Why is Porn Addictive?
Porn is addictive for the same reason that many drugs are addictive. Neuroscientist Dr. William Struthers explains how the brain reacts to viewing pornography repeatedly:
As men fall deeper into the mental habit of fixating on these images, the exposure to them creates neural pathways. Like a path is created in the woods with each successive hiker, so do the neural paths set the course for the next time an erotic image is viewed. Over time these neural paths become wider as they are repeatedly traveled with each exposure to pornography. They become the automatic pathway through which interactions with women are routed. The neural circuitry anchors this process solidly in the brain. With each lingering stare, pornography deepens the Grand Canyon-like gorge in the brain through with images of women are destined to flow. (Wired for Intimacy, p.85)
In my interview with Dr. Struthers, he explained what hormones and neurotransmitters are involved in porn addiction.
Testosterone
This is a gonadal hormone (produced in the testis) involved in many processes in the body. One of them is the male sexual drive. Testosterone drives a man’s interest in sex. Mentally fantasizing triggers a reflexive response in the body to release testosterone, and the more one does this, the “wave” of testosterone continues to build. Men experience this as an intense and growing desire for sexual release.
This wave of testosterone will occur if a man is thinking about or interacting with his wife, but it also happens when a man is staring at other women or a pornographic image.
Norepinephrine
Norepinephrine is the brain’s version of adrenaline. Unlike adrenaline, it is not a hormone circulating through the body, but like adrenaline, it is responsible for making us alert. It is the neurotransmitter that is responsible for helping us to wake up and fall asleep and helping us to stay alert at work or in class.
During sexual arousal, such as watching pornography, norepinephrine alerts the brain: “Something is about to happen and we need to get ready for it.” It “ramps up” the brain for activity.
Serotonin
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter tied to mood. Low serotonin levels can lead to someone struggling with depression.
While not specifically tied to sex, when sexual arousal happens, serotonin is released in small packets in the brain, elevating someone’s overall sense of excitement and enjoyment.
Dopamine
The brain is wired in such a way that it wants to remember where our natural drives are satisfied. For instance, when we are thirsty and find water, the brain is wired to place significance on the place we found it so we can return to that place.
Dopamine is the drive-related neurotransmitter that accomplishes this mental focus for us. When we have a natural craving, small packets of dopamine surge from the region known as the mesencephalon into our limbic system, which is a part of the brain responsible for emotion and learning. Because dopamine is about focus and significance, when we have a dopamine surge the sense we feel is, “I have got to have this thing. This is what I need right now, and here’s where I get it.”
Dopamine is not sexually specific like testosterone, but it is released during sexually pleasurable experiences. Dopamine is the way your brain remembers how sexual craving was satisfied in the past, pushing you to seek out the same thing in the future. When it comes to someone addicted to pornography, dopamine creates a sharp focus on finding porn.
Endogenous Opiates
The body produces natural forms of opium called endorphins. Endorphins relieve pain and, like opium, a euphoric feeling of well-being. A “runners high” is one example of a release of these endorphins.
When a man ejaculates, these opiates are easily released, creating a “high” and a wave of pleasure coursing over the body.
Oxytocin and Vasopressin
Oxytocin and vasopressin are hormones released in the brain, and one of the times they are released is in response to ejaculation. These hormones help to lay down the long-term memories for the cells. They “bind” a person’s memories to the object that gave him the sexual pleasure.
When someone returns to pornography again and again, this cements a “relationship” between a man and what he has seen in the pornography.
Putting it All Together
As a man goes through his day, testosterone levels begin to increase as he stares at women or fantasizes about them, creating a desire for sexual release. Meanwhile, norepinephrine is being released, making his brain more and more alert and ready for action. Serotonin is also released, creating a sense of excitement about his sexual “payoff.” In addition, dopamine is focusing the mind, telling the brain, “You have to go back to the porn. That’s where the reliable payoff is.” Then the man seeks out porn and masturbates, releasing endogenous opiates in the brain, giving him a rush of euphoria. In addition, oxytocin and vasopressin are released, binding him to the images he sees.
17 Responses to Why is Porn Addictive?
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Luke,
Great article! This was grand-slam walk off home run!
Jerry
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One thing about porn: those images never go away whether you continue to look at it or not. What happens when people get into gross porn i.e. Kiddie porn: will people who look at that kind turn INTO CHILD MOLESTERS WHETHER THEY WERE MOLESTED or NOT?….we still have to continue the WAR on porn.
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@Zipporah – No. Not all men who are into child porn actually molest children, but those who supply the world with child porn are already molesting children. Child pornography is too tame a phrase for it. Really we should call it “crime scene images of child rape.”
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This is perfect! Men need to know what they are up against in this fight. It is essentially and fundamentally a drug addiction (depending on how long they have been viewing porn).
Like any addiction there is much more than just the physiological aspect. The psychological and spiritual pieces need to be addressed as well. But is seems like we tend to over-emphasize these two, to the determent of the ‘chemical’ fight.
There is a great book that I have found can help understand and counter the ‘chemical’ fight, it’s called Spark and it is written by renowned psychiatrist Dr.John J. Ratey.
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Great article. It helped me realize why my wife and I having sex pretty frequently has been so good for our marriage. It has chemically bound us together in ways that wouldn’t have happened if I had taken my needs to porn.
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Luke, thank you for this post. I expected long ago that there must be some chemical activities going on when any person looks at porn. That explains why people find it so difficult to leave porn behind them.
God bless you.
Herman of bibledifferences.net
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Excellent article on what happens in the brain. But what about the heart?
Is this not, at it’s core, the result of a free choice to engage in sin? At what point do we depart from sin and tell someone it’s a chemical imbalance? When, just maybe, we should depart from the strictly clinical explanations and address the problem where it lies – sin, and the need for repentance and the support of the church community.
YES – counseling is appropriate and needful, but we should keep the proper perspective even when our sinful choices have resulted in physical affliction.
Counseling was of little use and subsequent effect in my life until I was sufficiently convicted and brought to repentance.
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the heart is just a muscle… thoughts, feelings and such as those come from the brain, get it? didn´t your god teach you anything useful?
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What exactly are you talking about?
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Anonimo, sorry, but there is a very good reason why “heartache” is called that. Our human souls are located in the brain and heart. Research it.
That’s one of millions of useful things my God taught me. ;D
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When a man stops watching pornography and relys only on their spouse for all sexual experiences, how long does it take for oxytocin and vasopressin releases to then “bind” him to his spouse?
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Right away. New neural circuits are created and strengthened in each sexual encounter. This does not mean the old neural circuits go away. They still remain, but new ones are formed. Dr. William Struthers likens this to a Grand-Canyon-like gorge that is carved in the mind after years of watching porn: over time the movement of water and wind carved out the Grand Canyon, just like the repeated use of porn carves a rut in our minds. But we can go back up to the “water source,” if you will, and move that stream down the other side of the mountain to carve a new gorge: a.k.a. build intimacy with your spouse. Then the habit just needs to be reinforced with time and repetition. The old ruts in the brain might not lessen to any great degree, but someone can build the habit of choosing the “good rut” over the bad.