We are at war

And the enemy is after you!

outline Part I

The Big Picture!

Part II The Science of Pornography and the Brain Part III The Social element Part IV So Now What!

 1)

Hit your emotions, preferably before you have the intellectual capacity or skills to fight back.  2) Divide and conquer; isolate and create such shame that you do not want to speaks about your individual battles.

 Expose

their fraud, give you the knowledge you need to   

Recognize it Run from it Run for support

And it does not clean off easily if at all

 “Blessed

are the pure of heart for they shall

see God”  Pornography and masturbation are linked and feed off one another.  The habit of pornography and masturbation makes it impossible to see the spiritual joys of heaven; here or later.  The sin can be forgiven. We can grow and regain our happiness, but it is not likely to be as grand an adventure as it could have been.

 Pornography

permanently affects your

brain  Pornography is addictive  Pornography gravely harms your ability to relate to others  Pornography affects those who are closest to you

 The

huge change in technology has occurred in one generation; yours.  Science has no way of knowing what this increase in pornography use will do to change the society you will try raising your children in. 

Every second there are about 28,000 internet users viewing pornography online in the USA

 Science

can say that it does negatively affect the individual physically, emotionally, and socially.

 The

brain’s job is to work from the senses to form pathways and patterns of thinking and acting. And this is why habits are so powerful.  The more we use a pathway(or part of a pathway; from memory or sense input to action), the stronger it becomes.  Adolescence is a particularly critical period for forming these pathways.

Without some clowns exploiting you through the emotions!

Normally this arrangement is OK, unless the elephant goes berserk.

 Pornography

excites the emotional center with Provocative images that are sent to the amygdala (“fight or flight” center in the emotional brain)[fear response] 

You do not “provoke” joy, happiness, love; you “provoke” anger, hostility, distrust; and hatred

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•

•

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 softened by reason. It is easier to be “out of control”.

 There

is a first impulse given to the amygdala even before reaching your rational brain  Whatever is stored in the emotional memory of your amygdala is stored more permanently and more vividly  This is how pornography enters your brain and how it leaves a more permanent emotional mark.

 The

amygdala needs to make instant decisions to get us out of any potential danger A.S.A.P., so the amygdala’s pattern matching of new sense data and memory is very crude.  This means that emotional memories can have their pathways and response sequences crossed – bringing fear, shame, and anxiety into normal situations. 

Porn rewires your brain, making panic attacks, and other anxiety related symptoms much more likely.

 Pornography

goes to work in 3/10th of a second. This is the time needed for the image to reach your emotional center where it starts to work triggering the response and storing it in memory.

• •

•

Both of these are natural processes that occur with repeated use of pornography Tolerance: With each viewing, you need more intense porn to get the same level of satisfaction Sensitization: You need less and less of the substance to crave it intensely. •

So sensitization leads to increased wanting, though not necessarily liking. There is no “pleasure” associated with craving.

 Inside

the context of marriage, the chemicals released by your body work to solidify the relationship between you and your wife and children.  It is only the abuse that brings about the negative addiction.

 Just

like muscles that become impatient for exercise, the brain “craves” exercise along the pathways established by porn.  Abuse brings real withdrawal symptoms when we try to leave it: insomnia, irritability, jitters, itchy skin, dizziness, body aches, restlessness, anxiety, mood swings… that make quitting very difficult

 Once

the level of addiction is reached, there is a protein that throws a genetic switch reducing your ability to find enjoyment.  This switch may never go back to normal. 

You may never be able to find enjoyment in a good lacrosse game, or spending time with friends as you used to be able to do.

And its effect on the spouse and family is very much the same

 If

you become involved in pornography you will spend less and less time with your wife and children  You will become more irritable with them  You will lose respect for your wife and start to look at your wife as you do porn stars  If your wife knows of your habit, she will feel inadequate and may feel she has to try to compete with the porn stars  Because of the taboo in speaking about porn, your wife will feel more and more isolated

 You

will have less trust in others  You will have less self esteem  You will form a cynical view of marriage and love  You will form the feeling that marriage is confining  You will lose interest in caring for others  You will form the need for more novel and bizarre porn to become aroused

 Women

see pornography as a total betrayal  Pornography is the antithesis of what they see in a relationship and later in marriage 

Mutual respect, honesty, shared power and romantic love are replaced by power imbalances, discrimination, disrespect, abuse, voyeurism, objectification, and detachment

So use the best of both to stay out of it – or to break out of its hold once it bites.

 God

is more powerful than the devil; victory is assured if we take the courageous path and run! Put an electric fence around you!  Build stronger relationships – especially with God. All doctors who work with this agree that this relationship is not “just like any other” relationship. We draw a lot of strength from our love for God and Mary.

 Pornography

depends on three pillars: accessibility, anonymity, affordability.  Knock out as many pillars as possible!  Both anonymity and accessibility can be killed

 It

does not take a lot of pornography to form compulsive desires to see more  Once a month is sufficient to pull you into addiction  It can work its way up to a behavior that takes over your life at the cost of family, job, friends, and even your vocation

 Talk

about it. This is the number one most helpful piece of advice: get others helping!  Know and break the reaction sequence  Know and protect against the triggers  Fill emotional needs in better ways 

(boredom, anger, frustration, loss of selfesteem, rejection, stress, isolation, need for affirmation)

 Establish

goals – excellence in activities establishes pathways that can compete

 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

 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.

We may lose some battles, but if we get up and fight again, we do not have to lose the war – God’s team will win!