Can the science used to explain porn addiction be trusted?

Hi, Rio. These are cute videos and make some really valuable points. Maybe most importantly, they remind us that almost all studies are flawed in some way or ways. But flawed doesn't mean 100% worthless. Science usually advances in tiny fits and starts. Processes of trial and error. That's why responsible scientists generally don't say, "My study *proves* X, Y, and Z." Instead, they say something like, "My study suggests . . ." or "From my study, we infer . . . ."

Though I tend to value skepticism (a lot!), this guy Adam seems to me a little irresponsible. He seems to want to plant seeds of doubt that will lead viewers to think that most studies are so inherently flawed as to be worthless. And maybe one "conclusive" study on mice is largely worthless by itself. Valuable knowledge is developed only by multiple studies -- on mice and other subjects -- that can create a preponderance of evidence pointing at a particular answer.

Anyway, I think it's great that "Adam" encourages us to be skeptical -- but I think we have to approach him with a certain healthy skepticism too.

 

Okay, you are free to PMO 10 times a day, go ahead )) It's not a problem. Excuse I was looking for 1 year already, thanks dude, you made my day. Now I will go back to my misery without hesitation <3

 

I don't know about science, but i can tell you withdrawal symptoms are very real, that's for sure.

 

I look at this the other way around. Like many of the men here I reached a point when I needed to give up using pornography. I tried to stop but I couldn't. That's my definition of addiction. So I needed additional motivation. Some here find that extra motivation in science, some in religion, some in reading the experiences of other's facing the same struggle. I'm not a big fan of neuroscience, so the science has never been central to my reboot, but the experiences and support of others here has been. If you find the science unconvincing then ignore it; use whatever you need to help rid your life of pornography.

 

Well, actually the only behavioral addiction that is yet recognised by DSM-5/ICD-10 as such is gambling.
Sex-addiction/food-addiction etc. are actually "still" seen as compulsive behaviors or impulse control disorders. But that is all scientific mumbo-jumbo bla bla.
What counts isn't brain-chemistry-nerding or word-picking but that there are more than enough people that suffer from their PMO habits and how and if they can deal with it.

 

As a wife of a PA I've asked myself this same thing, multiple times.
Reality is, not all addictions are created equal; some are substance & others are behavioral. I've also come across scientific articles that say the neural pathways & reward centers in a persons brain who watches P, actually don't look the same as a persons brain w/ substance addiction.
You can go even deeper to say it actually is intimacy anorexia & that has led to sexual compulsive issues. Does addiction = compulsion? Or does someone simply have a sexual obsessive compulsive disorder?

I wrote about it the other day....I'm still in the probably is, but not 100% convinced category.

 

LOL, porn addiction is definitely a real thing. This forum alone is a gem full of anecdotal, but reliable evidence. Look at how many guys experience withdrawal symptoms. That alone proves that there are addiction related brain changes. Anti porn addiction biased, unscientific idiots like Nicole Prausë and David Ley, use flawed studies themselves. Porn addiction is a little different than sex addiction. The coolidge effect goes full force during a PMO binge. Seeing dozens of HD closeup pussies in one hour is a little different than having sex. It inreases dopamine levels way longer and higher than sex can do. That's why some guys can't get hard during sex. Sex does not give the same dopaminergic arousal that porn does. It's a whole new phenomenon. There are plenty of studies that show porn addiction is a real physiological phenomenon. The naysayers ignore these studies.

They also ignore the studies that demonstrate that orgasms decrease sensitivity to morphine and downregulate opioid signaling. Multiple orgasms in combination with chronic porn edging/binging, most definitely signals the dopamine d1 receptor to change the brain into an addictive state by increasing in DeltaFosB. Addictive drugs activate the same neural pathways that sexual arousal activates. Chronic PMO'ing can cause the same symptoms like drugs do.

Chronic dopamine stimulation by porn is a bad thing. Chronic dopamine activation by antiparkinson drugs, the dopamine agonists, activate the same dopaminergic neural pathways that sexual arousal uses. Side effects of dopamine agonists include hyper-sexuality (wanting to binge on PMO, or go to prostitutes) and loss of prefrontal inhibition. The same thing happens during PMOing. Withdrawing from these dopamine agonists causes dopamine agonist withdrawal syndrome. This withdrawal causes the exact same symptoms as porn addiction withdrawal.

Gary Wilson is right and debunks most of the naysayers cherry picked studies on his website.
A lot of scientists actually agree with Gary Wilson.

Which of his theories were ridiculous exactly?

There are plenty of atheists around here. A lot of discussions don't involve religion at all. Most discussions are about porn addiction recovery.

I guess you're lucky and don't really have that much problems with porn. Good for you. Luckily you don't have to go through an awful withdrawal phase before you start to feel better.

 

Check out these links.

https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/research/
https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/rel...urological-studies-supporting-porn-addiction/

 

I have always had an allergy to the use of the word "addiction" in defining the problematic sexual behaviors that brought most of us here. I can't get my head around the idea that biological imperatives like food and sex can be "addictions." How ridiculous would it sound to say that someone had a water addiction? Or a breathing addiction?
Admitting that is a flippant way to put it, it does need to be recognized that there is a substantial difference between these four life sustaining and perpetuating activities and things such as alcohol, nicotine, opium derivatives, and the like. Without these four biological imperatives you will die, or die out as a species. The other substances are the very definition of non-essential.
Even these biological needs are not equal. It is damn near impossible to "overdose" on air and water. Too much oxygen will kill you. But you cannot breathe yourself to death. You would have to do it artificially. And no one ever feels a compulsion to overconsume water. It gets uncomfortable and even painful if you try. But there are still some extremely rare cases of death from drinking too much water. By misguided people trying to set some kind of record or win a contest.
Ah, but food and sex, here's where the trouble starts. We have a lot more choice and decision about how we indulge our impulses to eat and deal with the pressure for sexual release. And when those choices are dysfunctional and unhealthy there are damaging consequences. Just like with the abuse of chemical substances. And even if there is some neurochemical similarity in how these behaviors are made compulsive and habitual it does not alter the fact that food and sex are biologically essential and and recreational chemical ingestion is not. And for this reason I insist that the "abuse" of these basic needs and chemical substances cannot be defined the same way.

Or maybe it is all just semantics/shmemantics. Make up your own mind.

HYPOCRISY ALERT! I use the words "food addict" in my own sig. Guilty. The idea was to use a commonly recognized term to get my point across to the reader. Peace out!

 

Are they withdrawal symptoms? Or, are they tantrums, such as my child throws, when he doesn't get his way? Did you physically get ill?
Do you think it's possible to be programmed into thinking you have an addiction, when in reality, you're just ashamed you fap entirely too much?
Brains are weird.

*my questions are for honest discussion, not to start a war.

 

Yes I became physically ill. Trust me I have been through some rough shit. I'm not some kind of pussy that gets depressed and anxious because he misses porn so much.
I know exactly how withdrawals feel. I been through opioid withdrawal, phenibut withdrawal, benzo withdrawal and now porn withdrawal.
Porn addiction is most definitely a real phenomenon. It's not some made up shit by thousands of guys.
It's real suffering, real symptoms, physically and mentally.

I don't feel ashamed for nothing.

Maybe you should take a look at this thread:
https://www.nofap.com/forum/index.php?threads/lets-make-a-list-of-withdrawal-symptoms.74415/

 

Wow; I'm really sorry you had to experience that pain.

It's hard for an outsider to understand.

Thank you

 

Come to find out the contrarians were so called scientists paid off by the porn industry.

 

So many things wrong with this post. You're using fallacious arguments. The water and oxygen addiction argument is just hilarious, and wrong on so many levels. Behavioural addictions have been proven many times. And sex is not porn, like I explained in my former posts in this thread. Food addiction can't be real? Man, you're ignorant on this subject on so many levels. So many brain scans and other studies have proven food addiction is real. Sugar can be more addictive than cocaine. Maybe you should do a little more research.

I'm not a fan of the idea that addiction is a disease that can't be overcome, and the addict has no power over it, like the 12 step program implies. It does however permanently implants neural pathways by long-term potentiation (LTP), that can always easily be activated, even after years of abstinence. The same thing applies to porn and food addicts. The recovering addict has to be on guard for the rest of his life. Luckily the frontal lobes strenghten over time of abstinence, and the recovering addict gets more power over it.