There is a chemical in your brain called dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter which means it sends signals from one cell to another. When a person engages in a behavior that is followed by a reward it activates the dopamine pathway. The purpose of the pathway is to remember the reward-motivated behavior. When there is pleasure involved, your brain remembers this and each time you come to a situation where the dopamine pathway was activated, your brain will release more dopamine before you engage in that behavior.
For example, the first time you view porn, you don’t know beforehand whether or not it feels good. Once you start engaging in the behavior, it feels good so the dopamine pathway is opened up and starts sending pleasure signals from one cell to another. Fast forward to the next time you view porn. Before you even view the porn you start thinking about viewing the porn. Your brain has remembered this reward motivated behavior so the dopamine pathway has already opened up sending pleasure signals from one cell to another.
Before you know it, certain things will trigger the release of dopamine without you having to even think about it which then forces you to think about it when the dopamine pathway is opened up. This is called a trigger.
The problem with all of this is that if you start to chronically view porn, your brain is constantly flooded with dopamine and in an order to regulate, the dopamine receptors get smaller. When your brain has too little dopamine it doesn’t feel good and this is where you may start to feel sad, lonely, depressed, or unmotivated. The only way to get out of that feeling is to get more dopamine to the brain so you watch more porn.
If you’re feeling this way, it’s not your fault. Like any addiction, it’s not a matter of self control and you can now see why there is science backing the fact that an addiction is a brain disease. The brain is what is called plasticity which means it can change based upon your environment and the information that you take in. This is good news because you can literally change your brain by not watching porn.
