To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul,
in You I trust, O my God.
Do not let me be put to shame.
Psalm 25:1&2
Heavier Neurochemistry
Many people get to a point in their pornography use where it feels compulsive, like they have to do it because they crave it and want to get rid of that craving. I have found many times that when people are given an understanding of the way in which pornography might have affected their biochemistry, it helps them see why they got to the point of feeling addicted.
Even if we are in a spiritual battle, even if we use the language of sin, we are creatures made with all the elements that neuroscientists are finding out more and more about. We need to bring our knowledge and responsibility to bear on what happens to the bodies and brains God made, so that we can stop feeding into dysregulation. The more we understand how we are put together, the more we can understand what has the potential to go wrong. I have heard of God and angels repairing cars, but mostly He lets Earthly experts guide us through what has gone wrong when it comes to our MOT (as is a frequent occurrence when one has a 1992 Peugeot 205).
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When we are dealing with primary drives, we are looking at ancient systems predicated on the survival of us or our genes. When we hijack these, they become hard monsters to fight because we are playing with something that we have accidentally cued to make us act like it is vital. If that monster also has the backing of massive finance that knows these primeval systems are easy to tap into, then we are up against a powerful monster indeed
What my clients describe when they talk about pornography use feeling inescapable is like a hijack of motivational systems concerned with survival, homeostasis and efficiency. In 1951 Nikolaas Tinbergen studied what he termed the SupraNormal Stimulus (SNS), where species are attracted preferentially to survival-related stimuli with features of increased salience. So, if a butterfly has pretty wings that indicate it is healthy, and worth mating with, a mock butterfly, with gaudier wings might be even better proposition.
The attraction to things seen in pornography, or the things discussed in forums or narratives, seem superior to ‘normal’ stimuli, and so are very alluring but the availability is more than the brain evolved to handle. Background problems like overwhelm, anxiety or stress can create a desire to repeat the behaviour as it creates pleasant feelings that provide relief in some way. On continuation, chronic exposure to stimuli increases brain sensitisation to cues and reduces reactivity to non-stimulus cues (Blum et al, 2018), ultimately deluding the brain into believing that certain stimuli are necessary for survival (Addiction Policy Forum, 2018). The confusion in living a life characterised by desiring sexual stimuli, not liking them, refraining, feeling compelled, may be accounted for by allostatic mechanisms (Arias-Carrion et al, 2014)), underpinned by homeostatic systems that prevent distraction from tasks of survival.
The brain, like all parts of the body, likes homoeostasis - it is very keen on balance, not doing things to excess too often. To restore balance when it senses too much dopamine has been released, dynorphin is released (Love et al, 2015). Dynorphin is associated with diminished or inhibited dopamine and serotonin release, as well as depression, anxiety and anhedonia (Marchette et al, 2025). Dopamine is released from the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) (24), signaling the need for an approach response to a stimulus relevant to genetic survival (33), e.g. a sexual cue in the mind or environment. Repeated positive associated feelings create a craving to meet increasingly salient perceived needs with the same thing, according to the incentive-sensitization theory (6).