5 Major Ways Porn Addiction Affects Your Brain

The easy access and ubiquitous nature of porn these days prompted me to do a research on the effects porn addiction has on our brain.

And i tell you, it isn’t funny.

Here are the 7 major ways porn addiction affects your brain.
​
​

1. Pornography addiction leads to same brain activity as alcoholism or drug abuse

MRI scans of test subjects who admitted to compulsive pornography use has shown that the reward centres of the brain reacted to seeing explicit material in the same way as an alcoholic’s might on seeing a drinks advert.

2. It alters the dopamine reward system

Dopamine plays a major role in the brain system that is responsible for reward-driven learning. And just like
Cocaine, weed etc porn has also been shown to directly trigger dopamine secretion which ultimately alters the reward centre.

Once the reward centre is altered, a person will compulsively seek out the activity that triggered the dopamine discharge. This, is how an addict is made.

3. It shrinks the brain

Porn may also literally shrink the brain, a study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry found out that Men who regularly consumed porn had smaller brain volume and fewer connections in the striatum, a brain region tied to reward processing, compared with those who didn’t view porn.

4. It Affects your memory

Viewing porn almost always leads to sexual tension and a need for an outlet and most people often release this tension by masturbating -its the easiest way- Thats why most porn addicts are also chronic masturbators.

The unfortunate reality is that each time a man ejaculates, he loses vital neurochemicals that are involved with concentration and memory.

With lowered levels of these neurochemicals -caused by frequent ejaculation, individuals experience memory lapses.

5. It affects your mental health

Continuos exposure to porn also affect your brain’s dopamine levels, which is correlated with social anxiety, depression, low motivation concentration problems, low self esteem etc.

6. It alters the mirror neurons in the brain

pornography triggers mirror neurons in the male brain, this mirror neuron system triggers the arousal, which leads to sexual tension and a need for an outlet. The downside is that when he acts out (often by masturbating), this leads to hormonal and neurological consequences, which are designed to bind him to the object he is focusing on. Thats why most porn addicts are also chronic masturbators.

7. It Numbs the Brain

Overstimulation of the reward circuitry—such as occurs with repeated dopamine spikes related to viewing pornography—creates desensitization.

When dopamine receptors drop after too much stimulation, the brain doesn’t respond as much, ergo we feel less reward from pleasure. That drives us to search even harder for feelings of satisfaction which ultimately leads to more frequent porn viewing habit thus further numbing the brain.