Sexual arousal template vs sexual orientation
- Thread starter tanmay R
- Start date
It’s my understanding from what I’ve read in the literature that sexual orientation is innate, while the “sexual arousal template” can be influenced by external sexual conditioning.
If interested in some research regarding sexual conditioning, check out these links:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
And this one:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Hope that helps.
If interested in some research regarding sexual conditioning, check out these links:
Who, what, where, when (and maybe even why)? How the experience of sexual reward connects sexual desire, preference, and performance - PubMed
Although sexual behavior is controlled by hormonal and neurochemical actions in the brain, sexual experience induces a degree of plasticity that allows animals to form instrumental and Pavlovian associations that predict sexual outcomes, thereby directing the strength of sexual responding. This...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
And this one:
Conditioning and sexual behavior: a review - PubMed
Sexual behavior is directed by a sophisticated interplay between steroid hormone actions in the brain that give rise to sexual arousability and experience with sexual reward that gives rise to expectations of competent sexual activity, sexual desire, arousal, and performance. Sexual experience...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Hope that helps.
TheFuture1
Member
This is a really interesting topic.
I’m wondering whether anyone has used these ideas in their recovery. Can anyone share stories about that?
I’ve made a few attempts at recovery over the years. One thing that went wrong first time round was that I wasn’t happy with some aspects of my sexuality and I fell into the trap of thinking that if I just stopped reinforcing the conditioning through abstinence for long enough then those aspects of my sexuality would go away. That got pretty dark.
it was really confusing because, however much I wanted to believe that I’d acquired these sexual tastes through excessive use of porn, I knew that this simply wasn’t true. It was more like the porn had awakened something that was already there in me. My obsessive response to it was immediate, not something that built up gradually through increasing use.
This doesn’t mean I don’t need addiction recovery but I think it indicates that there are slightly different ways that all the factors can come together in different people to form these obsessions and compulsions. It’s important to acknowledge that and I think it has implications for how I needed to approach recovery.
I’m more accepting of my sexuality now. It doesn’t distress me like it used to. I now see recovery as being about changing habits and stopping cravings from taking away from other aspects of my life. I’m much less focused on changing my sexual arousal template or whatever the right word is for it.
I’ve still got some work to do on understanding my sexuality and finding ways to express it that work for me. Especially in terms of making sexuality and relationships more compatible in my mind.
I’ve seen some interesting things written about this that I might try and post here.
I’m wondering whether anyone has used these ideas in their recovery. Can anyone share stories about that?
I’ve made a few attempts at recovery over the years. One thing that went wrong first time round was that I wasn’t happy with some aspects of my sexuality and I fell into the trap of thinking that if I just stopped reinforcing the conditioning through abstinence for long enough then those aspects of my sexuality would go away. That got pretty dark.
it was really confusing because, however much I wanted to believe that I’d acquired these sexual tastes through excessive use of porn, I knew that this simply wasn’t true. It was more like the porn had awakened something that was already there in me. My obsessive response to it was immediate, not something that built up gradually through increasing use.
This doesn’t mean I don’t need addiction recovery but I think it indicates that there are slightly different ways that all the factors can come together in different people to form these obsessions and compulsions. It’s important to acknowledge that and I think it has implications for how I needed to approach recovery.
I’m more accepting of my sexuality now. It doesn’t distress me like it used to. I now see recovery as being about changing habits and stopping cravings from taking away from other aspects of my life. I’m much less focused on changing my sexual arousal template or whatever the right word is for it.
I’ve still got some work to do on understanding my sexuality and finding ways to express it that work for me. Especially in terms of making sexuality and relationships more compatible in my mind.
I’ve seen some interesting things written about this that I might try and post here.
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