When Manly Courage
Commands Us to Flee
Evidence from science in
support of faith.
Why should we follow the
10 commandments?
Are the 10
commandments a
gift? a burden? an
added obligation? a
myth? a help? or a
hindrance?
10 commandments are not simply a
bridge to the supernatural: they are
a shortcut to understand ourselves.
• Most of Catechism
teaches about
humanity, not just
Catholicity.
• Science and Faith can
never be opposed.
There is only one truth
and one source of that
truth.
So is there a real difference
between what the Church
sees in pornography and
what science teaches us?
What does the Church say about
pornography?
• CCC#2354 Pornography consists in removing
the real or simulated sexual acts from the
intimacy of the partners, in order to display
them deliberately to third parties. It offends
against chastity because it perverts the
conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses
to each other. It does grave injury to the
dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the
public), since each one becomes an object of
base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It
immerses all who are involved in the illusion
of a fantasy world. It is a grave offense. Civil
authorities should prevent the production and
distribution of pornographic materials.
What does science have to say
on the subject of pornography?
• How widespread is it in society?
• How does it affect the individual viewing the
pornography?
– What is he looking for?
– Does he receive what he expects?
• Is it addictive? Is the individual still in control
or rather is he controlled by the pornography?
• Does pornography lead to other
consequences?
• Does it affect everyone equally?
Some indicators of
its prevalence:
• Nearly 1/3 of 12 yr olds and 2/3 of 17 yr olds
say they have friends who view pornography
• 2008 stats:
– 42.7% internet users now view pornography
online
– Every second, there are approximately 28,258
internet users viewing pornography online
– Approximately 1 in 4 internet search engine
requests is related to pornography
– (2007) 34% of adolescents reported being
exposed to unwanted sexual content online.
More indicators:
• One in 5 of all rented films
are pornographic.
• Hollywood yearly generates
400 movies – Porn industry
shoots 11,000 porn films
each year
• 4,000,000,000 dollars per
year in USA spent on video
pornography
• Men look at pornography more
than any other subject
• 66% of 18-34 year old men visit
porn sites every month
Where does the attraction to
pornography come in?
• What parts of the
brain are affected?
• How temporary is
the effect?
• How powerful is
the effect?
• How controllable
is its effect?
Shaping the brain
Pornography actually
influences the structure of the
brain – the molding
Reality vs. fantasy
• The brain processes as
real the bizarre images
that the eyes see. The
brain has no apparatus
to distinguish real
images from media
fantasy.
– i.e. Pornographic
imagery is perceived by
the brain as reality and
stored as part of the
brain’s memory and
response structure.
Sensory input molds
• Sensory input that is strong enough
or repeated often enough produces
an electrical impulse in a neuron
that stimulates the release of
chemicals that either excite or
inhibit other neurons.
– i.e. The brain is not passive to
input; it is molded and sculpted by
input.
– Memory is molded; does not
discriminate the source
– Reaction sequences (emotional,
physiological, chemical… response
to stimuli) are molded; do not
discriminate the source.
Neuroplasticity
• The ability to change the structure of the brain is
known as neuroplasticity.
• When we learn something new, neurons fire together
and wire together and a chemical process occurs at
the neuronal level called "long'term potentiation," or
LTP, which strengthens the connections between the
neurons. When the brain unlearns associations and
disconnects neurons, another chemical process
occurs, called "long-term depression" or LTD.
Unlearning and weakening connections between
neurons is just as plastic a process, and just as
important, as learning and strengthening them.
• [Though plasticity is also age dependent and some
things acquired in youth are hard to “undo”]
Some factors that affect this
shaping of the brain:
• Repetition reinforces
synapses'
connections
• Rewards reinforce
learning
• Novelty, like rewards,
reinforces
• The more [and
earlier] a brain region
senses an event, the
more it remembers it
Neuroplasticity is not uniform
through life; there are natural
“critical periods” of intense
shaping.
• In our critical periods we can acquire sexual and
romantic tastes and inclinations that get wired
into our brains and can have a powerful impact
for the rest of our life.
• We are unable to distinguish our "second nature"
from our "original nature" because our
neuroplastic brains, once rewired, develop a new
nature, every bit as biological as our original.
Young are hit harder
• States of sexual or fear arousal (a child’s
response to a flash of pornographic
stimuli), can cause permanent damage to
the neural structure and function of the
developing brain itself.
• The cognitive brain is not fully developed
in men until they reach 21. Any
emotional stimuli before this will
necessarily have more effect on the
brain; it will not be mitigated by reason.
Critical periods for sexual
plasticity….
• Early childhood is 1st
critical period for
sexuality and intimacy,
and children are capable
of passionate, protosexual
feelings (crushes, …).
• Falling in love in
adolescence or later
provides an opportunity
for a second round of
massive plastic changes.
What is “sought” in
pornography?
What do you “feel”?
Neurochemical pleasure
appetitive
• Appetitive deals with
"exciting" pleasure imagining something
that we desire, such as
sex or a good meal.
• Neurochemistry of
appetitive is largely
dopamine-related, and
it raises our tension
level.
satisfaction
• Satisfaction pleasure
comes with actually
having the sex or meal
- calming, fulfilling
pleasure.
• Neurochemistry of
satisfaction pleasure is
release of endorphins,
related to opiates and
give peaceful, euphoric
bliss.
The rush
• Pornography
normally works
to include an
element of fear
or alarm. This
will work on the
flight or fight
center of the
brain and
produce this
“rush”.
Craving
• The appetitive system can
be hyperactivated. Porn
viewers develop new maps
in their brains, based on
the photos and videos
they see. Because it is a
use-it-or-lose-it brain,
when we develop a map
area, we long to keep it
activated. Just as our
muscles become
impatient for exercise if
we've been sitting all day,
so too do our senses
hunger to be stimulated.
The drugs involved
• Pornography produces
epinephrine
(adrenaline),
testosterone (an
endogenous steroid,
men’s flight or fight
hormone), endorphins
(endogenous
morphine), oxytocin (a
bonding peptide
strongly associated with
feelings of love),
dopamine, serotonin,
phenylethylamine…
Dopamine
• Dopamine is a reward transmitter. By
hijacking our dopamine system,
addictive substances give us pleasure
without our having to work for it.
• Dopamine is also involved in plastic
change. The same surge of dopamine
that thrills us also consolidates the
neuronal connections responsible for
the behaviors that led us to
accomplish our goal.
• Addictive symptoms - the highs,
crashes, cravings, withdrawal, and
fixes - are subjective signs of plastic
changes occurring in the structure of
our brains, as they adapt to the
presence or absence of the beloved.
Oxytocin
• Neuromodulator allows
heightened plasticity
• Oxytocin melts down existing
neuronal connections that
underlie existing attachments,
so new attachments can be
formed. Oxytocin, does not
teach parents to parent. Nor
does it make lovers cooperative
and kind; rather, it makes it
possible for them to learn new
patterns.
• Oxytocin is released in both
sexes during orgasm
In the context of matrimony
• Dopamine and Oxytocin
work very well in the
context of matrimony
• The reinforcement
works toward giving
oneself and establishing
a permanent
relationship
Addictive?
• Dopamine is released in sexual
excitement, hence the
addictive power of
pornography.
• Drugs involved in addiction act
by producing a protein called
iFosB (pronounced "delta Fos
B"), that accumulates in the
neurons. Each time the drug is
used, more iFosB accumulates,
until it throws a genetic switch,
affecting which genes are
turned on or off. Flipping this
switch causes changes that
persist long after the drug is
stopped, leading to irreversible
damage to the brain's
dopamine system and
rendering the animal far more
prone to addiction.
Compulsion? OCD?
• As far as the brain is concerned, a reward’s a reward,
regardless of whether it comes from a chemical or an
experience. And where there’s a reward, there’s the risk of
the vulnerable brain getting trapped in a compulsion.
• Addiction could exist within the body’s own chemistry and
any activity that produces salient alterations in mood (which
are always accompanied by changes in neurotransmission)
can lead to compulsion, loss of control and progressively
disturbed functioning.
• Lust, that is sexual arousal, toward a real or media image,
when experienced in the body as a drug high, poses
significant danger, especially for those with an already
delicate psyche. For, such chemical flooding of the brain
would too often override ones cognitive thought and interfere
with rational decisions to protect themselves and others.
Self-fueling addiction
• Pornography is reinforced by sexual acts that
it stimulates. If the act of viewing
pornography is accompanied by sexual acts,
the viewing of pornography is associated with
the sexual act and reinforced by it. Clearly
then the “rewarding” pornographically
triggered orgasm, regularly reinforced by
novel new pornographic stimuli, is seldom
“abandoned” unless the users are equally
driven by the sensate and cognitive demands
of conflicting values and controls.
• Pornography is self-fueling. It does not
disappear without a fight.
What happens to “reason”?
I thought man was smarter
than this?!
Picture is worth more than 1000
words
• Emotionally threatening/stimulating media
bypass the neocortex and rational thought.
Therefore, right hemisphere pictures will
psycopharmacologically overwhelm weaker
left hemisphere speech information.
• In crucial matters of the heart --- and most
especially in emotional emergencies --- the
neocortex can be said to defer to the limbic
system. Implicitly, pictorial sex stimuli obey
“the law of strength” and dominate the limbic
system in sexual desire, memory, pleasure,
pain…
Emotional •
brain
Teens and children process
emotions differently than adults.
Viewing emotional images…
teens.. activated the amygdala, a
brain center that mediates fear and
other “gut” reactions, more than
the frontal lobe [rational,
cognitive].
• Without exception, ones dominate
memories are emotional, not
cognitive.
• The amygdala matures very
quickly in the infant’s brain… long
before other brain structures like
the hippocampus, which is crucial
for “information” and narrative
memories, and the neocortex, seat
of rational thought.
Anxiety response
•
Other emotional responses
can trigger the same
physiological response and
be misinterpreted as a
sexual high. When fear and
shame are the triggers this
process is notably anxietyprovoking and maladaptive.
• If any two mental states be
called up together, or in
succession, with due
frequency and vividness, the
subsequent production of the
one of them will suffice to call
up the other, and that whether
we desire it or not.
Cognitive brain to rescue?
• Circuits from the limbic
brain to the prefrontal lobes
mean that the signals of
strong emotion – anxiety,
anger, and the like – can
create neural static,
sabotaging the ability of the
prefrontal lobe to maintain
working memory.
• That is why when we are
emotionally upset we say
we “just can’t think
straight”.
How quickly does it grab?
Can I have my pie and escape?
Just a glance?
• Pornography works in 3/10th of a second to
produce mood altering experiences which
by their nature generate states of lust,
undergirded by anxiety which always
produces levels of fear, anger and shame.
This means that the hypothalamus is at “red
alert”, activated to “flight or fight”.
Tolerance vs. Sensitization
• As tolerance develops, the addict needs
more and more of a substance or porn to
get a pleasant effect. As sensitization
develops, he needs less and less of the
substance to crave it intensely. So
sensitization leads to increased wanting,
though not necessarily liking.
• It is the accumulation of iFosB, caused by
exposure to an addictive substance or
activity, that leads to sensitization.
Slippery slope
• Once the brain becomes less
sensitive to dopamine, it becomes
less sensitive to natural
reinforcers such as the pleasure of
seeing a friend, watching a movie,
the curiosity that drives
exploration. The only stimuli still
strong enough to activate the
sputtering motivation circuit are
drugs.
• And once they've indulged in
more quantity, they want more
quality - meaning more action,
more intensity, more extreme
situations.
Effect on marriage
• Matrimonial lawyers attest to a
growing docket of cases in which
pornography becomes a major
source of tension.
• Whether a couple watches together,
or one or both partners uses it
alone, pornography plays a
significant role not only in sex but
in a couple's sense of trust, security,
and fidelity.
• More porn men watch, the less
satisfied they are with their
partner's looks and sexual
performance.
Effects on life
• Loss of Interpersonal skills
• Increase risk of spreading sexually
transmitted disease
• Increased isolation if spouse uses
pornography
Attitude shifts caused by porn
• Increased tolerance toward sexually explicit material, thereby
requiring more novel or bizarre material to achieve the same
level of arousal or interest
• Diminished trust in intimate partners
• Decreased desire to achieve sexual exclusivity with a partner
• Increased risk of developing a negative body image, especially
for women
• Acceptance of promiscuity as a normal state of interaction
• Begin to view love in a cynical manner
• Believe superior sexual satisfaction is attainable without
having affection for one's partner
• Believe marriage is sexually confining
• Believe raising children and having a family is an unattractive
prospect
Women’s view of porn
• Generally speaking, North American women are
socialized to seek after, if not expect, marital and
intimate relationships that foster equality between
partners and which are founded upon mutual respect,
honesty, shared power and romantic love. In stark
contrast, pornography promotes and eroticizes power
imbalances, discrimination, disrespect, abuse,
voyeurism, objectification, and detachment - all of
which represent antitheses of relational and marital
ideals for Western women. Consequently, when a North
American, married woman discovers her husband has
been secretly consuming pornography, it is not only
devastating to her sense of self and trust, but it often
threatens the very foundation upon which she has
constructed and framed her relational world.
Conclusions of science:
• Pornography is chemically addictive – the
addictions can lead to permanent
damage in the brain structures.
• Pornography causes anxiety and tension
in both the short and long run
• Pornography is particularly damaging to
young and adolescent brain
development.
• The effects of pornography are felt by
the individual user, his family, society.
How to break out of addiction
• Don’t minimize the problem. It is real.
• Get help. Don’t go it alone!
– End the secret – secrets beget lies –
lies beget guilt, beget loss of
confidence, beget more
pornography.
– Set up system of accountability –
don’t go it alone. Isolation
undermines any recovery attempt.
– Personal Spiritual direction can
address a lot of it.
– Harder addictions need
professional help too.
Accountability vs filters
• Both are good
• Pornography
depends on three
pillars: accessibility,
anonymity,
affordability.
• Knock out as many
pillars as possible!
View addiction along a continuum –
not as black or white.
• Level 1: just recently exposed or view 1-2 times/yr.
• Level 2: growing curiosity but no compulsion yet.
View 1-6 x/yr.
• Level 3: borderline between problem and
compulsive behavior. View 1/month (maybe follow
w/ binge). Try to avoid. R-rated videos, nude
picture, sexual movies…
• Level 4: impacts other aspects of life. Thinking
about it a lot. Fantasizing increases. View few
times/month –more hardcore material. Strong
urges, withdrawal symptoms (restlessness,
irritability, insomnia, etc.). Will need more effort to
quit because exposed to harder material.
• Level 5: significant time / week thinking
about. View 3-5 /week. Impact other areas
of life. Begin to feel consumed and helpless.
Generally fighting for many years.
• Level 6: begins dominating person’s life.
Almost every day significant portion given
to view or think about. Feeling of being out
of control common. Often dealing with
some kind of loss. Lying to cover tracks.
• Level 7: viewing and acting out sexually now
is a dominant player in life. Lying is
common. Acting out sexual fantasies.
Lift the taboo on speaking
about pornography
• Secrets, especially related to sex and
pornography, are destructive to
relationships because they hurt the
trust and feelings of loyalty necessary
for healthy relationships to exist.
• The path to addiction is often
facilitated by fear of talking about
images encountered accidentally – and
by fear to hear of these instances.
Know the Reaction Sequence
Body Language
[break a sweat,
very tense,
increased heart rate
Behavior
Thought
Hypothesis/Belief
"It's too late."
rush
"I can stop this now."
"This is the last time ever."
"It's my weakness; what can I do?"
"A lot of people are worse."
Chemical release
"Turn it off; walk away."
Emotions
"It's not really that bad."
Reaction Sequence
Remorse
Jittery feeling
Stimulus
anticipation
"Maybe I should go online"
Excitement
"I won't look at anything bad."
challenge
"I can't resist."
Thought
"It's been a long time."
Vunerable time
[tired, bored, alone,
access to Internet]
Deactivate sequence
Body Language
[break a sweat,
very tense,
increased heart rate
Behavior
Thought
Hypothesis/Belief
"It's too late."
rush
"I can stop this now."
"It's my weakness; what can I do?"
"This is the last time ever."
"A lot of people are worse."
Chemical release
"Turn it off; walk away."
Emotions
"It's not really that bad."
Game Plan
Remorse
Jittery feeling
Stimulus
anticipation
Excitement
Do
Alternative
Activity: Go
to Store,
"Maybe I should go online"
"I won't look at anything bad."
challenge
"I can't resist."
Thought
"It's been a long time."
Preventive. Reduce
all Factors.
Vunerable time
[tired, bored, alone,
access to Internet]
Triggers
• Identify triggers – when are we most
vulnerable
• Reason through the triggers
• Confront the passion with the reasons
in time of battle
• Move to something else.
Identify what we are seeking
• What is the void we are trying to fill
with pornography?
– Time spent trying to address this void is
time well spent
– Loneliness, sense of self worth, boredom,
compensation, loss of control… need for
excitement, curiosity, anger, pain, worry,
fear…
Establish goals
• Addiction and excellence utilize the same
patterns in the brain. Thus, achieving
excellence in activities (running, art, music,
etc.) may well be one of the most beneficial
things a person can do to overcome a
pornography addiction.
• A good goal is one that can be measured
and evaluated on a regular basis. It should
also include new positive behaviors that will
replace old, negative behaviors.
Fight all 3 of the concupiscence.
• Possessions: raise the dignity of
women; chivalry; obedience esp to
mother
• Pleasure: Temperance; triggers
• Power: Get help (spiritual and
medical). Abandonment; sense of
divine filiation; appreciation for role in
Providence; humility; apostolate
Be ready for the long fight
• Requires time and effort and demands
commitment.
• Anyone who promises a quick fix is
overlooking the withdrawal symptoms.
• Generally, success comes from learning
about the addiction, preparing a game plan,
carrying out the game plan, reviewing what
is working and what is not working.
• Learning from mistakes and gaining more
information is very important.
Perseverance that nothing
can shake!
Don’t lose hope – ever.
Willie Mays: “ It isn’t hard to be
good from time to time… What’s
tough is being good every day.”
Bibliography used for this
presentation:
• Pastoral letter and bibliography from the pastoral letter of
Bishop Robert Finn, Bishop of Kansas City – St. Joseph:
“Blessed are the pure of heart”.
• Papers developed for the Witherspoon Institute conference
dealing with social costs of pornography:
http://www.winst.org/family_marriage_and_democracy/social
_costs_of_pornography/consult2008.php
• These papers are now collected and sold through Amazon
under the title: The social costs of Pornography: a Statement
of findings and recommendations. ($5 each).
• Treating Pornography Addiction; the essential tools for
recovery by Dr. Kevin Skinner.