Study: Pornography Warps Perception of Reality; Causes Depression, Anxiety, Stress

Pornography use warps one’s perception of reality, how individuals view loved ones, and brings about significantly higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, according to a new study.

The study, published in Frontiers of Psychology, also offers a potential roadmap out of pornography addiction that includes faith and morals.

The survey was taken among 1,031 students over the age of 18 at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, of which the sample size was 34 percent male and 66 percent female.

Of those surveyed, 56.6 percent reported “lifetime pornography use,” and a “significantly higher proportion of males than females reporting such use.”

Seventeen percent of those students reported “severe” or “extremely severe” levels of depression, while 20.4 percent reported similar levels of anxiety, and 13.5 percent reported similar levels of stress. The study, which looks at “compulsive pornography use” found that such use significantly affects the three mental health parameters in both males and females.

The results of the study revealed a relationship between pornography use and negative mental health outcomes and found that such outcomes were progressively worse relative to how recently pornography was used, according to psychologist and author Stephen Sammut.

Mental health contributors like perception of self-worth and perception of others can be affected with pornography use. For example, pornography leads to higher levels of objectification of others and the view that others are merely there for pleasure, thus contributing to extremes in treatment or mistreatment.

“The degradation of self-worth through pornography consumption damages your self-esteem and sex drive, leading to a host of insecurities,” Mark Travers, Ph.D., writes from an interview with Sammut.

Those two perceptions can also affect social interaction and societal integrity, as well as the perception of living and reality. Indeed, humans can become more comfortable dealing with a virtual reality as opposed to reality as it actually exists. One, therefore, knows less about how to deal with real-life situations leading to a negative impact on one’s personal relationships while contributing to societal breakdown.

“The most disturbing issues are the lingering trauma to the mind and the negative modifications to the wiring (neurological) and behavior that are long-lasting – well beyond the time of exposure,” Travers writes.

Indeed, pornography affects the areas of the brain that produce pleasure and emotion — the lower brain — which humans are guided by oftentimes more than the areas of the brain that are responsible for logic and rational thinking — the upper brain.

“We know from the study of psychopathology over many years that a dysfunctional regulation of the lower brain by the upper brain is reflected in pathological behaviors,” Sammut said.

Despite some denying pornography’s addictive aspects, Sammut says that the same part of the brain that receives sexual stimulation also receives drugs.

“Sexual pleasure is not exactly an insignificant stimulus for the brain and the context in which it takes place, most specifically when the sole goal of importance is instant gratification, does nothing to help in the development of upper brain regulation and does much to strengthen the lower brain and thus the capacity for a behavior to result in addiction-like behavior,” Travers writes from the interview.

“If the dominating drive is to please ourselves (hedonistic), this drive is no different from that observed in drug abuse, where the drug user becomes preoccupied with seeking the stimulus at the cost of living a normal life and completing their daily duties appropriately,” Travers continues.

However, “faith, morals and personal motivation were the primary variables reported to help reduce pornography use,” according to the study.

“We know that faith and morals provide people with certain standards of behavior that enhance their growth and development, in addition to providing them with standards of how they should view and treat people,” Sammut explained — something he told Travers is “fully supported by scientific literature.”

Indeed, faith and morals have the ability to help prioritize the logical and rational parts of the brain, thereby regulating the pleasure and emotion portions. Further, one’s motivation to quit pornography use contributes to the upper brain function in that it is a regulation of one’s behavior.

Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.