As we all know, life is hard. Hardly a day goes by when we aren’t bombarded with the regular stresses of life such as work, marriage, family, and finances. Add to that the more catastrophic situations like the death of a loved one or a terminal illness, and it’s no wonder we yearn for a mindless escape from the realities of life. One such escape is pornography, which is an especially intense struggle for most people.  It just means the viewer has a hardwired sex drive, or interest in sex. However, the negative side of this “human response” is that looking at porn can turn into a routine. Then, the viewer can become dependent on that routine for an escape from reality. And the cycle continues, until the viewer is watching videos that would have previously been disgusted or horrified by, but they can’t seem to stop.

Pornography physically changes and rewires the pathways

Said otherwise, pornography physically changes and rewires the pathways in the brain so that it becomes like any other addiction or harmful behaviour, which offers a promise of pleasure and relief from the negative emotions people don’t want to cope with, albeit temporary. Because our brains don’t like negative emotions like stress, anger, hurt, loneliness, and the like, we naturally seek things that give us pleasure and make us feel happy, rather than rousing feelings of discomfort or pain. So it makes sense that when watching porn, the brain is flooded with pleasure chemicals like dopamine, which momentarily block out negative emotions.

Makes one Feel good

Likewise, Dopamine, testosterone, norepinephrine, oxytocin, and serotonin flood our brains, and we feel good for a while as we go through free live porn. But then, shame and fear return, and it is not long before we want another escape. This is why pornography hooks people in, keeping them coming back for more and thwarting their best intentions to stay away from it.

Addiction

Basically, then, the main reason why most people can’t stop watching porn is that it’s addictive. As with any sin or struggle, it’s easy to tell ourselves that everybody is doing it and it’s not that big of a deal. A lot of people create illusions in their heads that porn is not real, and therefore poses no real threat to their lives or that of their families. However, the sad reality is that porn use is destroying families and marriages at an alarming rate.