Does Porn Addiction Really Exist?
July 1, 2015
Every few months, someone in the media will start to talk about porn addiction and how it is a myth. They suggest that it doesn’t exist, and it is just an excuse that men and women use to justify their excessive porn watching. Except now a study suggests that might actually be true.
We take a look at what the findings of the study could mean, and look at porn addiction as we know it to try and decide if it is, indeed, a work of fiction.
The study
Some neuroscientists at UCLA decided that we, as a public, needed to know how porn addiction worked. If we understood how it worked, we might then be able to better combat it and help those who are addicted.
The study was published in the journal of Biology Psychology, and required participants to be hooked up to an EEG machine. This machine then showed the brain responses of the participants to the researchers, telling them how their brain reacted to the “erotic images” they were shown. Basically, they showed them porn to see what they thought of it.
Of the 122 men and women they studied, 55 of them had reported a “porn problem”. “Porn problem” is a pretty broad term, and it isn’t clear yet whether those saying it were struggling with a porn addiction or they just felt that they might have watched more than was “normal”.
In the participants’ responses, the scientists were looking at something in particular. The late positive potential is said to increase when an addict is looking at the thing that they are addicted to, such as cigarettes, heroin, or cocaine. So, with this study, they were expecting the responses to increase, as with other addictions.
Surprisingly, they discovered that the brain activity and reactions of the participants actually decreased when they were shown sexual images. Immediately, newspapers everywhere jumped on this to declare that porn addiction is a lie, because that’s what the results say… right?
What the findings mean
WRONG. The author of the study, Dr. Nicole Prause, wanted to make sure that we understand the findings properly. It doesn’t simply mean that porn addiction isn’t real, as she said that “these findings don’t suggest that pornography can’t cause sexual or personal problems”. However, “the biological components of “porn addiction” are nothing like addiction as it is generally defined from a scientific perspective.
To put it simply – an addiction to porn has a different impact on your brain than any other type of addiction.
Of course, there are still reporters out there jumping for joy because this study has confirmed what they have known all along, and that is that porn isn’t addictive… even though they researchers have clarified afterwards that it is, but why would they want to hear something that goes against their theory?
It’s like those who say that violent video games make people violent. There have been hundreds of studies to say that, actually, that isn’t the case… but because people don’t agree with the things that happen in the games, they look for an excuse to ban them, and that is a pretty good one.
One thing that is clear from this study is that the treatments for porn addiction might not work, as they have been based on the ones for other addictions. If our brain reacts in a different way to porn, then we need to treat it in a different way.
Is porn really so bad?
Given all of the information available on this study, I think it is safe to say that they make it clear they aren’t saying porn addiction isn’t real. If they were, they probably would have just used the words “porn addiction is a myth”, instead of taking the time to explain that actually, our brains just react differently to porn. Porn addiction is real, as many do struggle with it each and every day.
The amount of times that we see porn demonised in the media is ridiculous. If you watch porn, you become a sexual deviant. As I said before, it is the same kind of thinking for those who say that violent video games breed violence. Playing a game or watching porn does not mean you will go out copying it. If that was the case, I’d be a lesbian living in Los Santos with a hell of a lot of money.
So why is porn so bad to people? Basically, we’re prudes. We don’t like the idea of someone watching porn for fun or as an aid for our dark fantasies. Watching porn stars fuck each other while we rub one out? Nope. You’re better off abstaining from that kind of stuff.
Of course, here on XEscorts we know that, when it comes to sex, people judge very easily. Those who judge seem to believe that, for whatever reason, sex is dirty. Yes, it can be dirty… but it can also be a lot of fun!
Why do you think people are so against porn? Is it simply a lack of understanding about the content, or does it go deeper? Is it, perhaps, about the industry as a whole, as it tends to be with the escort industry? You can let us know by leaving a comment in the box below.
Since then she has gained a fine reputation with her blogs on sex advice, sexual health and amusing news stories from around the globe. She is also a campaigner for the rights of sex workers from all over the world.
In her spare time, Lara keeps herself active by going running, and is something of a film buff. She also loves to go travelling.
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