Porn Is Like Heroin In The Brain

Focus On The Family ^ | Nov. 19, 2004 | Stuart Shepard

[Lindykim]

Porn Like Heroin in the Brain by Stuart Shepard, correspondent

Senate committee discusses pornography and the First Amendment.

Experts on pornography's effects on brain chemistry testified at a Senate hearing this week where a key point of discussion was whether porn is a form of speech protected by the First Amendment or addictive material that should be unlawful.

Psychiatrist Jeffrey Satinover described how pornography is analogous to cigarettes, noting that "it is a very carefully designed delivery system for evoking a tremendous flood within the brain of endogenous opioids." It's time, he added, to stop regarding it as simply a form of expression. "Modern science," Satinover said, "allows us to understand that the underlying nature of an addiction to pornography is chemically nearly identical to a heroin addiction."

Dr. Mary Anne Layden with the Center for Cognitive Therapy at the University of Pennsylvania explained how a pornographic image is burned into the brain's pathways.

"That image is in your brain forever," she explained. "If that was an addictive substance, you, at any point for the rest of your life, could in a nanosecond draw it up."

Dr. Judith Reisman, president of the Institute for Media Education, called on the Senate to take action against pornography, saying it's time to mandate that law enforcement begin to collect all data and pornographic materials found in the possession of anyone involved in criminal activity. Doing so, she added, would yield data showing whether pornography is being used as a how-to manual for sex crimes.

"The evidence the panelists presented showed an overwhelming harm from pornography," said Daniel Weiss, media and sexuality analyst with Focus on the Family. He hopes the Senate will turn the evidence into action.

TAKE ACTION/FOR MORE INFORMATION If you think Congress should be taking serious action against pornography, you can start by thanking Sen. Sam Brownback for calling the hearing, then contact your representatives in Congress and let them know what you think. For help in contacting your elected representatives, please see our CitizenLink Action Center.

Also, to learn more about one person's struggles with pornography, we suggest the resource "An Affair of the Mind: One Woman's Courageous Battle to Salvage Her Family From the Devastation of Pornography." Author Laurie Hall shares her courageous struggle to protect herself and two children from her husband's addiction to pornography.

[willyboyishere]

BTT

[Antoninus]

Goodbye freedom and liberty. Hello Taliban.

So tell me, were we living under the "taliban" before this stuff was made legal in the 1960s? I guess you agree with the commies then that everything that happened in this country prior to 1960 was evil, eh?

[Sam the Sham]

Well, aren't you regurgitating the usual libertarian, ACLU, Hollywood crap equating obscentity to "freedom of speech" ?

I notice you haven't been here very long. Wouldn't you be more comfortable over on DU with the party of godlessness and moral depravity sneering about "Jesusland" ?

[JeffAtlanta]

Do yourself a favor and look up the stats on STDs. Including the trans-condom virus HPV which infects up to 30% of sexually active women currently.

Even if its true, so what?

[Arioch7]

I see this has made it to Freerepublic.

This article and all of the "scientific" findings of the APA are just political attitudes wrapped in scientific arguments.

So they examine the brain do they? It shows heightened electromagnetic activity when exposed to porn does it?

Guess what, the brain produces various levels of electromagnetic activity all the time.

If someone pisses you off during the day guess what? The electrical and chemical processes of your brain change. Wow, obviously your brain changes in relation to all sorts of external stimuli.

They said the same damn thing about video games for gods sake. I have been reading some books that make me stay up late at night, I just can't put them down to get a good nights sleep. Am I addicted to books? LOL! I'm sure my brain would have some wild patterns while I was reading "Mote in Gods Eye." ,but I don't qualify this as an addiction.

I see a pretty girl and I am attracted to her. I'm damn sure if these folks looked at my brain during this, they would go nuts. Guess what? I'm not ADDICTED to pretty girls, I just LIKE them. Like is not an addiction.

I am trying to make a point about thier reasoning and I hope I got my message across.

It seems to me like the new science wants to elimate ALL personal choice in behavior. So there will be no choice, just genetics and addiction for any type of behavior imaginable.

Oh, and if you can't fit behavior into those two categories, you can say that evil corporations tricked you into acting like you did. I'm fat, it's McDonalds fault for thier relentless advertising. I smoke, the tobacco companies MADE me smoke.

I denounce the whole damn phenemonen of making personal choice irrelevant. It is a farce, and a stream of thought that is fraudulent and needs to be destroyed.

Arioch7 out.

[JeffAtlanta]

Well, aren't you regurgitating the usual libertarian, ACLU, Hollywood crap equating obscentity to "freedom of speech" ?

No

[Bullish]

Hey man, it's called sarcasm, ever heard of it? Don't be such an uptight prig.

[Antoninus]

We just want to be able to go to the 7-11 without a copy of sluts-r-us on display out in the open at children eye level! or search the web for homework research without 1000 hits for sluts-r-us websites flashing across the monitor.

Or be able to download our email without 50 unsolicited ads for "c1al!s" coming through. That's my personal favorite. If people who love free email are smart, they'd put the smack-down on these b@stards hard. Eventually, someone's going to propose an "internet postage" scheme and people are going to vote for it if for no other reason than to keep this filth out of their inboxes.

[JeffAtlanta]

Wouldn't you be more comfortable over on DU with the party of godlessness and moral depravity sneering about "Jesusland" ?

See, that's the ironic thing - you're actually a great fit for DU. You are all for government intrusion into our personal lives and choices. Basically, you want to install a nanny state.

[Antoninus]

You mean like the reactions of those that are addicted to imposing their view of morality on others?

Weak come-back. The rationalizations for self-destructive behavior are always the same. Desperately searching for a way to justify something they KNOW in their hearts is wrong/unhealthy/gross/destructive.

[Antoninus]

I wrote: Do yourself a favor and look up the stats on STDs. Including the trans-condom virus HPV which infects up to 30% of sexually active women currently.

You wrote: Even if its true, so what?

So the fact that we live in a society where 30% (some stats go as high as 50% for HPV) of sexually active women have an STD is ok with you? Did I mention that HPV is a major risk factor for ovarian cancer?

I rest my case.

Seriously, Jeff, be careful out there. Many men carry the HPV virus and don't even know it. They end up infecting their own wives and in some cases, killing them.

[JeffAtlanta]

Weak come-back. The rationalizations for self-destructive behavior are always the same. Desperately searching for a way to justify something they KNOW in their hearts is wrong/unhealthy/gross/destructive.

Which is exactly what you're doing. Some people are just uptight busy bodies and are hopelessly addicted to it. What are you doing is wrong, unhealthy, gross and destructive. Why not just live your life and let others live theirs? If someone violates your personal liberty then their are already laws in place for that.

[Antoninus]

Hey man, it's called sarcasm, ever heard of it? Don't be such an uptight prig.

Uptight prig? Surely you can do better than that. So hackneyed.

So you're saying that you agree with this article?

[JeffAtlanta]

I rest my case.

This is the exact same approach that the left takes to try to outlaw fatty foods. Obesity kills many more people than HIV. Look it up. Obesity also destroys a person's emotional state. Shouldn't you really be fighting Big Macs?

[Antoninus]

Which is exactly what you're doing. Some people are just uptight busy bodies and are hopelessly addicted to it. What are you doing is wrong, unhealthy, gross and destructive.

Yawn. Transference is also a well-known psychological response. Look to it.

[Bullish]

All I'm saying is that it was a joke, that's all.

Sorry you didn't get it.

[JeffAtlanta]

Transference is also a well-known psychological response. Look to it.

Which is again ironic, because you are the one doing it. You identify some behavior to crusade against and then get upset when someone identifies your behavior as sickening.

[Antoninus]

All I'm saying is that it was a joke, that's all. Sorry you didn't get it.

Generally speaking, a joke has to be funny in order for me to get it.

[JeffAtlanta]

Generally speaking, a joke has to be funny in order for me to get it.

I seriously doubt that you find anything beyond the puritan age funny. Besides, isn't laughter a sin?

[100%FEDUP]

What about ALL the images of the Hildebeast that have been seared into our brains since 1992?