@ Phoenix
Just read an article from psychology today saying that nothing has been researched on "dopamines" etc.. on videos.. and that sex addiction isn't real
This is a great learning opportunity, so get ready to read a few articles.
The
first thing you need to understand is porn addiction is NOT sex addiction. Read this article that explains the difference: http://yourbrainonporn.com/porn-addiction-not-sex-addiction-and-why-it-matters
Now, is there evidence for porn addiction? Yes. Absolutely and a lot of it... read this long, but very important post from a little while back.
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Porn addiction is an internet addiction....because... well... porn is on the internet. In light of what is being passed around, for instance, if you hear "there is no evidence for porn addiction" know this...that is not true. We should take a look at some research that is not being talked about again, and a few other points people are missing.
First... The American Society of Addiction Medicine (3,000 physicians and addiction experts) press release states that sex and porn can be real addictions.. and peep this sentence from it....
The new definition also describes addiction as a primary disease, meaning that it?s not the result of other causes such as emotional or psychiatric problems.
http://www.asam.org/docs/pressreleases/asam-definition-of-addiction-2011-08-15.pdf
Here is part of the new definition of addiction -
Addiction also affects neurotransmission and interactions between cortical and hippocampal circuits and brain reward structures, such that the memory of previous exposures to rewards (such as food, sex, alcohol and other drugs) leads to a biological and behavioral response to external cues, in turn triggering craving and/or engagement in addictive behaviors.
http://www.asam.org/advocacy/find-a-policy-statement/view-policy-statement/public-policy-statements/2011/12/15/the-definition-of-addiction
Now to the internet addiction studies (60 of them) all showing the same brain changes as substance addictions.
Here is one internet addiction study that included porn. I highlighted the main points in two important quotes. The internet addicts brains showed the same brain changes found in all addictions. They developed a "numbed" reward circuit, this is known as desensitization.
Subjects used the internet almost every day, and spend more than 8 hours ... every day in front of the monitor, mostly for chatting with cyber friends, playing online games, and watching online pornographies or adult movies.
The results from this study provide evidence that IAD may induce signi?cant DAT losses in the brain and these ?ndings suggest that IAD (internet addiction disorder) is associated with dysfunctions in the dopaminergic brain systems and are consistent with previous reports in various types of addictions either with or without substances
http://www.reuniting.info/download/pdf/ReducedStriatalDopamineTransporters.pdf
And another one in 2013: Important paragraph -
It should be pointed out that, as two of the key uses of the internet for a sizable number of internet users are to gain access to pornography and gambling [4], [5], and these latter activities are clearly subject to potentially-addictive states, it may be that any results relating to ?internet addiction? are actually manifestations of other forms of addiction (i.e. to pornography or gambling).
Remember again, it does not matter if porn was used or not.....if the internet changes the brain, so does porn on the internet.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0055162
Here is a full list of all the internet addiction brain studies done so far (60 of them!) All showing without exception the same brain changes in substance addiction. At the bottom of the list are a few studies that showed the addiction CAUSED the problems, and issues went away when behavior was stopped! Again, not issues leading to addiction, but addiction leading to issues.
http://yourbrainonporn.com/list-internet-video-game-brain-studies
If the internet can change brains, porn can change brains lol. Case closed, no need for anymore debating....game over. refuses to acknowledge this research.... because if internet addiction exists, his argument is worthless.
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A Cambridge University study in 2013 found that people who are addicted to pornography show similar brain activity to alcoholics or drug addicts. Lead scientist Dr. Valerie Voon, an honorary consultant neuropsychiatrist, when talking about the results said:
We found greater activity in an area of the brain called the ventral striatum, which is a reward centre, involved in processing reward, motivation and pleasure.
When an alcoholic sees an ad for a drink, their brain will light up in a certain way and they will be stimulated in a certain way. We are seeing this same kind of activity in users of pornography.
That is describing an addiction process well established in the addiction field called "sensitization". This brain change happens in ALL addiction even behavioral.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/pornography-addiction-leads-to-same-brain-activity-as-alcoholism-or-drug-abuse-study-shows-8832708.html
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Back to the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM).
This is a Q&A they released after they came out with the new definition of addiction:
5. QUESTION: This new definition of addiction refers to addiction involving gambling, food, and sexual behaviors. Does ASAM really believe that food and sex are addicting?
ANSWER: Addiction to gambling has been well described in the scientific literature for several decades. In fact, the latest edition of the DSM (DSM-V) will list gambling disorder in the same section with substance use disorders. The new ASAM definition makes a departure from equating addiction with just substance dependence, by describing how addiction is also related to behaviors that are rewarding. This the first time that ASAM has taken an official position that addiction is not solely ?substance dependence.? This definition says that addiction is about functioning and brain circuitry and how the structure and function of the brains of persons with addiction differ from the structure and function of the brains of persons who do not have addiction. It talks about reward circuitry in the brain and related circuitry, but the emphasis is not on the external rewards that act on the reward system. Food and sexual behaviors and gambling behaviors can be associated with the ?pathological pursuit of rewards? described in this new definition of addiction.
Now, the Cambridge study, and all 60 internet addiction studies have shown exactly what I just emphasized in bold in the answer above. Addicts brains function differently than non addicts.
Here is a peer reviewed article on neuroplasticity in regards to porn use by Donald L. Hilton Jr., MD.. a neurosurgeon.
Sex, like drug rewards, places its stamp on neuronal receptors, dendrites, and gyri as it facilitates neuroplastic change, thus meriting the addiction label when compulsively and destructively expressed.
http://www.socioaffectiveneuroscipsychol.net/index.php/snp/article/view/20767/29179
Norman Doidge MD, Author of The Brain That Changes Itself that came out back in 2007.... In it he describes Porn Induced ED because he started seeing it in his patients, just like Sue Varma has...and many others. Here is a part of chapter four of his book (amazing read by the way if your are interested.)
Today young men who surf porn are tremendously fearful of impotence, or ?erectile dysfunction? as it is euphemistically called. The misleading term implies that these men have a problem in their penises, but the problem is in their heads, in their sexual brain maps. The penis works fine when they use pornography. It rarely occurs to them that there may be a relationship between the pornography they are consuming and their impotence...............The addictiveness of Internet pornography is not a metaphor. Not all addictions are to drugs or alcohol. People can be seriously addicted to gambling, even to running. All addicts show a loss of control of the activity, compulsively seek it out despite negative consequences, develop tolerance so that they need higher and higher levels of stimulation for satisfaction, and experience withdrawal if they can't consummate the addictive act.
Now for the Erectile Dysfunction research, it will be hard to study because, well, not many guys are willing to admit they have ED and want to be studied....especially teenagers. So what we have is "The great porn experiment" where thousands of guys like me simply change ONE variable in our lives, and recover....we stop watching porn.
Here is a list of 40 articles primarily from experts who say porn induced ED is real.
http://www.yourbrainonporn.com/porn-induced-ed-media
Science simply hasn't caught up with reality. It will take time as this is a new thing because we have the very first generation who grew up with internet porn. Things will get worse before they get better if we keep having people say "porn is not the issue the person is the issue" because by hearing that guys will think using porn can cause no harm and will only be a problem for the guys with "issues". I thought the same, that porn was only a problem for people who have issues.... until I developed issues of my own, erectile dysfunction at the ripe age of 23.
Thanks for reading. Rest assured, more research is coming.
For more on this subject I encourage everyone to read these:
Is there evidence for porn addiction?
And this one shows that that PT post was absolute manipulation and twisting of facts -
http://pornstudycritiques.com/the-emperor-has-no-clothes-a-fractured-fairytale-posing-as-a-review/
much love
