I used to think I was addicted to porn because I just had a crazy sex drive or loved looking at women. That was until I started to quit viewing it and experienced withdrawal symptoms. So I looked into the brain chemistry behind being hooked on porn and I was surprised at what I found. It turns out there are similar things happening in the brain when someone is doing drugs. Basically there are unhealthy spikes in certain neurotransmitters, mainly dopamine, that give you a sense of excitement and euphoria when you’re viewing porn. These chemicals serve a healthy purpose when used correctly. In fact, during healthy sex, there are normal releases of these neurotransmitters. This is how we are designed but like anything it can be misused. I found out that viewing porn releases more of these chemicals for a longer period of time especially as you jump from new picture to new picture and video to video keeping the chemical rush high.

After awhile your brain will start to decrease the number of receptors to try and keep dopamine consumption at healthy levels. So when you decided to stop looking at porn you must go through a withdrawal period just like drug addicts. This withdrawal period is the time it takes your brain to adjust the neurotransmitters and receptors back to normal. During this time everything will seem dull and boring as if nothing could excite you but porn. However, over time, after the withdrawal phase, you start to enjoy the wholesome things in life again, such as friends, family, and hobbies.