pornography can be an extremely dangerous form of entertainment and like any addiction can create numerous harms in various forms. Here are some key problems caused by pornographic material: 1. Interrupted relationships.
1. Conflict with intimacy
Porn can wreak havoc with intimacy for some people even in relationships, leading them to view their partners more like sex organs instead of real people and distance themselves emotionally. Watching too much porn may cause people to become secretive about watching it themselves or opt out of activities they might normally participate in together.
Watching porn can activate the brain’s reward pathway, stimulating chemical release that leads to addictive behavior. Watching porn is similar to taking cocaine or meth in that it hijacks the reward system to create new neural pathways of pleasure that make it hard to stop watching when cravings emerge.
Watching porn can also alter your expectations of sex. If a particular body part excites you in an image, your partner might expect that you’ll react similarly in real life – however this doesn’t always occur and this can lead to frustration for both partners involved.
People often conflate sex and intimacy as interchangeable concepts. Porn may further this perception by portraying intimacy as sexualized rather than genuine; but, the reality is that they’re distinct concepts; intimacy can exist even without sexual contact between partners.
Substance users often struggle to achieve orgasm due to being too dependent on porn. Watching too much porn could cause one to see their partners as organs, thus making love harder than expected and stopping aroused responses from occurring. If you are having difficulty making love or feeling aroused by someone you are with, maybe looking into your porn consumption habits might help!
No doubt that porn can damage relationships, but there are ways to overcome it. Talk with trusted friends or pastors, join support groups dedicated to dealing with porn addiction or turn away from porn if it threatens your life and marriage.
2. Conflict with anger
People who enjoy porn often struggle with anger management issues. This may be caused by emotional or physical traumas; or something happening within our relationships, work lives, or everyday lives that trigger it. Unmanaged anger can often lead to compulsive sexual behaviors. There are effective methods available that can help turn anger into intimacy in relationships instead of compulsive sexual behaviors; If this is an issue for you there are some proven techniques which can help channel it positively towards greater intimacy between partners or reduce sexual stimulation needs.
Anger can be an extremely powerful trigger for pornographic viewing, as it fuels our desire for sexually explicit imagery and feeds our lust to view sexually explicit material. People who enjoy porn become dependent upon it for pleasure as anger turns into destructive resentment and bitterness if left unchecked.
Care and practice are required in order to learn to effectively control anger. Anger management involves being aware of your triggers, self-care practices and any negative effects your anger might have on yourself and others. Furthermore, it also means addressing the underlying causes that cause it such as trauma history, poor parenting skills or childhood abandonment/neglect.
If you’re struggling with an addiction to porn, it can be challenging to address its underlying causes – particularly if using porn as an escape or to mask anger or hurtful emotions. Finding an effective recovery support network – such as men’s groups, 12 step programs or counseling – is essential when fighting this form of dependency.
Step one in recovering from pornographic addiction is understanding its impact on our brains and relationships, so as to be able to overcome its addiction. Once we recognize these facts, it becomes much simpler to free ourselves of its grip. Learn about the damage it does in your life and share this knowledge with those you care for.
3. Conflict with neediness
Many couples turn to porn as a means of increasing passion in their relationship, yet this can quickly become a slippery slope leading to addiction – eventually becoming impossible to get aroused without porn and rendering the couple incapable of communicating or finding other means of connection, leading them down a path toward breakup or divorce.
One reason this happens is because porn does not accurately reflect real sexual encounters, leading you to believe you don’t measure up against its models’ digitally enhanced bodies. When watching too much porn, it can make viewers feel they don’t look attractive enough; especially as many models in it are airbrushed for Photoshopped effects. Spend too much time watching it and you may start viewing your real partner as less attractive than their models in comparison – one study even revealed men attracted to centerfold images were less in love with their partners!
Porn can derail relationships because it’s addictive and destroys self-esteem. Someone with low or no self-esteem cannot perform the most crucial task of life: loving and respecting themselves and other people – which in turn impacts every aspect of their life including work, relationships, and family ties.
An individual addicted to porn has a low sense of themselves and feel unworthy of happiness, leading them down the path toward seeking power over women through other means such as porn. Unfortunately, true power never devalues, manipulates, or coerces; it serves and gives selflessly.
Girls can easily detect this kind of guy and will not find him attractive; rather they will perceive him as someone pitiful and desperate. Therefore it’s imperative to build healthy self-esteem while avoiding porn at all costs.
4. Conflict with ego
Some find porn media addictive as it enhances their egos. They find pleasure when they see an actor’s penis or breasts or become involved with the fantasy, such as working the set or helping maintain an erection for shoots. Furthermore, watching such material often forces one to question and explore one’s sexuality more frequently than previously expected.
As with any substance, porn can hijack the reward pathway in the brain and release pleasure-inducing chemicals with viewing. Without an exit strategy to break free, these neural pathways will only become stronger over time.
Another issue with porn is that its focus on physical acts of sexuality can make its emotional implications seem far removed from real life sex, leading many women to view porn and find that their romantic relationships become compromised as a result of watching this content.
Internet has only compounded this problem further, making accessing porn easier on smartphones, tablets and computers, making resisting temptation even harder than before. And since viewing is possible any time of the day or night – or whenever convenient – resistance becomes harder as more often than not the temptation comes at any hour of day or night or whenever convenient. Compulsions to watch can arise due to anxiety, depression or insomnia as well as impulse reactions caused by these stimuli such as impulsivity or reactive feelings; problems arise within work, family and socializing as well as objectification which leads to dehumanization as body parts become dehumanized and objectified than before.