PORN. THE TRUTH

By Kaelanne Jordan
Email: mediarelations.camsel@catholictt.org

“Its convenient nowadays, I wish I could stop. I really do, but porn is the worst drug. I quit smoking, drinking, taking pills, smoking weed. But I can’t stop watching porn, I wish I could quit.”

This was a personal account from a young man, aged 18, which was shared with parents during a Zoom session hosted by Fight the New Drug’s (FTND) Jerome Alexander and the Emmanuel Community Friday, November 5 on ‘Pornography: The Good, The Bad and The Truth’.

FTND is part of a non-profit, non-religious and non-legislative organisation based in the US that exists to provide individuals with the opportunity of making an informed decision regarding the topic of pornography using science, facts, and personal accounts.

According to Alexander, regardless of a person’s age, gender, sexual orientation, religious/political affiliation, or any other diversifying factor, pornography can impact anyone.

Hence, “to be forewarned is to be forearmed…. The best filter is an open and honest relationship with your children,” he told parents.

He stressed that FTND has no intention of lobbying to ban pornography, “because we want people to make an informed decision as to whether or not they want this to be part of their lives or if this is something they want to steer clear of.”

The reason persons consume porn is because there is a deep emotional need that’s not been met. “There’s an emotional trauma that happened in childhood that causes the human brain to seek comfort, and pornography creates that comfort that whenever and whatever you want is available at the touch of a button. You can immerse yourself in a world that pornography can satisfy that, that’s why everyone gravitate to it,” Alexander explained.

T&T obsessed with porn

Since 2014, T&T has ranked first for the highest number of Internet searches for pornography per capita, according to statistics from Google Trends.

Fast forward to the present, T&T has topped the search for ‘free porn’ over the past year according to a May 31, 2021, LoopTT article which cited data from Google Trends.

“I’m not happy to report that in the last decade, we have never left the top five per capita in the world for the most consumption of porn. We have actually seen a spike since last year 2020 with the whole stay at home order…needless to say, the consumption of pornography has skyrocketed,” Alexander told parents.

Alexander referred to Dr Al Cooper, psychologist at Stanford University, who said that online pornography is “the crack cocaine of sexual addiction.”

He famously created the ‘three A’s’ of Internet pornography citing these points as the main reasons behind the insidious addictive nature that pornography possesses. It’s accessible, affordable, and anonymous.

“That is a diabolical combination for a

type of drug such as pornography,” Alexander asserted. He added, “with regard to other drugs we are familiar with…even alcohol or gambling, you can see the person with physical effects…but with pornography, it is almost invisible to the average person of someone who is struggling or has an addictive nature to pornography, which makes it not only the most deadly, but the most undetectable drug we are facing with today.”

What parents need to know

Alexander identified he has noticed different understandings of pornography for parents and children during his five years of sharing on pornography. Parents associate pornography to Playboy, Penthouse magazine, etc, print publications that are no longer in existence. However, for the average teenager, pornography encompasses bondage, group sex and “some of the things that may scare you,” he said.

He guided parents to adapt the 4 Cs when engaging children on the issue of pornography:

Consumption

You want to get an idea of—How often they may have seen pornography?

Content

Here you want to get an idea of what they have seen (most uncomfortable area). This will reveal if they saw aggressive content or problematic themes like incest, bestiality or racially charged themes of group sex that will have a deeper impact on them.

Context

How were they first exposed? Did an adult show them pornography? Are they experiencing a lot of peer pressure?

Consequence

What are their concerns? What’s happening with them emotionally based on what they may have seen? Were they traumatised by what they saw?

Harmful effects of pornography

Pornography harms in three ways: brain, heart, and world.

When an individual views just five seconds of pornography, it triggers a release of chemicals in the brain. These chemicals, Alexander explained, are naturally produced by our body, and is released in a high amount, putting the individual in a euphoric state.

“What happens, after a while of looking at that image, the brain gets accustomed to that amount of chemical release. Pretty soon, what a person would have seen three weeks ago no longer gives them the rush they would have had the first time. So, in order to get that same rush, they now need to look at pornography more often for a longer period of time, which leads to a different version of what they first saw just to get the same high. Pretty soon they are spending hours, days, weeks, and they can’t live without looking at pornography and that’s the start of addiction.”

Alexander emphasised a trend of violent pornography consumption. He cited genres of pornography that have exponentially increased over the years: child porn, violent porn, hentai (anime) and gore.

Responding to a question from one parent on the rehabilitation period to full recovery for porn addicts, Alexander responded with data from neurosurgeon Dr Donald Hilton, that it usually takes between two months and two years for a person “to go back to some level of normalcy.”

He continued, “Personally it all depends on the individual. It may take one person nine months; it may take another person nine days. It’s sort of dependent on the individual per say,” Alexander said.

A list of resources

• Fightthenewdrug.org
• Thetruthaboutporn.org
• Freed4life.me
• Fightthenewdrug.org/blueprint (most recommended)