Category Pornography

Five years ago, I learned my son was struggling with pornography. I was shocked and devastated. Feeling guilty and hopeless, I struggled to sleep and cried endlessly. I couldn’t understand how this had happened.

He grew up in a Christian home with Christian principles. We talked openly about sex and the advantages of waiting until he was married before engaging in sexual behavior.

What we didn’t talk about was pornography and its dangers. We didn’t talk about it because I didn’t understand its widespread availability and use.

I also underestimated my child’s curiosity.

Pornography and explicit imagery have become a custom of modern culture and, tragically, our kids are being targeted. What is now being called a public health crisis, the porn industry is fighting for the minds and hearts of the next generation.

Dr. Gola is meeting with Kristen Jenson to tell us more about addiction and the brain science behind it–especially when it comes to pornography. One of the features which is common across different addictions, both related to substances and to behaviors–like gambling, gaming or in this case we are talking about problematic pornography use–is there’s a huge disproportion between the effort you need to put in to receive the reward. The reward is much higher than the effort you are putting in.

Turning to porn as a source of sex education is increasingly encouraged by mainstream culture. With porn consumption on the rise, especially among young kids and teens, it’s important to remember that there are some pretty huge differences between what is portrayed in porn and real-life sex.