Does Pornography kill like Drugs?

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Pornography kills...

The most common warning label I have seen in my life is that “Smoking is injurious to health”, and of course, its purpose is to warn the smoker. It's a bit funny that cigarette companies are manufacturing cigarettes and selling them while warning the smokers too! However, it was a legal obligation. Because the government orders to do so. Cigarette companies are bound to comply with the directive. This system is to ensure that a smoker buys the cigarette voluntarily. Yes, a warning label does not stop cigarette sales, but it can serve as a reminder to smokers to quit smoking. Well, how would it stand if such warnings were shown in pornography? "Statutory Warning: “This video Image will disrupt your normal thought process, lead you to addiction, and destroy your life." No, the warning is not shown in porn videos. Pornography is currently a much discussed, criticized, and controversial topic. Even though it is not an absolutely brand-new issue, it is very usual to discuss so seriously the issue over and over again as the horror of pornography has engulfed our societies as a whole in recent times. In this age of excellence of the 21st century, the entire world is at our fingertips thanks to the internet. As thousands of benefits are being achieved through the internet, deadly virus like pornography has also penetrated every corner of our societies. Especially, a large part of our youth is addicted to pornography, and many of them around you are in this group. But, warning or openly discussing this has been made a kind of taboo in our societies. So, today we will try to break this taboo. In light of science, we will try to understand why our youth is addicted to pornography.

According to a recent study, teenagers are now exposed to pornography around the age of thirteen. The start of this is certainly not made through the awareness, how old might they be then regarding the age of maturity? Usually, it starts with watching soft-core porn and it’d be stupid to talk about how they can reach out to all that. In this age of the internet, it is possible to find porn in just two to three clicks. According to medical science, we make all our decisions through the “Prefrontal cortex” part of our brain. This prefrontal cortex doesn’t get fully developed until the age of mid-twenties, so we don't have the capacity to make good or bad judgments in adolescence. That's why people indulge in porn regardless of the good or the bad. Then, as the days go by the addiction increases. But why? Look, the human brain is a strange thing, deep in our brains there is a “Reward pathway”, and the function of this reward pathway is to reward you. Simply put, this brain circuit works to make you happy. 

We love to eat our favorite foods, and certain chemicals are released in our brains when we eat our favorite foods. The chemical that is usually released is called “Dopamine”, in some cases “Oxytocin” is also released. It has been found that the presence of a favorite food releases 1.5 times more dopamine than under normal conditions, similarly, these chemicals are produced at a high rate during sex and drug use. Dopamine secretion can double during sex, similar to morphine addiction. Both dopamine and oxytocin work to make us feel satisfied, help us bond with different people, and remind us of pleasurable activities. However, there is a problem with this too. There is a possibility for this reward pathway of getting hijacked. What is it like? Usually, the more we repeat an activity we enjoy, the more reward pathways are created in our brains. The same applies to porn addiction. The more porn a porn addict watches, the more reward pathways are created in their brain. As a result, the demands of the brain continue to increase. The mind starts to wander to watch porn. Porn users, however, do not readily understand these changes in their brains. Because their brain produces so much dopamine that, to protect itself from the overload of dopamine, the brain reduces some of its dopamine receptors. 

The function of this receptor is to detect the presence of dopamine. However, the loss of receptors appears to decrease the amount of dopamine. Hence, the same porn may not give the user the same excitement as before. The video or picture that was exciting the other day, the next day is not good anymore. They start to want something new, something a little more exciting! As a result, porn users tend to search for more porn. This is called the "Escalator effect", and from here child porn violence initiates. So, in this way gradually people start running towards the extreme level of pornography. There is only one purpose, and that is to get back the previous excitement or get more pleasure by producing more dopamine. Well, if I say drugs and pornography are the same things to the brain, would you believe it?

It seems that there is no connection between different drugs and pornography, but a recent study says so. Dr. Valerie Voon, a neuropsychiatrist at the University of Cambridge, conducted research on how the human brain changes when watching porn. Twenty-three people participated who were extreme porn addicts. In addition, some individuals who are not porn addicts are also taken for comparison. These people are allowed to watch porn and while watching porn, their brains are scanned with an iMRI scanner. What is found in this report is quite shocking. Let's talk about people who are not porn addicts, their brains are stimulated by porn, but at normal levels, and people who are addicted to porn, porn addicts, their brains are twice as excited with twice as much dopamine released as normal. A heroin addict has the same brain state as a porn addict when he takes heroin. How utterly unexplainable the situation is! What is the difference between porn and heroin?

Another major cause of porn addiction can be depression. Initially, when someone watches porn, they feel a kind of regret or remorse. It doesn't take becoming “Einstein” to understand that this is not a good thing. Everyone understands, but the fact is that porn addiction is as deadly as drug addiction. Once the mind wants to watch porn, the brain does not calm down until it is seen. As a result, self-control is lost, and once more, getting back to pornography. Some time, this self-contaminated wrong habit terminates, and then the sense of guilt that surrounds afterwards, from there the state of despair emerges. Self-confidence goes down, and the “Testosterone” hormone decreases, which is used to create male enthusiasm, stimulation, and libido. Decreased testosterone leads to less interest in productive work. Personal and professional life collapses and depression increases. What is the way to avoid this disappointment? A very small amount of dopamine is short, and what is the way to fill it up? 

Yes, you guessed right again, watching porn, and thus, depression is driven due to that manipulation, and they use watching porn again as a last resort to escape that driven depression. Porn addicts get stuck in a vicious cycle, and it is a cycle that is not easy to break out of. I hope it is fairly clear by now how people become addicted to pornography, it’s a terrible addiction like drugs. But, what is the harmful side of this addiction to pornography? How much impacted are our societies today? What is the way to avoid it? It is usual to have thousands of such questions pending in mind. Yes, we will definitely find the answer to all these questions. Once we have fallen into the dirty sewer of pornography, we will hold on to it tenaciously until we see where it ends. Well, I’m going to pull the end of the content for now, and let the rest be taken up for further discussion in the next one. 

See you soon!