The Effects of Sexual Addiction on the Brain
by Joe (Dropping the Stones Leader)
What is Addiction?
At its core, addiction persuades us to counter a void in our lives with pleasure. We believe it will make us feel better; it gives us something to look forward to or to rest our hope on. So, we start to think that we need our addiction to live; however, addictions cause catastrophic consequences in our lives. The following quote captures the dangerous reality of a person trapped in addiction:
As they rely on it more and more, the addiction becomes their god and they sacrifice everything to it. They think about it day and night. The more they yield to the addiction, the more power it has over them. Eventually, it destroys their lives: their health, their families, their friendships… and their role in the community” (Hill et al., 2013, p. 88).
When a person begins an unhealthy addiction, they believe they are stronger than the addiction and can control it. But, ultimately, addictions are powerful, and over time an addiction tears down a person’s defenses, even keeping them in the denial that they can stop when they want. Still, without the right help, an individual stays trapped in the deceitfulness of denial.
Addiction and our Brains
God designed our brains with a healthy reward system so we can enjoy healthy pleasurable experiences. Some examples include: eating foods we like, meeting with friends, having a hobby, reaching our goals, and having intimacy with our spouses. When we are having these healthy pleasurable experiences, our brain produces dopamine. “Dopamine is a naturally occurring neurotransmitter that regulates our emotions, contributes to our motivation, and is key to our ability to feel pleasure” (Module 4, n.d.). Therefore, healthy natural dopamine releases contribute to our overall physical, emotional, and mental health.
By contrast, when dopamine releases are unbalanced, the effects are concerning. For instance, when a person watches a pornographic video, the scenes are hyper-stimulating, and it can release excessive amounts of dopamine, producing euphoric feelings. According to Kolb (n.d.), “The brain associates intense positive feelings with the behavior, which creates strong cravings for the feeling. As soon as someone continues to use porn and engage in unwanted sexual behaviors, it alters their brain chemistry” (Module 4). As with any addiction, the brain will remember where it received the high levels of dopamine and will return to the behavior.
Tragically, as the addiction progresses, the brain’s answer to the dopamine imbalance is to produce less of it. Sadly, it leads to adverse reactions, such as depression, sending the person into a foreboding cycle of increased unwanted sexual behaviors to compensate for the reduced dopamine.
Healing
The good news is that there is hope! Because the brain dictates so much of how we live our lives, changing its chemistry does not reduce its power over us; it only changes the direction it leads us in. With this in mind, the path to freedom from addiction takes work and commitment, but you are not alone. The Pure Desires program is clinically-proven to help thousands escape from the bondage of sexual addictions. If you are ready to break the cycle of addiction, please contact Dropping the Stones to start your path to victory today.
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References
Hill, H., Hill, M., Bagge, R., & Miersma, P. (2013). Healing the Wounds of Trauma: How the Church Can Help (Revised). American Bible Society.
Module 4: The Neurochemistry Of Addiction – Pure Desire Ministries. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2022, from https://puredesire.org/courses/group-leader-training/lessons/session-1-overview-of-the-pure-desire-process/topic/module-4-the-neurochemistry-of-addiction/
Videos Psychology·, F. (2019, December 29). Watching pornography rewires the brain to a more juvenile state. Neuroscience News. https://neurosciencenews.com/neuroscience-pornography-brain-15354/