The Porn Circuit | Covenant Eyes Internet Accountability and Filtering
The Porn Circuit | Covenant Eyes Internet Accountability and Filtering
The Porn Circuit | Covenant Eyes Internet Accountability and Filtering
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XXX<br />
Chapter 5:<br />
Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing, Baby<br />
Dumping porn improves marital love life<br />
<strong>The</strong> pornified brain sounds a lot like Mick Jagger; it can’t get no satisfaction.<br />
On the surface it sounds absurd. <strong>Porn</strong>ography offers endless opportunities for arousal. If a<br />
human masturbates to a wider range of images or videos, shouldn’t that satiate? <strong>The</strong> simple<br />
answer is no.<br />
Dr. Doidge explains that porn is more exciting than satisfying because we have two separate<br />
pleasure systems in our brains: one for exciting pleasure <strong>and</strong> another for satisfying pleasure.<br />
<strong>The</strong> exciting system, fueled by dopamine <strong>and</strong> anticipation, is all about appetite, such as<br />
imagining your favorite meal or a sexual episode. 1<br />
<strong>The</strong> satisfying system involves actually having the meal or having sex, which provides a<br />
calming, fulfilling pleasure. This system releases opiate-like endorphins that provide feelings of<br />
peace <strong>and</strong> euphoria.<br />
<strong>Porn</strong>ography, Doidge writes, hyperactivates the appetite system. 2 But the satisfying system<br />
is left starving for the real thing, which includes actual touching, kissing, caressing, <strong>and</strong> a<br />
connection not only with the body but also the mind <strong>and</strong> soul. <strong>The</strong> satisfying system releases<br />
oxytocin <strong>and</strong> endorphins, <strong>and</strong> bellows, in the words of Marvin Gaye, “Ain’t nothing like the real<br />
thing, Baby.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> porn-saturated brain is fixated on sex, Struthers explains, 3 but real sex is intended for<br />
intimacy. <strong>The</strong> pornified brain is ready for multiple partners, images, <strong>and</strong> sexual possibilities,<br />
but it is intended for a narrow focus of exclusive sharing. <strong>Porn</strong>’s neurological superhighway<br />
is built for speed, but satisfying sex is designed for the slow <strong>and</strong> evolving discovery <strong>and</strong><br />
appreciation of a loving partner. <strong>Porn</strong> provides few off-ramps (masturbation) that offer fleeting<br />
escapes that hasten the need for more. Meanwhile a committed couple can have long <strong>and</strong><br />
satisfying encounters with many off ramps for creative expressions of intimacy that are not<br />
genitally oriented.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Porn</strong> <strong>Circuit</strong> | 24
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