chemical addiction introduces components into the body that the brain develops a dependency on, or that bonds with our receptors to affect our other hormones. (caffeine, nicotine, opiods, etc)
compulsive addiction release high amounts of the brain’s ‘feel good’ hormones (dopamine, seratonin, endorphins). Behaviours that reliably release these are not inherently bad, but they can be very habit-forming (weed, gambling, video games, etc).
Porn and sex addition are compulsive addictions. Our brains are designed to chase dopamine, its the ‘habit-forming chemical’ or the ‘reward chemical’ for most of the choices we make. If something releases it easily without much effort (eg: porn vs socialisation), releases it at higher intensity (eg: gaming vs books), and releases it immediately/consistently (eg: food vs exercise) then we’re more likely to choose it.
People also ‘self-medicate’ with these vices, so a lot of addiction to thinks like porn and video games is less about those things being bad, rather that people missing things in their life (self-actualisation, purpose, fulfilling relationships, etc) tend to compulsive behaviours to feel better about it for a while. It’s like taking painkillers for a fracture you can’t afford to set.
Compulsive addictions are addictions because people struggling rely on them heavily in order to cope, and don’t have anything else to replace them with. The behaviours themselves aren’t bad, but being reliant on them is, in place of actual self-care.
As society gets more and more demanding, more expensive, more isolated, etc; more and more people are self-medicating with weed, food, online shopping etc.
Porn addiction is very real, but I don’t think it’s an issue with porn itself anymore than binge-eating is an issue with food or online shopping is an issue with retail. While all those industries react to consumer demand for money’s sake (porn gets more extreme, food fills with sugar, online stores promote FOMO deals) the reason the industries see so much demand is that we have a society of people with unmet needs and poor supports, reaching out to just feel good for a while.
I’m inclined to agree with you.
There are two forms of addiction:
Porn and sex addition are compulsive addictions. Our brains are designed to chase dopamine, its the ‘habit-forming chemical’ or the ‘reward chemical’ for most of the choices we make. If something releases it easily without much effort (eg: porn vs socialisation), releases it at higher intensity (eg: gaming vs books), and releases it immediately/consistently (eg: food vs exercise) then we’re more likely to choose it.
People also ‘self-medicate’ with these vices, so a lot of addiction to thinks like porn and video games is less about those things being bad, rather that people missing things in their life (self-actualisation, purpose, fulfilling relationships, etc) tend to compulsive behaviours to feel better about it for a while. It’s like taking painkillers for a fracture you can’t afford to set.
Compulsive addictions are addictions because people struggling rely on them heavily in order to cope, and don’t have anything else to replace them with. The behaviours themselves aren’t bad, but being reliant on them is, in place of actual self-care.
As society gets more and more demanding, more expensive, more isolated, etc; more and more people are self-medicating with weed, food, online shopping etc.
Porn addiction is very real, but I don’t think it’s an issue with porn itself anymore than binge-eating is an issue with food or online shopping is an issue with retail. While all those industries react to consumer demand for money’s sake (porn gets more extreme, food fills with sugar, online stores promote FOMO deals) the reason the industries see so much demand is that we have a society of people with unmet needs and poor supports, reaching out to just feel good for a while.