Love is in the air this Valentine’s Day. Restaurants are booked, dates are planned and people are making extravagant gestures to show love toward their significant other. Some will be tempted to stay home and look for the love they are missing out on, but they won’t find what they are looking for.
Our brains are wired for survival needs, and a big part of that is companionship. Chemicals are released when we show affection or have an intimate moment with a partner. Showing and receiving love makes our brain a special kind of happy, but we tend to trick it when that “love” comes from a screen.
According to Fight the New Drug (FTND), an anti-pornography nonprofit organization, 93% of boys and 62% of girls view porn before age 18. The consistency of viewing only increases when these teens enter their college years. According to a study by East Carolina University, 41.3% of a group of 305 students admitted to viewing porn one or two times a week.
When we stare at a screen, our brains seek the intimacy of the images displayed and can create a compulsion, causing one to need pornography more often and more intensely in order to feel satisfied. The channel created in our brain becomes a path easily selected time and again, allowing an addiction to form.
FTND’s website said, “[Internet pornography] can condition someone’s sexual arousal to aspects of pornography conception that do not readily transition to real-life partners.”
Pornography has a huge impact on our hearts and those around us. We have a natural longing for love programmed within our hearts. Those deprived of affection are often stunted physically and mentally, proving the importance of intimacy. This longing is so strong, we pursue any method to feel connected. Our love becomes weaker the more frequently we view porn. FTND said, “[We must] think twice before giving your heart to something without a pulse.”
Guys, I’m not singling you out here. I struggle with this addiction, as do many friends surrounding me. Reported by the Independent, a survey found one in three women view porn at least once a week. The research shows accessibility of pornography is up to 90% via computers and smartphones.
It seems like the odds are against us. There is too much content available, and the channel is already embedded in our brain. A pornography addiction does not simply stop when you get married or enter into a relationship. If we recognize our addiction, it provides opportunity for change.
I encourage anyone struggling with the addiction of pornography to catch it before it changes your perspective of love. CPR is a method I regularly use — confess, pray and repent — to stop the temptation in its track. Visit FTND’s website to learn more about the impact pornography has and how we can fight it, sex trafficking and sexual abuse. Porn kills love; don’t let it kill yours.
