***WARNING*** Information in this article is of a sensitive nature and contains frank information regarding sexual topics.  If this Information is offensive or undesired, please do not continue.

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West Ridge Academy

The second podcast in this series on pornography addiction, this episode asks the question, “What is the difference between pornography addiction and healthy sexuality?” Eric Allred, LMFT joins Jeff again as they discuss how pornography acts like a drug and causes brain dysfunction.

During the podcast, we mention the symptoms and effects of pornography addiction. The following is a list of these effects based on current research:

1. Not caring about women/men as real human beings; just thinking of them as objects
2. Starting to think rape isn’t a serious crime
3. Having a twisted view of sexuality (thinking of sexuality in unhealthy ways)
4. Not caring about having a long-term, stable relationship with one person (monogamous relationship)
5. Thinking your spouse isn’t a good enough sex partner
6. Beginning to think that marriage isn’t important
7. Not really caring about having children or raising a family
8. Thinking it’s normal and natural to have casual sex with many people
9. Trying out — or wanting to try out — sexual behaviors that aren’t healthy, legal, or natural (these behavior are also called sexually deviant behaviors)
10. Having a lot of struggles and problems in your close relationships
11. Thinking rape victims are the ones who are to blame for being raped and that rapists don’t need to be punished for their crimes
12.  Being much more likely to commit sexual abuse
13. Becoming sexually aggressive (violent or forceful)
14. Being more likely to get separated or divorced
15. Thinking the best sexual relationships are the ones that don’t involve emotional involvement or commitment
16. Being more likely to cheat on your spouse (emotionally and/or physically)
17. Being more likely to lose your job or get kicked out of college
18. Threatening the well-being of children in your home by straining marriage relationships, causing financial burdens, and increasing your children’s risk of being exposed to pornography
19. Starting to think that explicit or offensive sexual material isn’t that big of a deal (becoming desensitized)
20. Beginning to think that uncommon or unusual sexual activities (such as group sex or sex with animals) are normal and happen a lot
21. Losing the trust of those in close relationships
22. Developing a negative body image (thinking negatively about your body)
23. Getting wrong information about human sexual behavior
24. Being more likely to have oral, anal, or group sex
25. Being more likely to develop compulsive or addictive sexual behavior (in other words, being more likely to lose control over how often and how long you act out sexually)

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