A teen [or child] who views porn and makes internal assumptions about the purposes, motivations, bodily requirements, etiquette [and so forth] of sexual acts without the guidance, education, and wise filtering explanations of an adult [making the gross assumption that the adult has a mature understanding of sexual intimacy] could be in danger of becoming a perpetrator and/or victim of some of the most heinous sexual acts without even recognizing them as wrong or out of place.
There are countless articles about porn addiction’s effects on the brain and perceptual shifts from seeing people as living breathing thinking opinionated beings into objects for our sexual gratification and explorative fantasy. What porn addiction actually does to the brain is in line with what drugs and alcohol do to the brain. The dopamine released when viewing manufactured and synthetic pleasure [porn] overwhelms the neurocircuitry of the brain to the point of exhaustion. Processes of addiction’s roots are explained by Dr. Robert Navarra, a Master Addiction Counselor and Gottman-certified therapist based in San Carlos, California:
The consequences [a.k.a. LOSSES] of porn/sex addiction that I could think of are laid out below and are informed by clinical experience and insight. The italicized portions are examples of the changes in belief and value structures that develop as a teen views pornography.
LOSS OF: Identity
LOSS OF: Self-confidence
LOSS OF: Self-esteem / Self-worth
LOSS OF: Feelings of belonging and ability to establish and maintain healthy relationships
[you can only imagine how this might influence a person’s ability to healthily interact with people in real time situations…dating would be difficult, getting to know a person is not a pre-requisite to having sex with them, engaging in small talk might be arduous or pointless, or an unnecessary formality etc. Not to mention the habitual training of unhealthy boundaries this may promote — seeing another naked before getting to know them; Porn culture strengthens rape culture because of this objectification of sexuality.]
LOSS OF: Resiliency in handling rejection
The brain circuits of the porn addict can be reset. As the previously cited article mentioned, the brain circuitry can be “rebooted” through abstinence and re-engagement of other parts of who we are. After a sufficient reset has occurred, healthy re-engagement of sexuality is practiced; the brain reconnects to more healthy and natural pathways of pleasure response. Pleasure returns as a response to the “natural” stimuli of human relationships instead of the synthetic digital ones. A person eventually responds in attractions with another person as they get to know each other.
Another, more hopeful way, of interpreting this article is by swapping word “LOSS” with “GAINS”. For this is what people stand to gain when recovering from viewing porn.
The paramount function of healing from any addiction is the rediscovery of a psychological and spiritual need: establishing and maintaining meaningful relationships. Establishing and maintaining the most powerful unit of society…”us”.