Very frequent internet porn use has familiar risks for many of today’s users. These include escalation to more extreme material, poorer sexual and relationship satisfaction and addiction. It may also include the gradual loss of attraction to real partners (as well as anorgasmia and unreliable erections). Less well known is the fact that intermittent use poses a substantial risk of addiction. For example, 2 hours of porn bingeing followed by a few weeks of abstinence before another porn session. The reasons are biological, and there is an entire body of addiction research on intermittent use in animals and humans elucidating the brain events responsible.
For example, both drug and junk food studies reveal that intermittent use can lead more quickly to addiction-related brain changes (whether or not the user slips into full blown addiction). The primary change is sensitization which blasts the brain’s reward center with signals that produce hard to ignore cravings. With sensitization, brain circuits involved in motivation and reward seeking become hyper-sensitive to memories or cues related to the addictive behavior. This deep pavlovian conditioning results in increased “wanting” or craving. Cues, such as turning on the computer, seeing a pop-up, or being alone, trigger intense cravings for porn. (Studies reporting sensitization or cue-reactivity in porn users: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.)
Brain changes
Even more remarkable is that periods of abstinence (2-4 weeks) lead to neuroplastic changes that don’t occur in a user that doesn’t take such long breaks. These alterations in the brain increase cravings to use in response to triggers. Furthermore, the stress system changes such that even minor stress can cause cause cravings to use.
Intermittent consumption (especially in the form of a binge) can also produce severe withdrawal symptoms, such as lethargy, depression and cravings. In other words, when someone uses after an interim of abstinence, and binges, it can hit the user harder – perhaps because of the heightened intensity of the experience.
Based on this research, scientists have concluded that everyday consumption of say cocaine, alcohol, cigarettes, or junk food is not necessary to generate addiction-related brain changes. Intermittent bingeing can do the same thing as continuous use, and in some cases do more.
Is religion a factor?
As between religious and nonreligious porn users, which group is likely to include more intermittent users? Given research showing that religious porn users prefer not to be using porn, there are probably more religious than secular users stuck in a binge-abstinence cycle. That is, religious users would tend to be “intermittent users.” Research bears this out, according to a new study on women porn users. The researchers said:
In the available literature, we can find evidence that rigid social norms in some cases may contribute to problematic PU [porn use], because they promote periods of abstaining from pornography, followed by a period of disinhibition and excessive PU (Carnes, 1983; Kraus, Martino, et al., 2016; Wordecha, Wilk, Kowalewska, Skorko, & Gola, 2017).
Secular users generally report that they seldom take breaks of more than a few days. Unless they become intermittent users because they are trying to quit porn use. In that case, they too likely experience increases in compulsion if they binge between lengthy periods of non-use. Given the abundant research cited earlier, this possibility deserves in depth investigation. Inordinate attention is being devoted to religious users due to psychologists assuming that “shame” is the sole cause of the phenomenon if intermittent use+bingeing leading to increased compulsion. The assumption that religiosity is what causes people to perceive themselves as addicts is not supported by recent research.
Avoid bingeing
But back to the main point. Occasional porn-free masturbation (without bingeing) is less of an addiction risk than the abstinence-binge pattern described above. Take care not to rationalize falling into the intermittent-binge pattern, as it can make your porn use more compulsive. If you feel urges, try some of these ideas:
What about fantasizing during a reboot?
- Urinate, which can reduce the urges.
- While you release your breath slowly contract your butt/hamstrings as hard as you can so that you feel like you’re lifting up and keep it like that until you can’t anymore and release it slowly.
- Hold your breath for 30 seconds.
UPDATE
Excerpts suggesting bingeing and tolerance are key factors in problematic porn use:
Specifically, the longest pornography viewing session that one had engaged in can be potentially related to binge behavior, positively predicted treatment seeking, severity of experienced symptoms, and feelings of loss of control over sexual behavior in the whole group of study participants. The same was largely true for the clinical and non-clinical groups when considered separately.
…..This may indicate that engagement in heavy episodic behavior may be a better indicator of behavioral dysregulation than high-frequency behavior, which may be more closely connected to a person’s base sexual desire level, sexual attitudes, and preferences.
…Variability of pornographic content consumed (operationalized in the present study as consumption of pornography scenes counter to one’s sexual orientation – scenes containing homosexual sex, containing violence, group sex scenes, scenes of sex with minors) significantly predicted the decision to seek treatment and the severity of symptoms among the study participants.…. Although the described result by itself does not directly imply increased tolerance or desensitization, as the propensity to consume pornographic material with specific characteristics may reflect a more basic, initial preference, it does seem to be at least potentially consistent with addictive models of problematic pornography use
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