BYU NewsNet - Therapists explain the origin of pornography dependence in the brain

Addiction is a brain disease, said two Logan therapists during a March 5 lecture where they discussed the neurological origins of addiction.

It’s an obsession, dependence or a compulsion to something such as pornography, drugs, overeating or alcohol.

Addiction changes brain structures critical to decision-making, learning and memory and behavior control, which may help to explain the compulsive and destructive behaviors of addiction.

More than 23 million people struggle with addiction, yet fewer than 10 percent are getting treatment, according to HBO’s Addiction Project.

In honor of Social Work Month, the two therapists, Dr. Matthew Hedelius and Dr. A. Todd Freestone, who operate a clinic for addicts in Logan, gave their neuroscience and sexual addiction presentation to help educate students on the causes of addiction. The room was overflowing with students and faculty in attendance.

Hedelius and Freestone spoke about addictions, such as multiple affairs, cyber sex and pornography. In fact, Utah is No. 1 for online pornography consumption, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Hedelius and Freestone said a deeper mechanism is needed to overcome addiction than most people think.

Hedelius defined two important parts of the brain that play a part in the addiction process: the cerebral cortex and the limbic system. The cortex processes consequences and knows trouble will result by downloading porn. The limbic system is the emotional part of the brain that builds an appetite for addictive behavior.

To explain the functions of the parts, during the presentation, Freestone yelled “bang!”

“Now, you are no longer using your cerebral cortex to interpret the presentation because your limbic system senses danger by the sound of bang,” he said.

But for addicts, the cerebral cortex becomes desensitized to the negative effects of their behavior. Addiction activates the limbic system to assume executive control over behavior in an almost trance-like state.

The cortex that would stop this behavior is prevented from getting the message before the limbic system does.

“I was interested to learn that the limbic system takes control before the cortex can say, ‘wait, shut the porn off because of the negative consequences,’” said Cheryl Stapley, a senior from California majoring in exercise science.

The definition of addiction is when one or more attempts are made to stop a behavior but fail.

The nature behind addiction is what keeps porn addicts going back to subjective Web sites; they think that a click to view the next page will be different than pictures of porn seen before.

“Novelty keeps them going back,” Hedelius said.

The reality is that there is no variance when it comes to porn, he said. Meaning the brain is tricked to think a more novel release pleasure chemical, dopamine, will result even though it won’t.

Sexual compulsions or addiction is a means of mood altering — a check out of reality. Addiction often occurs because it is a more desirable state than stress or fighting.

Freestone said addiction is largely triggered by childhood trauma.

Freestone said he often asks himself “Why can’t they stop?”

His answer to the daunting question is that if they had been able to stop, they would have.

But he said it is difficult for addicts to stop because the addiction is ingrained in the brain.

“As more discoveries are made about the brain, neuroscience will be an important field to study,” Freestone said.

“The cost of addictive behavior is enormous spiritually, psychologically, physically and financially,” Freestone said.

Hedelius also said depression is common with addictions. The chemical key for any individual to feel good enough in the morning, serotonin, is lacking in some people.

He said it takes three to five years for an addict to psychologically feel good after therapy.

Addiction therapy focuses on connecting the cortex to the limbic system in order to realize the need to stop addictive behavior.

He said corrective action includes writing and rehearsing a script of what will be done and biofeedback.

Biofeedback is a form of alternative medicine that involves measuring someone’s bodily functions such as blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature, sweat gland activity and muscle tension to become aware of how something is affecting them and help them try to control it.