I searched my old posts to see if I'd written about Fight the New Drug before and I couldn't find anything, which really surprises me. I'm very supportive of both the organization and the cause they're championing, which is why I'm surprised I've never posted about it before.
In case you've never heard of them, Fight the New Drug (FTND) is an organization that seeks to increase awareness of the harmful affects of porn. Their slogan is "Porn kills love. Fight for love" and their name has to do with the addictive nature of pornography. They are not religiously affiliated and seek to show the harms via science, facts and personal accounts. They just want to raise awareness on how porn demeans women, breaks relationships and affects us on both mental and physiological levels (even TIME Magazine has written about porn-induced erectile dysfunction). They have extensive articles on how porn affects the brain, the heart and the world.
The neurological affects of porn are really fascinating. FTND has written many articles on the subject, but this is the "main" one. The citations in the article can be found here.
How Porn Changes the Brain
Neurons that fire together, wire together. Just like other addictive substances, porn floods the brain with dopamine. That rush of brain chemicals happening over and over again rewires the brain’s reward pathway ultimately changing the make up of the viewer’s brain. This can result in an increased appetite for porn.
Yep, you read that right. Porn physically changes your brain.
One of the most exciting developments in our understanding of the brain in the last two decades is the discovery of something called neuroplasticity, “neuro” meaning brain and “plasticity” meaning changeability. In other words, scientists have discovered that your brain is a lot like a never-ending game of Tetris, constantly laying down new pathways based on your experiences. [1]
To explain how it works, brain scientists have a saying: Neurons that fire together, wire together. [2]
If you’re wondering what a neuron is and why it’s on fire, here’s what that means. A neuron is a brain cell, and when brain cells get activated at the same time by something you see or hear or smell or whatever, they release chemicals that help strengthen the connection between those neurons. [3] For example, when you eat something delicious, your brain releases dopamine, a chemical that makes you feel good. [4] Or if you hold hands with someone you care about, your brain releases a chemical called oxytocin, which helps you bond with people. [5]
So if every time you went to visit your Uncle Carl he gave you a big hug and then took you out for ice cream, you’d probably start feeling pretty great about Uncle Carl, since your brain would build pathways connecting Uncle Carl with feeling happy and loved. You have these kinds of brain pathways for all sorts of things: riding a bike, eating a sandwich, and walking the dog. And when a person looks at porn, their brain creates new pathways for that, too. [6]
Just like other addictive substances, porn floods the brain with dopamine. [7] But since the brain gets overwhelmed by the constant overload of chemicals that comes with consistent porn use, it fights back by taking away some of its dopamine receptors [8]—which are like tiny ears on the end of a neuron that hear dopamine’s message.
With fewer receptors, even if the brain is putting off the same levels of dopamine in response to porn, the user can’t feel dopamine’s effect as much. [9] As a result, the porn they were looking at doesn’t seem as arousing or exciting, and many porn users go hunting for more porn or more hardcore porn to get the effect the old porn used to offer. [10]
As a frequent porn user’s brain acclimates to the new levels of dopamine flooding through it, regular activities that would normally set off a burst of dopamine and make the person feel happy aren’t strong enough to register much anymore, leaving the user feeling down or uneasy whenever they go for a while without looking at porn. [11] That’s one reason why pornography can be so addictive. [12] (See Porn is Addictive)
Once addiction sets in, the user has a whole new set of problems, because addiction damages the part of the brain that helps you think things through to make good choices—the brain’s limit setting system. [13] For more than 10 years, studies have shown that drug addictions can cause the brain’s frontal lobes to start shrinking. [14] While “frontal lobe” sounds really technical, basically it’s the part of the brain that controls logical problem solving and decision making. [15] But recent studies have found that it’s not just drugs that cause that kind of damage—the same problems show up with other kinds of addictions, such as overeating, Internet addictions, and sexual compulsion. [16]
And here’s the really scary part: the more porn a person looks at, the more severe the damage to their brain becomes and the more difficult it is to break free. [17] But there’s good news too: neuroplasticity works both ways. That means that the damage to the brain can be undone when someone gets away from unhealthy behaviors.
I am always amazed that porn isn't something the feminist movement has taken on. I know it's because all things sex-related are "empowering for women," but you'd think more of them would get that it's a load of garbage. The prevalence of violence against women in porn, not even including that which is produced via trafficking, is staggering. And it gets worse.
"A brand new national survey was just published that asked participants what type of images they considered to be “wrong” in porn. Among the 1188 adults surveyed, 46% of those who use porn replied that images of “sexual acts that may be forced or painful” are not “wrong.” Yes, you read that correctly. Almost half of porn users think pain and abuse in pornography is fine. Even further, only 50% of teens and young adults surveyed (ages 13 to 25) think it is wrong to view these images of violent porn.[1]
This is just messed up on so many levels." -NATIONAL SURVEY SHOWS NEARLY HALF OF ADULTS THINK VIOLENT PORN IS OKAY
It makes sense that people are desensitized to the violence and coercion. The misrepresentation of women "liking it" even when they say no or when forced to do something that is demeaning or painful also feeds this mentality. It cannot be surprising when these fantasies bleed into reality.
On a more positive note, there are organizations and programs to help people with an addiction to pornography. One of them is Fortify, an online based recovery program run by FTND. There's also Nofap.com, a secular porn-recovery community facilitated by recovering addicts.
In case you are interested in financially supporting FTND's work (they are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization), you can make one time donations or join The Fight Club, donating monthly to support their efforts. I've been a member since March of this year.
Porn kills love.
Fight for love.
~ Katie
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