Porn addiction does not cause D2 downregulation

Gary Wilson might be wrong about the whole D2 receptor downregulation/desensitization hypothesis. So he could also be wrong about the "permanent" damage.

In 2017 I participated in a porn addiction study at University Medical Center Groningen in The Netherlands to investigate if porn addiction down-regulates D2 receptors in the nucleus accumbens by using radioactive raclopride (selective dopamine D2 antagonist) in a PET scan and an fMRI scan to scan the reward pathway VTA - NAcc - PFC.

Guess what, today I called the with the doctor to ask him the results, because I was losing patience, and wanted to know the results, which is: there was no D2 receptor down-regulation in any of the addicted participants, including me. They all had issues with low motivation, anhedonia, anxiety and severe PAWS, otherwise known as prolonged withdrawal. (including me). My brain showed normal D2 binding and normal blood flow to the prefrontal cortex. No sign of hypofrontility. The MRI also showed no sign of abnormalities in the nucleus accumbens of all participants.

We talked about other dopaminergic receptors that could be involved and maybe D3 has something to do with our problems.

The study is about to be published on pubmed, but it can take some time.

About myself: I have relapsed multiple times and no real bad withdrawal symptoms have come back. I still believe PAWS (withdrawal) from this addiction is real and it's a dopaminergic problem, but D2 receptors are not involved according to this study. My brain showed normal D2 density just as the controls. There are other systems involved, and me and the guy who performed the study hypothesize opioid and dopamine anomalies in the VTA (ventral tegmental area), but not with D2 receptors in the NAcc (nucleus accumbens)

I was kind of disappointed and also a bit sceptical, because I was hoping to see some changes in my brain. To prove that this porn addiction really is a thing and can be measured with scans. It's strange that people with other behavior addictions like gambling, do show this blunted D2 binding... This study can be used as fuel by the porn addiction naysayers. So I hope this study gets peer reviewed and more faculties perform more and advanced studies on the matter.

 

It did have a negative effect on my brain for sure. When I stopped watching I got extreme withdrawal symptoms and cravings like I had with opioids. Porn addiction does exist, porn addiction stories and forums are popping up everywhere. The exact mechanism is just not exactly understood. Weed addiction is a proven addiction and does not downregulate D2 receptors. It just slows the projection and production of dopamine in the reward system. Studies prove this. This could also be the case for porn addiction. You can get addicted to a lot of substances that don't downregulate the D2 receptors. The doctor/investigator confirmed that there must be some receptor and peptide systems involved.

 

Ofcourse I did. I mostly watched hours on end while stroking my dick. Edging.

 

No just stroking my dick did not cause the withdrawal, I'm 100% sure. Stroking your dick is also dopaminergic and when I stroke my dick without porn I don't feel a dopamine rush like I have with porn. I get an extreme euphoric rush from lesbian porn. My heart beats rapidly, I feel warm and I'm in a trance state. Feels just like a drug, and I have abused many drugs. No drug was ever as addictive as porn. When I started watching porn as a kid I never had such an intense rush. It started when I stopped all drugs and thought watching porn as a substitute was great, because the status quo said porn is healthy. When I upped my porn use all neurological and psychological symptoms started and I started feeling the intense dopamine rush, which I never felt as a kid when I watched porn. It does not make any sense that just edge stroking your dick without porn alone (which is not long as dopaminergic as watching unlimited hot woman doing something which is your ultimate sexual fantasy) causes more harm than porn.

 

I will do both. Stop fapping and watching porn. Made me feel great when I managed to get past 60 days. I will stick with sex.