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16.03.2019 Social & Status

Porn As A Problem: The Signs Of Addiction & Effects On You

Porn As A Problem: The Signs Of Addiction  Effects On You
16.03.2019 LISTEN

Porn addiction is viewed as a social habit that is portrayed by a regularly developing impulse to view pornographic content or material. In our culture, porn is treated as though it's innocuous; however, it's most certainly not. Pornography is ravaging marriages and relationships today. But before that, the questions people may be asking is how do I know if I’m an addict, besides, the fact that I watch it sometimes or even once a while does not necessarily mean these effects discussed would affect me in any way. Well, I believe by the end of this article, you will distinguish if some of these effects are present and why it’s critical you truly get rid of obscene materials.

Here are some signs or warnings that you are a porn junkie; Leah Miller in her article, “What Is Porn Addiction” presented some warning signs and symptoms of Porn addicts. However, I would like to highlight at least three of them and they are as per the following;

  • Experiencing cravings to view porn. Much like substance users report feeling strong urges to use drugs, porn addicts can experience strong urges to view porn (Gorelick et al, 2010).
  • Becoming angry, hostile, or irritable when asked to stop using porn. Porn addicts may deny their porn viewing or be upset when loved ones request that they stop (Hajela, 2015)
  • Keeping all or part of one’s porn use secret from loved ones. Porn addiction has been shown to lead to increased secrecy in relationships (American Psychological Association, 2014)
  • Feeling as though one is living a double or secret life because of porn use. A person with a porn addiction may feel guilty or ashamed and work hard to hide his or her porn viewing from others.
  • Continuing to view porn despite negative consequences, such as broken relationships or a job loss. Relationships, where one partner is addicted to porn, can lead to a reduction in intimacy, emotional distance, reduced sexual satisfaction, and overall poorer quality of the relationship. Losing track of large chunks of time due to being absorbed in porn use. Porn addicts may spend much of the day viewing pornography. Being unable to abstain from porn during work hours can lead to disciplinary action or even job loss (American Psychological Association, 2014).

Pornography changes the propensities of the mind, the inner private self. The principal issue with observing such symbolism is that it absolutely impacts your body's normal excitement process and bit by bit you will lose your sensitivity. This is a fundamental issue. There is a plethora of research on the hindering impacts of pornography. The risk of pornography use isn’t about right and wrong. It’s about the impacts that pornography has on the user and the loved ones of the user. Pornography use has genuine, negative side effects as follows;

Pornography distorts attitudes and perceptions about the nature of sexual intercourse.

Those arousal and pleasure centers in our brain are supposed to connect sex with physical pleasure and a genuine feeling of intimacy. But the intimacy doesn’t happen with porn as porn makes sex all about the body, and not about intimacy. A 2000 study of college freshmen found that the habitual use of pornography led to greater tolerance of sexually explicit material, thus requiring more novel and bizarre material to achieve the same level of arousal or interest (Zillmann, 2000). Somebody who has utilized pornography, widely frequently has a troublesome time encountering any intimacy during sex because those arousal and pleasure centers register a zero in their body. More importantly, you realize that Porn demeans and objectifies women and those from hard-core to soft-core pornography. One psychologist who has researched pornography at Texas A&M, Gary Chapman, in his book Seeds of Love writes, ‘Softcore pornography has a very negative effect on men as well. The problem with softcore pornography is that its voyeurism teaches men to view women as objects rather than to be in relationships with women as human beings.’ And that is another negative impact of pornography: pornography clients regularly need to objectify or debase their partners so as to accomplish pleasure, the precise inverse of intimacy.

Pornography influences people’s emotional lives

Being tender simply means to love. It's to offer and to express warmth, contrary, these things aren’t paired with sex in the porn user’s brain, tenderness and sex no longer go together. Married men who are involved in pornography feel less happy with their conjugal sexual relations and less sincerely appended to their spouses, while women on the other hand, whose men are pornography addiction report feelings of betrayal, mistrust, and anger. Explicit use may prompt unfaithfulness and even separation, hence, it’s no wonder, at that point, that individuals who use pornography regularly experience serious difficulties being romantic or tender driven when they engage in sexual relations with their spouse. Sex will, in general, be indifferent, hurried, and “forced” as there’s no intimate foreplay. There’s no waiting to arouse and excite someone. It's simply taking what you need.

Makes you criticize and diminish the desire for your spouse

Heavy exposure to pornography leads men to judge their mates as sexually less attractive, resulting in less satisfaction with their affection, physical appearance, and sexual behaviour. The need for more intense sexual stimulation brought on by pornography can lead to boredom in normal relationships and a greater likelihood of seeking sexual pleasure outside of marriage. Repeated exposure to pornography leads the viewer to consider “recreational sexual engagements” as increasingly important and changes the viewer to be very accepting of sexual permissiveness (Zillmann & Bryant, 1988).

When you watch too much of it, your expectations from your partner would increase and when you don't get what you want from your partner, you will start criticizing him or her. This will be dangerous for your relationship as it changes reality too. When you become acclimated to viewing the most appealing, attractive and flawless bodies at play in pornographic videos, your partner begins to look too ordinary and unattractive to your eyes. Watching hardcore acts would influence you to pine for such acts in real life and this will scare your partner. Most of the acts you see are fake and misrepresented. They are not by any means in real life. Gradually, your craving for attractive people will increase and your desire for your spouse will diminish.

Hampers libido

Your natural appetite will gradually diminish as most of your energy go into watching porn. When you practically have to do something in the bedroom, you are left with very little energies. Also, a recent study has suggested that the chances of diminishing libido will increase if an individual is addicted to porn. It's solitary regular, at that point, that numerous individuals who use pornography, previously, or who use pornography in the present, have for all intents and purposes no drive with regards to having intercourse with their spouse. The spouse isn't what turns them on, thus the common drive that we have for sex is exchanged elsewhere. With such a large number of men experiencing childhood with pornography, this is simply normal. Those whose affectability has diminished would require a great deal of incitement to get into the mindset. This happens when you observe a lot of pornography. Pornography habit is undesirable for your relationship.

Credit:

  • Dolf Zillmann and Jennings Bryant, “Pornography’s Impact on Sexual Satisfaction,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 18, (1988): 439.
  • American Psychological Association. (2014). Is pornography addictive?
  • Grant, J. E., Potenza, M. N., Weinstein, A. & Gorelick, D. A. (2010). Introduction to behavioural addictions. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 36(5), 233–241.
  • Love, T., Laier, C., Brand, M., Hatch, L. & Hajela, R. (2015). Neuroscience of Internet pornography addiction: A review and update. Behavioral Sciences, 5(3), 388–433.
  • Dolf Zillmann, “Influence of Unrestrained Access to Erotica on Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Dispositions toward Sexuality,” Journal of Adolescent Health 27S, (2000): 41.

Catherine Forson Agbo
Catherine Forson Agbo

ContributorPage: CatherineForsonAgbo

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