Undoubtedly this will be my most read blog ever due to the title. It is born out of multiple conversations with patients about addictions and consuming a mint Theo bar too late at night. I have come to view addiction as universal, largely influenced by the work of Gabor Mate, MD http://drgabormate.com/. His book "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts" is the best I have read on addiction.
If you are a human, than your life sustaining behaviors are heavily driven by the neurotransmitter dopamine. Eating, sex, music, bonding, orgasms, novelty, falling in love, ect are all facilitated in the brain by dopamine. If you are an addict: drugs, love, sex, money, overeating, shopping, gambling, ect then you have developed an aberrant coping mechanism to deal with life's stresses by feeling good temporarily by blasting your brain with dopamine with your favorite mechanism. This is pretty much all of us. Some of us have socially acceptable addictions and some of us have socially unacceptable ones. I also believe that since addiction is universal that it is likely a stage in spiritual development. (I also believe this to be true of most depression, that it is universal and a stage in spiritual development that some of us get stuck in for a variety of reasons... I no longer treat it using a disease model)
Interestingly, Anorexia may be so hard to treat because they get a dopamine hit from restricting their eating. Interestingly, marijuana induces dopamine release and thus I have concluded that it does have the capacity to be addictive despite much heated debate that it is not physically addictive. If I ever return to the world of research it will be to do research on the 1%. I would bet my left testicle that the majority of them have aberrant dopaminergic function with accumulation of wealth. I would give my right testicle to do PET scans on them to see if their brain looks like a cocaine addicts when given cocaine. Since coming to this untested realization, I have had much more compassion for corporate bank CEOs. They likely need treatment. 1% anonymous or 1%A! But alas, I like both of my balls and my day job, so this study will have to wait... Unless someone wants to fund it.
Ok, I have digressed and will now get to the porn part of this blog... I remember the first time I ended up on a porn site, I was Googling "Breast Cancer, Images"... now this was the early days of Google before they had all the filters and ability to report unsavory images (they have really cleaned it up now). My college roommate was not in the room (yeah, I was a late bloomer to the porn world and everything else!) So I clicked on an image... I didn't know you could do that... click, or that, click, click... Needless to say, my research on Breast Cancer was hijacked that night.
This experience is likely universal if you have ever been on the internet and thus is erasing any shame I have about typing this blog. But please prove me wrong as I would like to know if there is a such thing as an internet porn virgin. I would like to study you, then make a romantic comedy about it and make my millions...
Just like anything else addictive, not everyone gets addicted to porn. Just like not everyone who tries a line of coke turns to a lever pressing monkey. But some of us do. And now that I am asking my patients, I am finding it is prevalent... really prevalent. And not just guys (it was actually a female patient that got me researching the topic as she was HOOKED). Interestingly, they are unsure of what the prevalence is in woman as many researchers think that women are much more likely to lie about their consumption of internet porn because it has much more of a stigma. It is believed that women are much, MUCH, less likely to get addicted to porn because their turn on/ dopamine circuits are less likely to be wired to their visual cortex. It is a little more complicated... http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/data/1540/Man-Woman.gif
Porn as an addiction is likely driven by using it as a coping method... have a bad day at work, click... sick of writing this f$@#ing paper, click... fight with the girlfriend, click... Soon your visual cortex is in high gear, and not just online, but also in life. And damn those lulu lemon pants that everyone is running around in is not helping, just saying... (The case for the burqa we will save for another blog)
Long winded, but I will keep this part short. I have learned the following in researching these cases. The case against porn:
1. Slavery still exists and it is largely related to the Porn/sex industry. Thousands of women are trafficked every year to supply the industry. http://www.soroptimist.org/trafficking/trafficking.html
2. For those not trafficked they are paid very poorly except for a few big name stars. However for those female stars, it is the largest pay discrepancy known between men and women doing the same job... about $4000 a shoot for a female and $50 for the male in the shoot. (See Susan Faludi's "Stiffed, the Betrayal of the American Man" chapter 10 for a fascinating look into the world and motivation behind male porn stars.) http://susanfaludi.com/stiffed.html
3. History of abuse and poor economic situation influence a large number of girls to do porn. Many of them are very badly abused on the set. WARNING the following link is very graphic but was probably the largest influence in my "seeing" the way porn is filmed as a problem, images are blurred, but there is graphic violence to the actresses in this clip. This clip was filmed in the U.S. No U.S. worker should be treated this way. Kudos to Ex star Shelly Lubben... http://nopornnorthampton.org/2011/12/11/shocking_footage_of_women_abused_on_the_porn_set.aspx?ref=rss
4. Portrayal of graphic violence toward women. Rampant and needless. Likely promotes violence toward women. For a very creepy look into this see serial killer/rapist Ted Bundy's final interview with James Dobson before he was put to death. http://www.pureintimacy.org/piArticles/A000000433.cfm He likely got big dopamine hits from hurting women. A very telling interview where he describes why he thinks his brain formed the way it did... Violent porn played a big role. And this was before the internet. (Damn I hope no one on my watch goes on to be the next serial killer)
5. Porn is addictive. Very addictive. Very hard to cure as it is freely available right in your home. (This should be a warning sign... why is it so free? Conspiracy anyone?) The best site on this reviewing the science and treatment of porn addiction is http://yourbrainonporn.com
It is an excellent site, they should win an award for it.
6. Porn addiction is a major cause of erectile dysfunction. The science is very clear on this... so is the advertising to get you to buy viagra and such on the links on the websites to fix it. Maybe this should have been #1 on the list, but I found the treatment of women to be much bigger factor than anything else to argue against it. But then again, alot of men won't go see the doctor until lil willy has gone wonka. Again see http://yourbrainonporn.com for more information.
Solutions
1. Support legislation giving adult websites a .xxx designation so people don't stumble onto it, they have to be looking for it. I did not care about this till I had a kid. Now I care!
2. Support legislation for safer working conditions for adult film workers. As I understand it mandatory condom use on sets has passed but not heavily monitored by Cal OSHA.
3. If you think you have an addiction, do this simple test... try to abstain for 2 weeks, most will go into withdrawal (moody, jittery, jonesing, ect) in about 3 days or so. If you are hooked, get help.
4. Don't watch violent porn. Period.
5. Support anti trafficking legislation
6. Pfizer has enough money, stop ejaculating so much, it will recover... Learn Taoist cultivation. Mantek Chia books are good http://www.amazon.com/Multi-Orgasmic-Man-Sexual-Secrets-Should/dp/0062513362
I am in awe of my patients and what they feel comfortable in telling me. Occasionally I am shocked. I salute them for their bravery, honesty, and willingness to do what it takes to heal. The least I can do is write this blog and pass on the research and information that we have been learning on this journey.
Stay tuned for "The Case Against Breast Implants" and "The Case Against the 1%" :)
If you are a human, than your life sustaining behaviors are heavily driven by the neurotransmitter dopamine. Eating, sex, music, bonding, orgasms, novelty, falling in love, ect are all facilitated in the brain by dopamine. If you are an addict: drugs, love, sex, money, overeating, shopping, gambling, ect then you have developed an aberrant coping mechanism to deal with life's stresses by feeling good temporarily by blasting your brain with dopamine with your favorite mechanism. This is pretty much all of us. Some of us have socially acceptable addictions and some of us have socially unacceptable ones. I also believe that since addiction is universal that it is likely a stage in spiritual development. (I also believe this to be true of most depression, that it is universal and a stage in spiritual development that some of us get stuck in for a variety of reasons... I no longer treat it using a disease model)
Interestingly, Anorexia may be so hard to treat because they get a dopamine hit from restricting their eating. Interestingly, marijuana induces dopamine release and thus I have concluded that it does have the capacity to be addictive despite much heated debate that it is not physically addictive. If I ever return to the world of research it will be to do research on the 1%. I would bet my left testicle that the majority of them have aberrant dopaminergic function with accumulation of wealth. I would give my right testicle to do PET scans on them to see if their brain looks like a cocaine addicts when given cocaine. Since coming to this untested realization, I have had much more compassion for corporate bank CEOs. They likely need treatment. 1% anonymous or 1%A! But alas, I like both of my balls and my day job, so this study will have to wait... Unless someone wants to fund it.
Ok, I have digressed and will now get to the porn part of this blog... I remember the first time I ended up on a porn site, I was Googling "Breast Cancer, Images"... now this was the early days of Google before they had all the filters and ability to report unsavory images (they have really cleaned it up now). My college roommate was not in the room (yeah, I was a late bloomer to the porn world and everything else!) So I clicked on an image... I didn't know you could do that... click, or that, click, click... Needless to say, my research on Breast Cancer was hijacked that night.
This experience is likely universal if you have ever been on the internet and thus is erasing any shame I have about typing this blog. But please prove me wrong as I would like to know if there is a such thing as an internet porn virgin. I would like to study you, then make a romantic comedy about it and make my millions...
Just like anything else addictive, not everyone gets addicted to porn. Just like not everyone who tries a line of coke turns to a lever pressing monkey. But some of us do. And now that I am asking my patients, I am finding it is prevalent... really prevalent. And not just guys (it was actually a female patient that got me researching the topic as she was HOOKED). Interestingly, they are unsure of what the prevalence is in woman as many researchers think that women are much more likely to lie about their consumption of internet porn because it has much more of a stigma. It is believed that women are much, MUCH, less likely to get addicted to porn because their turn on/ dopamine circuits are less likely to be wired to their visual cortex. It is a little more complicated... http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/data/1540/Man-Woman.gif
Porn as an addiction is likely driven by using it as a coping method... have a bad day at work, click... sick of writing this f$@#ing paper, click... fight with the girlfriend, click... Soon your visual cortex is in high gear, and not just online, but also in life. And damn those lulu lemon pants that everyone is running around in is not helping, just saying... (The case for the burqa we will save for another blog)
Long winded, but I will keep this part short. I have learned the following in researching these cases. The case against porn:
1. Slavery still exists and it is largely related to the Porn/sex industry. Thousands of women are trafficked every year to supply the industry. http://www.soroptimist.org/trafficking/trafficking.html
2. For those not trafficked they are paid very poorly except for a few big name stars. However for those female stars, it is the largest pay discrepancy known between men and women doing the same job... about $4000 a shoot for a female and $50 for the male in the shoot. (See Susan Faludi's "Stiffed, the Betrayal of the American Man" chapter 10 for a fascinating look into the world and motivation behind male porn stars.) http://susanfaludi.com/stiffed.html
3. History of abuse and poor economic situation influence a large number of girls to do porn. Many of them are very badly abused on the set. WARNING the following link is very graphic but was probably the largest influence in my "seeing" the way porn is filmed as a problem, images are blurred, but there is graphic violence to the actresses in this clip. This clip was filmed in the U.S. No U.S. worker should be treated this way. Kudos to Ex star Shelly Lubben... http://nopornnorthampton.org/2011/12/11/shocking_footage_of_women_abused_on_the_porn_set.aspx?ref=rss
4. Portrayal of graphic violence toward women. Rampant and needless. Likely promotes violence toward women. For a very creepy look into this see serial killer/rapist Ted Bundy's final interview with James Dobson before he was put to death. http://www.pureintimacy.org/piArticles/A000000433.cfm He likely got big dopamine hits from hurting women. A very telling interview where he describes why he thinks his brain formed the way it did... Violent porn played a big role. And this was before the internet. (Damn I hope no one on my watch goes on to be the next serial killer)
5. Porn is addictive. Very addictive. Very hard to cure as it is freely available right in your home. (This should be a warning sign... why is it so free? Conspiracy anyone?) The best site on this reviewing the science and treatment of porn addiction is http://yourbrainonporn.com
It is an excellent site, they should win an award for it.
6. Porn addiction is a major cause of erectile dysfunction. The science is very clear on this... so is the advertising to get you to buy viagra and such on the links on the websites to fix it. Maybe this should have been #1 on the list, but I found the treatment of women to be much bigger factor than anything else to argue against it. But then again, alot of men won't go see the doctor until lil willy has gone wonka. Again see http://yourbrainonporn.com for more information.
Solutions
1. Support legislation giving adult websites a .xxx designation so people don't stumble onto it, they have to be looking for it. I did not care about this till I had a kid. Now I care!
2. Support legislation for safer working conditions for adult film workers. As I understand it mandatory condom use on sets has passed but not heavily monitored by Cal OSHA.
3. If you think you have an addiction, do this simple test... try to abstain for 2 weeks, most will go into withdrawal (moody, jittery, jonesing, ect) in about 3 days or so. If you are hooked, get help.
4. Don't watch violent porn. Period.
5. Support anti trafficking legislation
6. Pfizer has enough money, stop ejaculating so much, it will recover... Learn Taoist cultivation. Mantek Chia books are good http://www.amazon.com/Multi-Orgasmic-Man-Sexual-Secrets-Should/dp/0062513362
I am in awe of my patients and what they feel comfortable in telling me. Occasionally I am shocked. I salute them for their bravery, honesty, and willingness to do what it takes to heal. The least I can do is write this blog and pass on the research and information that we have been learning on this journey.
Stay tuned for "The Case Against Breast Implants" and "The Case Against the 1%" :)