Is PA equal to Alcohol or addiction?

[FoolishMind]

I thought I would ask this question as a poll to see what everyones thoughts would be on this. Please vote, and also add some comments, would be interesting to see what everyone thinks.

[Light]

This is interesting, and worth of discussion.

I was thinking about it the other day, how porn is justified by some as "natural." The argument is frequently given "everybody has sex, sex is normal." So "what's wrong with porn?"

It is true that the desire for sex is natural, and normal human activity. Sex feels good, so like eating, or anything else, it could become "addictive." Unlike drugs or alcohol, it is not an external product that we put in our bodies.

BUT...porn is an external set of images that we put into our mind. Most of us on this site would probably not be here if it were not for internet porn, or some other form of sexual imagery, either on tv, movies, etc. It seems to me as I try to understand this more, that it is the obsession with sex and sexuality, real or fake, that is the problem with porn.

Men before porn and our sex obsessed culture may have cheated on their spouses on occasion, but my guess is on the whole, this whole new classification of "sexual addiction" did not exist in the sense that it does today. We are the product of our culture's obsession and addiction to sex, and I believe it is driven by one factor alone, and that's money.

Advertisers know that if they stick a sexy woman on their ad, people will look. They are keying in to one of the most basic and fundamental aspects of our sub conscious nature.

But this exploitation of our natural state may be good for profits, but has resulted in a lot of unhappy individuals who would rather click away for hours every night searching for their "high" than go out and live their own lives. When they (if they) ever meet a partner, they wonder why they can't perform, or why their partner doesn't meet some expectation they have in their head.

That's because they never can, and never will.

Porn, and our attitude to sex in our culture has, and will continue to create a lot of very unhappy people, break up relationships, and continue to keep people unsatisfied until people stop and realize that this way of living and thinking can never make us truly happy.

This post of course leaves out all of the other educated reasons to not use porn, like the negative impact it has on women in the industry, the sex slave business, etc.

[021hallows]

Porn I am not sure is as dreadful as other addiction when it comes to how they affect you healthwise... but being disabled psychologically can be as dreadful.. and even more, perhaps. Immediate consequences may be entirely different but when you consider the longer run ...they are all the same and they are all dreadful.

Peace

[clog]

I don't know the answer to this question, but the following article is of interest

http://www.schaler.net/inthenews/deseret.html

[FoolishMind]

I appreciate there is no straight YES or NO answer to this question. But my perception is that while PA has many similarities to Alcohol or d.rug addiction. PA has a stealth mode on the victim.

An alcohol addict does not start drinking to become an addict, they are drowning there sorrows, or they are trying to get into a different mind set to hide or forget something else they dont like in life. This 'high' is reached, and when the high goes, reality kicks in again, so they drink again, and it spirals from here. Same applies to D.rugs.

PA however, starts usually quite inno.cently. It is a natural human instinct to be attracted to the opposite sx. When you are young, you learn most of your natural behaviours and instincts through curiosity.

Once you are exposed to P, it can be quite shocking, and the taboo factor kicks in. Tell a Child this is bad, the child wants it more. When you are independent you have more access to P, and what you used to see is nothing special anymore, so you become curious about something more deeper and darker. This inturn sprirals and you keep searching for a greater high. It still remains taboo, because you are embarressed of it. As an addict would not openly inject in the street.

My point - Yes in my opinion PA is equal in the symptoms of an addiction of d.rugs or alcohol, but Is less visible or aparent till later on in life.

Also abusing alcohol or d.rugs can ultimatley kill you, an obsessive addict on P, can in effect kill everyone that loves them and kill meaing to there life.

Not sure if this is completley structured, but just throught i would regurgitate my thoughts in whatever way it came out!

[Dominus]

A lot of people who are addicted to alchohol do not realise it, only if they test themselves by trying to go a month without can they find out. The dictionary defines an addiction as a compulsive habit that is impossible (or virtually impossible) to break which certainly fits the bill as far as I am concerned. I have been trying not to look at porn since I was a teenager and have never succeeded, only time will tell whether I will be successful in the future or not. In an experience I read of a man who had given up addictions to drugs, alchohol and porn he stated that the porn was by far the most difficult of the 3 to quit.

sure sex is fun, healthy and natural - in moderation... So is alchohol, its just in our pleasure crazed society we never seem to know when we have had enough, and it stops us from enjoying the more subtle pleasures of life.

[sammyclaire]

My therapist says tehy are very similar thing and that i should try to see it like that if i find it easier to accept (she evens aid how would i feel if my bf was addicted to alcohol or gambling as he would still be chosing to drink or gamble rather than be open with me, lie to me etc)-

both alcohol and sex are 'normal' in certain situations, so therefore can be acceptable by society eg drinking is a main part of sociallising, and there are videos played in clubs i go to (very normal, middle class town clubs at that) which show models in underwear posing etc.
But, drinking on your own, or to excess or at 'wrong' times of the day is seen as really bad, same as porn when in a relationship, at work or in secret at home again is a betrayal- both can have addictions and both cause the addict to lie, change their behaviour patterns and ultimately risk everything for their compulsion.

[valjean77]

Actually, there are physical aspects of poromgraphy addiction, despite it being an external stimulus. You get a huge dopamine dump which gives that feeling of euphoria, and also accounts for the feeling of withdrawal we get. Also, the rapid influx of imagery has an effect on the brain that shows up on brain scans like brain damage.

[FoolishMind]

Whats dopamine dump?

[valjean77]

Dopamine is a chemical in your brain, a neurotransmitter that makes you feel good...the "afterglow" that you feel after sex is because of your brain releasing a lot of it, aka a "dopamine dump." Different things, including porn, can trigger its release, and it's chemically addictive. That's why porn addicts feel withdrawal when they go clean.