How does it work?

Pornography is a supernormal stimulus that overstimulates the brain with the neurotransmitter dopamine. The endless novelty and shocking material that comes from pornography spikes dopamine to unnatural limits. This damages the reward circuit in the brain and downregulates dopamine receptors such that a larger dose of dopamine is required to get the same hit. Not only does this lead to more frequent and longer duration of use, but also escalation into “harder” types of pornography (i.e. one may start with vanilla sex and eventually escalate into non-consensual gang-banging). Furthermore, one cannot enjoy the natural and simple things that occur in everyday life, such as enjoying music and watching sunsets, because the dopamine involved in these experiences is lacking or missing due to the downregulated receptors.

The act of PMO itself is a huge tax on the immune system. Almost immediately after a PMO session, one may notice an inability to sleep, dark eyelids, acne breakouts, more sweating, agitation, and social anxiety. A headache is imminent, and if one doesn’t already have it, brain fog will occur. PMO causes an explosion of inflammation that continues to persist both in the brain and the body.

Last but not least, the act of PMO activates similar neurons to meth, cocaine, and heroine. This is why it is seen as addictive – because it causes the same brain changes as these other drugs. Pornography shapes and alters these neurons in the brain, effectively drilling a reward pathway that eventually becomes “hardwired”. As this pathway becomes hardwired, triggers to watch pornography form and responses become conditioned (Pavlovian conditioning).

To say the last, pornography is subtle and dangerous. It may affect one’s life without one knowing the consequences. For now, I will write about pornography addiction because I believe that it is the heaviest anchor to one’s life. One cannot reach his full potential while enslaved to this evil.