Exploring the Art of Living Well

Blog NoFap Recovery Guide and Effects of Porn Addiction – Episode 02
NoFap Recovery Guide nofap things to avoid nofap challenge book nofap thinking about relapse i'm about to relapse nofap forget about nofap nofap achievements nofap no addiction

NoFap Recovery Guide and Effects of Porn Addiction – Episode 02

Share:

Dear friends, today we will tell you how… Porn adopted an educational guise. What are the negative effects of porn and masturbation? How does it alter your brain? And what do researchers say about porn? Now your are reading the noFap recovery guide episode 02.

Beginning of Porn Education

Before the start of the 21st century, porn in the West was primarily considered a form of entertainment. At that time, porn videos were mostly available in adult stores for adults only. The variety of porn was not as extensive, so people were satisfied with seeing similar explicit images or videos. Also, high-speed internet was not widely available, so the number of people watching porn and being affected by it was not very high.

The beginning of the 21st century brought a revolution in the world of the porn industry. New types of porn videos began to be produced. As high-speed internet became common worldwide, the porn industry expanded its destructive influence to the doorstep of every home. Consequently, the number of those falling victim to it increased rapidly. High-speed internet made porn accessible not only to adults but also to innocent children as young as ten years old. The allure of high-speed internet porn was so powerful that once someone watched it, they became addicted, and avoiding porn became nearly impossible. The rapid growth of porn was primarily due to its novelty.

Coolidge Effect

Before proceeding further, it is better to understand the “Coolidge Effect” so that when the term is used later, you will find it easier to comprehend.

The Coolidge Effect is a theory related to the sexual behavior of animals. It can be defined as follows:
“It is the phenomenon in which, despite continuous sexual activity in a male animal, sexual desire remains intense as long as the female is changed.”

To demonstrate the Coolidge Effect, psychologists conducted experiments on rats. In one experiment, a male rat was placed in a cage with a female rat. The male rat engaged in sexual activity with the female. After some time, when the male rat lost interest, it was placed in a corner. Now, the female rat was replaced. As soon as the female was replaced, the sexual desire of the male rat reawakened, and it became active again. This process was repeated, changing the female rat each time, and the male rat continued to be engaged in constant sexual activity until it died.

Coolidge Effect and Porn Education

Researchers studying porn addiction have proven that, just like the Coolidge Effect causes a male rat to maintain its sexual desire despite continuous sexual activity until it dies, a similar effect occurs in a porn addict. Such a person cannot quit porn and masturbation until they face severe physical, social, and psychological weaknesses. Therefore, the need for counseling and guidance for such individuals is even greater than for drug addicts, so they can be liberated from this addiction. Numerous social experiments on porn prove that overcoming porn addiction without counseling and guidance is nearly impossible.

Research Issues on Pornography

Due to the absence of moral barriers like shame and modesty in the Western world, initially, there were no significant obstacles in the path of pornography. It quickly spread throughout the world, especially in Western societies. Another difficulty arose when researching pornography. Several reasons for this are as follows:

In 2009, when an American professor, Simon Lajeunesse, started researching pornography, he found no individuals among 20-year-olds who had never watched porn. Therefore, he concluded his research by stating, “Guys who do not watch pornography does not exist” (Simon Lajeunesse, PhD). In scientific research, a control group is essential to compare the experience being studied with a normal condition to determine whether the experience has a positive or negative impact. In this research, since there were no young people who did not watch porn, a control group could not be established.

Consider if everyone starts smoking at the age of ten, and there is no one who abstains from smoking. We would then think that lung cancer is a common disease, and there is no connection between smoking and it. A similar situation occurred in the case of pornography. People who watched porn started experiencing erectile dysfunction rapidly. However, their therapists mistakenly attributed it to other factors such as excessive stress, ADHD, depression, anxiety, etc. These conditions were spreading among the population due to erectile dysfunction, not the other way around. Without understanding the actual cause, therapists began treating erectile dysfunction with medications.

The reason these therapists did not consider pornography as a factor was due to a prevalent misconception in medical science at that time, which has now been dispelled. They believed that watching porn and masturbating were natural forms of sexual fulfillment and not harmful to health. However, this misconception disappeared when young people began facing various issues alongside erectile dysfunction due to porn use. The most significant problem among them was the changes in the reward system within individuals, which manifested as increased stress, depression, and anxiety in society.

Pornography and Changes in the Reward System

Fundamentally, the human reward system is driven towards innate needs, including food, sexual desire, and social relationships. The problem arises when an individual becomes more interested in a particular need than required. This leads to the excessive release of dopamine. For instance, people addicted to fast food experience a similar effect due to the excessive release of dopamine. Similarly, engaging in new sexual relationships or simply viewing new erotic images that stimulate sexual desire releases a significant amount of dopamine (the Coolidge effect). Therefore, whether it be drugs or extreme forms of these innate needs, they cause significant changes in the human brain through a protein called Delta-FosB.

The same occurred in the case of pornography addiction. The increased levels of Delta-FosB in the brain led to neurological changes. These changes caused symptoms to appear in addiction patients. Some major signs included:

1. Diminished satisfaction from life’s ordinary pleasures (numbed pleasure response).
2. Increased intensity in the desire to watch porn (hyper-reactivity to porn).
3. Decreased willpower in decision-making (willpower erosion).

It was astonishing to find that all types of drugs had similar effects to those observed in pornography addiction.

People addicted to porn also confessed that they were trapped in bad habits like masturbation alongside watching porn, making it challenging for them to break free. In 2011, a study by an Italian society of neuroscientists revealed that internet pornography was damaging the sexual function of young people (erectile dysfunction, E.D.). The research clearly stated that the sexual desire of those who watched porn gradually decreased, eventually leading to impotence.

After this research, many other studies from various institutions surfaced rapidly. Let’s briefly review these studies to understand how pornography affects the brain in the light of these research findings.

Effects of Porn Addiction

In reality, the combination of porn and masturbation acts as a powerful stimulus, releasing an unnatural amount of dopamine in a person’s brain. As a result, it induces feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. Since the reward obtained from it surpasses that of daily activities such as work, leisure, eating, and forming social relationships, the addicted person gradually loses interest in these routine tasks. Even achieving significant milestones does not bring happiness, and the individual becomes emotionally detached in social events like weddings.

Notably, the addiction to porn becomes the sole source of joy, pleasure, a sense of freedom, tranquility, and a feeling of completion that was once derived from accomplishing tasks. The individual finds it increasingly difficult to derive satisfaction from any other aspect of life.

Engaging in any other productive activity becomes nearly impossible for such individuals, as their motivation for achievements, winning competitions, and pursuing business or jobs diminishes. The pursuit of pleasure and contentment through watching porn becomes a shortcut to happiness without putting in any effort.

However, it’s crucial to emphasize that true progress in life comes from effort and hard work, as stated in the guidance of Allah: “And that there is not for man except that [good] for which he strives.” (Quran 53:39).

Additionally, the narrative explores the impact of porn addiction on the brain, noting that, similar to any other addiction, it diminishes the gray matter in the brain associated with reward activities. As a consequence, when the reward activity decreases, the desire for the addiction increases to maintain the initial level of pleasure, leading to a downward spiral.

The story continues with a discussion on the connection between porn and the degradation of moral values, detailing the researcher’s findings on how this addiction transforms individuals into creatures dominated by base instincts.

The narrative ends with a teaser for the next episode, promising insights into the initiation of the “no-fap” movement, its effects on young individuals, and further research on the subject.

Share:

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top