Am I Addicted to Porn? What is Porn Addiction?

Hey there everybody, and welcome to today's video on what is pornography addiction? I'm your host, Dr. Donnelly Snipes. In this video we're going to define pornography addiction, differentiate porn addiction from recreational use, and then we'll finish up with a little self assessment. So what is an addiction? People who are addicted to pornography are unable to stop or significantly cut down using pornography. They've spent more time than intended thinking about accessing or recovering from the effects of porn use. They give up important social work or recreational activities in order to view porn. So instead of going to their office Christmas party, they stay home to watch porn. Or instead of going out on a date, they would rather stay home and watch porn. Important relationships, including the person's self esteem, are negatively impacted by porn use. And this is one the person's self esteem doesn't necessarily have to be negatively impacted, but that is one of those relationships that we look at. The person fails to meet obligations at work, home or school. School because of porn. So maybe while they're at work, instead of getting their reports done or whatever it is they do, they're watching porn on their mobile device or even on the work computer. Continued use despite knowing it's caused or worsened physical or psychological issues. If the person had a pain problems or sexual dysfunction and they continued using porn even even though they knew that the porn was making it worse, then that's a problem. Or if they continued using pornography even though when they were not using it was they were feeling more depressed or more angry or more anxious, then that's a problem. And experiencing psychological or physical withdrawal. Physical withdrawal comes in the form of cravings, low energy, insomnia, agitation, restlessness. Psychological is more like low motivation, depression, anger, irritability. Research indicates that recreational use of pornography is possible, just like recreational use of alcohol is possible. Not everybody agrees with viewing porn. Not everybody thinks it's okay. But from a very objective standpoint, it is possible to watch it and not develop an addiction. Regarding those who do develop an addiction to pornography, pornography viewing is usually not the problem per se, but a symptom of an underlying issue. The person may have started using porn in order to escape from physical or psychological pain. So it was giving them an outlet, it was giving them an escape. Or they may have started using porn and started using it a little bit too much and then they started experiencing the physiological changes that happen to people with addictions. So when they're not using now, they experience withdrawal symptoms that are very uncomfortable. So they start using. Not everybody started using because of trauma. Or because of mood issues or something. However, the withdrawal symptoms maintain addiction for a lot of people because the withdrawal symptoms are so uncomfortable that a lot of people just give in to their cravings in order to prevent those feelings. Feelings. Sexual release, whether through sex, masturbation or masturbation can produce the most intense release of dopamine, endorphins and oxytocin of any non chemical addiction. Anything endogenous, anything that you're doing within your own body that doesn't involve ingesting a substance, this is the most potent release. So you're flooding that circuitry way more than you usually would. Since pornography has never ending novelty, the dopamine flood can be maintained almost indefinitely. Dopamine is your motivation chemical. Dopamine is your I want to do that again chemical. Dopamine is your I can't wait chemical. So when you're watching porn and every time you click that little space bar or whatever button you're clicking to advance to the next image or video, you get another hit of dopamine and your brain saying, I want to do that again. That was awesome. So watching porn in and of itself produces a never ending flood of dopamine while you're doing it. Now, when you get to the point eventually where you get a sexual release, there's another flood of dopamine. But then there's that refractory period while you're watching porn. If you're not masturbating at the same time or having sex at the same time, then that dopamine is just continuing to flood into the brain circuits over time. This flood of dopamine results in alterations in the brain that will produce tolerance, withdrawal, cravings and loss of motivation. So let's talk about this self assessment. Do you have an addiction to porn? You don't have to have all the symptoms of addiction in order to qualify as having a substance use disorder. Now, pornography addiction is not in the DSM 5TR. It's actually listed. We kind of go towards compulsive sexual behavior or hypersexual disorder. But what we're really looking at here in most people agree is something that we're going to classify as an addiction. So if it is causing problems in your life, more than two problems in your life in a six month period, then it's likely that you would qualify as having pornography addiction. So the self assessment. Can you successfully stop watching pornography for at least a week? Try it. If you can do it, wonderful. If you can't, that's a clue. How much time do you Spend each week thinking about porn. That doesn't mean watching it. That means thinking about porn that you've watched in the past, or thinking about when you're going to be able to watch porn next, or how you're going to be able to access it. How much time do you spend each week watching porn? And yes, I know, I'm saying each week. So you're going to be keeping a a log, if you will, to figure out how much time you spend thinking about it, how much time you spend engaging in it. So you can see how much time you'll free up if you are not engaged in watching porn. How much time do you spend each week recovering from the effects of watching porn? Now, there are a lot of places where you can access porn for free now, so the financial aspect isn't there. However, this includes not only physically recovering from the effects of watching porn because you're exhausted afterwards, but also catching up on your work because you were supposed to be working and you didn't do it so you had to scramble to get that report done, or trying to make up with your significant other because they found out that you were watching porn and they're angry now or whatever the case may be. But how much time do you spend each week recovering from the effects of watching porn? In the past month? So we have been talking about the week in the past month. What social work or recreational activities. And this can include going to the gym or even mowing the lawn, which most of us don't like doing. In the past month, what social work or recreational activities have you given up or failed to accomplish by because you wanted to watch porn and you decided to watch porn instead? And this is another area where porn can cause problems in relationships. Because if you're supposed to be getting things done on that honeydew list, then and you don't do it because you're preoccupied with watching porn, you're spending too much time doing that. Then your significant other may start to get really cranky if you don't have a significant other. You know, if we're talking about lawn chores, then your HOA may start to get really cranky. How has your self esteem been impacted by pornography use? Whether it is feeling frustrated because you're not able to stop using porn or because you're seeing things in porn and you're comparing yourself to the people that you're watching and you're thinking, I don't measure up. You know, there's a lot of ways that porn can impact self esteem. How have your relationships with your friends, family and significant others been impacted by your porn use. And this can impact your the way you interact in the bedroom, in, in sex. This can interact affect the way you interact and the amount of time you want to spend with friends and family. You know, if you're spending time with them, you're probably not going to be watching porn. And if your desire is to watch porn, then even when you're spending time with them, it's likely that at least some of the time you're going to be distracted thinking about porn and thinking, I can't wait to get out of here so I can get home and watch porn. Do you have any physical issues, including sexual dysfunction or insomnia, that are worsened by watching porn? Do you have any psychological issues like anxiety, depression or anger management or even addictions that are worsened by porn use? Some people, if they can't access porn, they will turn to another addiction in order to get that dopamine rush. Other people have combined they've paired porn use with another addiction, like drinking alcohol or using drugs. When you are not able to regularly access porn, do you experience psychological or physical withdrawals? Whether it's having sex, viewing pornography, or masturbating, if it's done with a regular high frequency, it can result in alterations of the dopaminergic system, your reward system. And the dopaminergic system is also involved not only in reward seeking, but also in motivation and energy. So then when you're not using your motivation and your energy just kind of goes downhill. In the next video, I'm going to talk about 10 tips for recovery from pornography addiction.