Nick StumboExecutive Director driving healing from sexual brokenness

Addiction is the Opposite of Intimacy

18 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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In this segment, the speaker asserts that pornography addiction stands in direct opposition to genuine intimacy. He explains that viewing pornography triggers a dopamine surge accompanied by adrenaline and excitement, which are chemically distinct from the oxytocin-driven bonding experience that underlies intimacy. Oxytocin, observed in the eye contact between parents and infants, fosters deep relational bonds and, according to the speaker, should be cultivated within a marital relationship.

Chapters

Addiction, pornography particularly, is the opposite of intimacy. And because the brain chemicals that trigger when we watch pornography are totally different. They're the dopamine surge, the, you know, the drive, the adrenaline. Excitement. And intimacy is driven by oxytocin, the bonding hormone that we do look in children's eyes when they're babies and when we talk to them. To have that bonding experience, and that's what we learn has to happen in the marital relationship as well.