It’s hard to look at commercials, movies or the internet without some sort of sexual context being laid before our eyes. Have we come so far in our culture that it’s all acceptable? Is this the new normal?
When you’re viewing sexual content, especially porn, it is not simply your eyes that are involved. Chemicals and circuits within your mind spring into action. They begin to form pathways in your brain that become more embedded with each piece of porn viewed. This is how the addiction to porn starts.
Author Luke Gilkerson explained, “Multiple problems happen when porn is used. First, instead of forming a deep connection to a person, your brain ends up “bonding” to a pornographic experience. Your brain remembers where the sexual high was experienced, and each time you desire sexual stimulation, you feel a sharp sense of focus: I’ve got to go back to the porn.”
Dopamine is one of the powerful chemicals that drive the reward centre of the brain. Viewing porn causes dopamine levels to rise and fall, creating the desire for more stimulation.
Almost everywhere you turn, couples are encouraged to introduce pornography to their relationship as a way to spice things up in the bedroom. Surveys will illustrate that in doing so, couples are significantly happier. What these headlines and surveys are not telling you is:
“The long-term effect of watching pornography with your spouse can be devastating.”
Samuel Perry, a sociologist at the University of Oklahoma, and his colleague Cyrus Schleifer surveyed the same 2,000 American adults on three separate occasions between 2006 and 2014 regarding their relationships and their use of sexually explicit material. According to Samuel Perry,
“We found that married Americans who began using pornography were roughly twice as likely to be divorced.”
Nobody thinks a spark is harmful until the flame has been fanned resulting in a fiery inferno burning out of control. Where do we go from here? And what will be the next New Normal?
There are groups out there helping men battle this addiction, though they are few.
Enderby SDA church will be starting a program called “The Conquer Series” on Nov. 8, to help equip men with the tools, resources and support to overcome or help someone else struggling to overcome.
Call or email to register 778-442-5040 darkhorse1967@hotmail.ca
James Smith