Written by Bernell Christensen on July 23, 2009 in Brain Science of Addiction - 2 Comments

I recently read an article on CNBC titled, “Porn at Work: Recognizing a Sex Addict.” In the article, there is some very helpful information about recognizing the signs of sexual addiction. If you are wondering if you, or someone you care about has a sexual addiction, the article tells you what to look for.

While assessment and recognition of sexual/porn addiction is very important, one of the things that really stood out for me in the article were the following statistics:

Of 61 million unique U.S. visitors logged into pornographic web sites in March of 2006, every fifth visitor was from an office work station. – Comscore Media Matrix internet tracking firm, SavannahNow.com article “Pornography in the workplace” 4/23/2006

70% of all online porn access occurs during the 9-5 workday. – Message Labs monthly report March 2004

Those unfamiliar with the “brain science” of porn use, wonder why tens of millions of people waste time, energy, focus and resources looking at Internet porn while on the job. Why don’t they just wait until they get home to engage in this pursuit? If porn use were just like any other harmless pastime, recreational outlet or hobby, then putting it off until after work hours would be no big deal. But pornography is more than just a fun outlet. The workplace can be a very pressurized, stressful, anxiety-producing environment. It can also be boring and even depressing. All of these are potential triggers that motivate individuals to seek different forms of pleasure, escape and self-medication. With the push of a mouse button, they can view porn and instantly release massive amounts of powerful neuro-chemicals in the brain—the same type of chemicals triggered by street-drug use. It’s not hard to understand why there are tens of millions in the workplace self-medicating with Internet pornography.

But perhaps most mind-boggling of all, is the fact that growing numbers of employees continue viewing porn at the risk of losing their job. After being warned, many continue the practice and are eventually fired. Again, those unfamiliar with porn’s effect on the brain scream out, “What in the world is wrong with these people! They know if they keep looking at porn at work they’ll be fired, but they do it anyway. How could they be so stupid!”

After practicing as a therapist for more than 30 years, I have countless stories from clients who have done some really stupid things under the influence of pornography. These include: wasting hours glued to the computer; stealing employer dollars by viewing porn instead of working; engaging in edgy, risqué, risky, perverted or even illegal behaviors—on the computer or in real life; sacrificing career, relationships, sleep, health, opportunities, goals—and the list goes on and on. The one common denominator among all of these individuals is their description of what happens when they are focused on porn. I hear things like, “I just lose all will power. It’s like I become another person—like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I don’t care about anything else but looking at the images—not my goals, relationships, values, the risks or anything! It just all goes out the window!”

In the CNBC article, author Michael Leahy describes a conversation he had with a friend in business:

A few years ago, I ran into an old friend I used to work with at a software company in Atlanta. After exchanging pleasantries, he started telling me a story about an employee of theirs who recently got fired after being caught and reprimanded twice in less than a month for using porn at work.

“I just don’t understand it,” he continued. “I mean the guy gets caught by someone who sees him looking at porn in his office. So the IT department checks his computer and discovers he got a bunch of porn loaded on his hard drive. He basically almost loses his job over it.”

Then my friend got a confused look on his face. “But here’s what I really don’t get. Less than a month later, they catch the guy looking at porn again. But this time, he’s used another employee’s computer and logged on with their user name and password. Of course they found out it was him and fired him for it on the spot. What an idiot! I mean he had to know that he’d get caught. Right? How stupid can you be!?!”

So what in the world is it about Internet porn that causes people to act so illogical and become so narrowly focused that they toss aside everything they really care about? First of all, virtually all of the clients I have worked with over the years had no idea of the power of porn or what they were getting themselves into until it was too late. They were told by the media and friends that porn is just fun—a natural, normal, harmless recreational outlet. What they failed to understand, is that with porn, there are two incredibly powerful forces at work in the human brain and body.

First, each of us have built-in to our very DNA coding, the most basic, yet incredibly powerful instinct—the urge to propagate our species—to procreate. This programming is part of all animal life. Without it we would become extinct. When porn is viewed, this powerful urge is activated. In fact, research shows that many of the same neuro-chemicals, biological and emotional processes activated during physical sex, are also triggered by porn viewing—in other words, the brain behaves like it’s having a real sexual encounter. Talk about powerful! Porn viewing switches on one of the most basic human survival mechanisms—the urge to continue one’s own species. Along with that comes the attraction, bonding, euphoria, intense focus, etc., that was intended by nature to push us to the mating process.

Second, porn viewing releases many of the same chemicals triggered by street drug use. Over time, these chemicals change the brain in significant ways. Basically, the frontal lobes shrink and become increasingly handicapped. This is the part of the brain that controls reasoning, logic, values, goals, self-discipline, self-restraint and willpower. At the same time, the Limbic System of the brain is hyper-activated and becomes dominant. This part of brain has one narrow focus—the intense pursuit of instant pleasure and reward at the cost of everything else. It’s like Gone With the Wind, when Rhett Butler coldly declares to Scarlett O’Hara, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!” Bent on getting the pleasure rush of porn or any other drug of choice, this is what the Limbic System says to the Frontal Lobes—“I don’t care if you lose your job, your marriage, your future or anything else! I want what I want and I want it NOW!”

Under the influence of powerful neuro-chemicals, porn viewing plunges the individual into a very “narrow funnel” where all logic, reason, consequences, etc., are blocked out. The Limbic System is fixated on one narrow goal, and one only—maximum pleasure leading to the final rush of climax. Once Climax occurs, the individual emerges from the narrow part of the funnel back into the wide reality of life. The neuro-chemicals dissipate and the frontal lobes come back into the picture. It’s at this point that the porn user cries out, “What in the world was I thinking?!” The reality is, he wasn’t—or in fact, he couldn’t. With his Limbic System in the driver’s seat, he becomes “Mr. Hyde”—another side of himself that later seems completely foreign and inconceivable. That “other personality” who makes choices leading to the loss of time, energy, opportunities, his career, his marriage, his future.

The good news is—it doesn’t have to stay that way! I can tell you from decades of experience that you can get your life back! You don’t have to remain a slave or victim to your “addict self.” Your brain can change and heal. You can get your life back and put your “true self” back in the driver’s seat. This is why we created the Candeo program. It works and it’s waiting for you to make the decision to get started.

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Candeo is Devoted to Helping Pornography Addicts Start Down the Path of Healing

Candeo is an online organization whose mission is to educate and train individuals about the realistic, scientifically proven nature of Pornography Addiction.

It is estimated that in the U.S. alone, there are more than 60 million individuals, including men, women and children, caught up in Internet Pornography Addiction at some level. Pornography use is having a dramatic impact on their individual lives, families and society as a whole.

Candeo’s groundbreaking training system is an online Pornography Addiction Psycho-Education & Training System. This website contains many resources to help you learn more about this exciting new approach to helping those who are Addicted to Pornography.

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