Is Pornography Really That Detrimental?

Hey, Cadre. Family doctor Kerry here. Today I'm going to delve more into the topic of pornography. I've shared in some of my other videos that I struggled with a sex and p*** addiction. And I want to explain, first of all, what that is, what a p*** addiction is, because there are people who are addicted to p*** and there are people who simply just use p*** or abuse it, similar to any other drug, actually. They've done studies. And what happens in the brain when you watch p*** is very similar to when you do other drugs, such as heroin or other opioids, because it combined with masturbation, which is how people usually use p***, it releases the happy neurotransmitter chemicals in your brain.

So that's one of the main reasons people get addicted to p***, is because they combine it with the masturbation factor and it releases those happy chemicals in the brain, just as you would if you're using a drug that releases those happy chemicals. So your brain gets accustomed to that and soon you're finding yourself not able to m********* without using p***. That's when you're delving into that addiction. That's when you're really slipping into that part. And I just want you to know that even though they haven't done as many studies on a p*** addiction as they have with other substances, it is a highly addictive substance.

There are people that get addicted to p*** from watching it one time or seeing pornographic images one time. And I just want to make that really clear because it's not talked about like other addictions, but it's the same mechanism in the brain as any other addiction. So I just wanted to clarify that and put that out there and not make it seem like your addiction is just as bad as somebody else's addiction who's addicted to heroin. But just so you understand the gravity of what a p*** addiction can actually mean for someone, because it's a spectrum, just like any other drug addiction, where somebody can say, yeah, maybe I could take a few days off here and there and not use cocaine, not use heroin, but when I do it, oh, my gosh, I do it really heavy.

And as it progresses, just like any other addiction, you get to the point where you were. Where I was, where I was watching p*** daily, and I would really kind of feel unsettled or like, lost if I didn't watch it. And this didn't happen overnight. This happened over the course of several years, actually, my first exposure to p*** was actually as a kid and seeing pornographic images and as a young adult after I was sexually assaulted, I started actually watching p*** more so when I was married and then really heavily after I was married, when I was really seeking sex as my form of happy release and escape.

So that really became, like, my drug of choice, I guess you could say. And over the years that ensued after that, even when I was in a relationship, I struggled with a p*** addiction, and I would watch p*** by myself at home when my partner was not at home. So just understand that it's similar to any other drug addiction, and it can be something that really has a hold over people, and then there can be others that are just struggling with, like, I don't want to actually watch this or look at these images, but I really also don't know how to stop.

So then there's the other piece of it, which I want to talk more about today, which is the. Well, so I'm watching p*** and masturbating, but I'm not in a relationship. So how is this really hurting me or hurting someone else? Because it's not like I'm not engaging with my spouse because I'm doing this, or, you know, I'm withholding sex, or I'm not interested in sex with my boyfriend because I am doing this during the day, whatever it may be. I want to talk about what that's like when you're watching p*** and masturbating when you're not in a relationship, and why that is so detrimental for you.

Because it took me actually, like, researching this and listening to some speakers who are really experts in this topic to understand it. And also a lot through my faith, I've really come to understand why p*** and masturbation are so detrimental to a person even when they're single. So let me explain this a little bit for you. So, first of all, pornographic images, even if you're looking at soft p***, even if you're just looking at some body parts, whatever it may be, to the extremes of, like, bdsm, you know, really, you know, more graphic images or videos.

It is unnatural for the human brain to process this because we are made to engage in sex. We are sexual beings. Obviously, God created us to have intercourse. We are animalistic in that sense. We have the desire to procreate. We have the desire to have sex. But it is actually unnatural for our brains to look at images or videos of pornographic things. And I know that seems silly because we're made to do that. And we can see another human being naked in a sexual encounter, but looking at them separate from another human being, pre present with you is unnatural, and your brain actually doesn't know what to do with the information.

So what happens is if you're looking at those images, you might feel this component of shame come in. Oftentimes for me, that was quickly erased by the fact that I knew I was going to have some sort of happy chemicals come in my brain really quickly when you combine it with the masturbation. And what that actually does to your brain is it creates this feedback loop, similar to a drug addiction, that it makes it so you want to see these images. Even though your brain doesn't know what to do with them, it actually makes it so your brain desires to see them.

Same thing as a drug. Your brain desires that drug substance, even though it knows it's bad for you, even though it does things in your brain that probably aren't healthy, like your body starts to crave that. The same thing happens when you watch p*** or you look at pornographic images, is your brain actually creates a feedback loop to want that information and to want more of it, which is how the addiction starts. Next, I just want to touch on the topic of why doing this, even when you're single, can be detrimental to later on in a relationship.

Because your brain stores images. We're very visual. Everybody's a visual person, whether you believe you are or not. We're all visual people. We all have eyes. And if you have the gift of sight, which majority of people do you remember things that you see? You remember what the sky looked like from that beautiful sunset that you saw that one day. You remember what you know, like your best friend looks like. You remember images. We are visual learners, and we store information in our brain from things we see.

It's one of the five senses that we receive input into our brain with information. So you actually. Your brain stores those images just like it would any other image. And even if you're not consciously aware of your brain storing these images that you see from p***, it's doing it. And what happens is then when you are in a relationship with someone and you are having sexual intimacy, your brain actually just starts to pull out that file because it associates the same thing. You know, you're obviously releasing endorphins.

You're having a fun time with this person, and it pulls out those images from that file saying, oh, well, these go hand in hand. I know that when you tell me to release these happy chemicals, that this file comes out with it. So your brain just goes on like autopilot and literally pulls out those images. So a lot of people that have struggled with a p*** addiction have really struggled in intimacy because their brain, as much as they try to push those images out and say, oh, my gosh, I haven't looked at p*** in years.

Unless you do some inner healing and work to erase that file from your brain, which there's many ways to do that, but unless you do that work, your brain is going to pull out that file of images and actually, it will then interfere with your ability to be intimate and present in the moment because your brain is pulling out memories that you have from an encounter that you had with nobody else. And, I mean, this is true, obviously, for people who have also been through sexual trauma. One of the reasons they struggle with intimacy with someone is because your body is preparing to do a sexual act.

And if your body has been violated at some point, it's the same concept. Your body's going, oh, no, this is danger. We need to be afraid right now instead of being able to enjoy the intimate moment with the other person that you feel safe with. So same concept is what's happening in your brain when you have those pornographic images stored in that file. So I hope this shed some light on the topic. I am going to delve more into this. There's a lot to unpack here. But as I've been learning more about this topic, I just wanted to share it with you because there are definite times in my life, and even people who have told me, you know, p*** and masturbation aren't really a big deal if you're single.

You know, if you're doing that when you're with someone or you're in a marriage. Okay, now, maybe we should have some, you know, conversation about how that might be impacting your relationship. But I just wanted to shed some light on the topic of doing this even when you're single can impact you years down the road in a relationship. And I know we all want to be present with our partner when we have intimate moments and really be able to enjoy that person at the time when we get to that point in our life.

So the things you do when you're single actually really make a difference. And it can be really important to get healthy and recognize if you are struggling with p*** and masturbation and decide that you want to make that choice today to quit that addiction. There's a lot of resources out there these days for this kind of addiction, more so than there used to be, because people are recognizing it as an addiction. So I would encourage you to get help if you are struggling with that so reach out to me if there's any questions you have on this topic, and I will definitely talk more about it.

But I hope this was helpful for you today, guys. Thanks for tuning in. God bless.