The Power of Addiction
When actor Terry Crews confirmed that he had attended rehab for pornography addiction the world did not stand still. Some people probably just felt weird. Others a bit guilty. Yet a few know both the why and the how. Crews’ admission was an intimate insight into the destruction pornography can reap in what may seem like a balanced, successful life.
Crews didn’t gamble, smoke, drink or drug, yet he found himself on the cusp of losing his marriage and his life to a habit that is accessed every day by millions. For free. In Terry Crews’ own words, he would have lost everything without rehab.
"It changes the way you think about people. People become objects. People become body parts; they become things to be used rather than people to be loved.” Terry Crews
By most common historical accounts, pornography has always been with us, a quirk of human nature and a point often argued by proponents of the industry. Yet in the internet age access and proliferation has become supercharged. Within seconds anyone can access this material on their phone, anytime, anywhere. And by this material, we mean the spectrum of everything and the suspension of one’s own humanity.
"Every time I watched it, I was walled off. It was like another brick that came between me and my wife. And the truth is, everything you need for intimacy is in your (partner).” Terry Crews
Like all major addictions, pornography attacks the reward centre of the brain and creates a dopamine hit for brain through the observation and completion of a sexual act. This hack overrides the usual courtship process of pair bonding, flooding the reward centre with dopamine secretion stimulated by novelty and excitement. the neuro-plasticity of the brain means an entire system can be rewired to crave more novelty and stimulation, even if the user may not actually like what they are doing or know it is wrong. The dopamine hit is now king and an addiction can take hold.
The Dopamine Trick
Viewing pornography weakens the vital energy of the persona and will fill the user with anxiety. On social sites like instagram, there is a cottage industry of people offering advice on how to give up porn. People like @wann_a_lana have dedicated instagram accounts claiming that porn completely hijaks a person’s sexuality and sends the individual into a dark spiral away from their true sexuality.
“Porn has this ability to steer our sexuality in directions which are so far removed from where our original sexuality once started. It works the same way as a drug, where you need more and more and more stuff to achieve the same high. Over time this disconnects you from your true sexuality so when I stopped watching porn it was like all of a sudden I was in touch with my true sexuality.” @wann_a_lana
The objectifying of human beings, many trapped by prostitution and human trafficking, take advantage of some of the weakest human beings on the planet. The enslaved and the trafficked. It pulls the instinct of the viewer away from normal, moral human behaviour.
Don’t be fooled by the dopamine trick. Have full knowledge of who and what you are watching and understand how it is affecting your day to day interactions in life. Finally, ask yourself, why is this free? It is free because you are the target. It is a war for your heart, mind and lifeforce.
Knowledge is power.