Stop the New Drug: Your Brain on Porn

by Erin Carelse · Published December 2, 2017 · Updated December 2, 2017

Young people especially must be protected from pornography, “the new drug”, a Christian conference has found. The conference, titled “Stop the New Drug”, was hosted by the Biblical Christian Network of South Africa. It focused on the dangers of pornography, and the detrimental effect it has on society.

Two main issues arose: the addictive properties of viewing pornography, and the exploitation of people in porn, particularly children and trafficked women and minors.

Pornography and Human Trafficking

Sr Melanie O’Connor HF of the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Office at the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference has noted the link between pornography and human trafficking.

“Trafficked women and children have been forced to act out pornography,” she told The Southern Cross.

“If we care about getting rid of this terrible evil of human trafficking, then we cannot but stand against pornography as well,” she said.

“Can one get gratification out of watching a trafficked child having to perform for a viewer? That could be your child, brother, sister, or relative,” Sr O’Connor said.

She also expressed concern about the consumption of porn by young people, which now is easily accessible on Internet-enabled smartphones.

“Our moral landscape is getting eroded when parents do not have control over what children watch on their cellphones,” said Sr O’Connor.

Protecting Children from Porn

Gregory Pereira, a member of the Biblical Christian Network, agreed. “It’s important that we protect children from pornography exposure.”

He suggested a few ways in which to do so.

“At night, parents should gather their children’s cellphones to be charged, and not leave them in their rooms. Younger children can find inappropriate websites simply by mistyping a word. Installing web filters on computers will allow parents to choose which types of websites are appropriate and which types to block,” he advised.

“Another way to protect children is to restrict their usage by placing computers in an open/communal area so that parents can monitor their children’s Internet and computer activity. These are just a few of the many ways that you can protect both yourself and your children and be equipped in the fight against ‘the new drug’,” he said.

Mr Pereira compared the harmful effects of pornography on the brain to harmful drugs. “The more you view it, the more you become tolerant to it, the more your brain becomes dependant on the rush.”

Doctors for Life on Porn Effects

Dr Albertus van Eeden, CEO of Doctors for Life, said his organisation presented peer-reviewed science about the effects of pornography on the brain at the conference.

“Science has been able to clearly demonstrate that when watching porn, the body releases a cocktail of erototoxins that sufficiently overpower the frontal cortex/ thinking brain to suppress clear logic,” he said.

“These neurotransmitters include dopamine, serotonin, encephaline and so on that are molecularly similar to cocaine, LSD and morphine. When looking at pornography the body usually produces unnaturally high amounts of its own endogenic ‘cocaine’, ‘LSD’ and ‘morphine’.

“These powerful messages come from the primitive brain (limbic system) and lead to a combination of feelings of fear, surprise, anger, disgust, hostility and lust which overpower the brain’s ability to think soberly,” Dr van Eeden said.