http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3050060/

Feb/21/2011: Pornography addiction: a neuroscience perspective

This scientific paper on the neuroscience perspective on pornography, written by Donald Hilton Junior and Clark Watts, urges readers to take first hand approach to discuss the controversy and neurological impacts such viewing has on people. Hilton and Watts state that because pornography covers sexual processes and interactions people are inherently afraid to openly discuss, it has been very difficult to get the appropriate level of experimental tests to validate the problems associated with pornography. With that said, however, tests have been done which suggest adjustments to the hypofrontal portion of the brain. “Although the key elements of hypofrontal syndromes—impulsivity, compulsivity, emotional liability, impaired judgment—are well described, much of the process is still unknown.” Considering that recent studies have supported growing evidence that compulsive sexuality is addictive, it has been proven that sexual compulsion can cause anatomic adjustments in the brain—a fact that validates brain addiction.

The big thing to take into consideration is that more people watch porn than what mainstream culture thinks. In 2006, world porn revenue was 97 billion dollars. That value was more than Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Yahoo, Apple, Ebay, and Netflix combined. On another note, as more students receive computers to study, the age kids start watching porn continues to decline.

All in all, I agree with what this article is saying. The fact that this data is suppressed on social grounds inhibits intellectual development on a subject that affects many people. A recent survey found that 87 percent of college men view porn. Fifty percent of these men view it weekly and twenty percent watch it daily or every other day. Thirty-one percent of women watch porn as well. While these statistics clearly show how popular porn is, the only way these numbers will have an impact is if our culture starts to promote open discourse and experiments on the topic. The closer we can get to this, the closer doctors and scientists can find “medical treatment in the management of the addictive nature of the pathology of pornography.”

According to a study from the University of Sidney, people who watch an excessive level of pornography are more likely to develop severe social and relationship problems. The study also said that these people are more likely to lose their jobs and get in trouble of the law. 47% of the subjects watch between 30 minutes to three hours of porn per day, 30% said that watching porn affected their productivity at work and 20% said they would rather watch porn than have sex with their partner.

Countless blogs and other more credible sources, like an article by Lauren Dubinsky for the Huffington Post, discussed how pornography promotes a pervasive incentive to objectify men and their sexual behaviors (and vice versa). She also noted that porn is inhibiting men from being turned on by certain girls.

The adverse affects of porn are inhibiting people from experiencing natural, emotional sexual experiences. I believe one of the best ways to stop this problem before it even begins to happen is to have parents take responsibility in teaching their kids about the problems of watching porn at a young age. I remember in fifth grade, I was only ten years old at the time, all my friends started to watch porn. I went from watching Spongebob everyday after school to going over to friend’s houses and watching various pornos on their computers. A lot of these friends I had back then are not my friends today due to a compulsive addiction that manifested from those early days. Many of them have no incentive to leave their rooms because of their obsession with internet pornography.

If adults are too paranoid and afraid to talk about porn with other adults, how are we going to have these same individuals develop enough bravery to speak about it with their children? While it may be an uncomfortable topic for some people, I believe that the topic will continue to become more mainstream as more people find it socially acceptable to express their sexuality. Personally, I would have benefited from having my mother or father teach me about some of the adverse consequences pornography could have on me–especially at a young age. I think this type of sexual discourse would be beneficial to other youth. Hopefully, as people continue to be more expressive, the day for open discourse between parent and child will come sooner than later.