By Beau Ouellette
Thoughts from an article from Dr. Lasha Darkmoon
Note: read the article on the link first. (But you’ll get it when you read below)
Critique:
If the behavior of porn addiction and habitual self gratification is a function of brain damage, then who is to fault the person from doing it? The behavior is simply due to brain mis-function; Biology over behavior.
There had to be a time when the brain was not damaged as the person starting viewing porn. Yet lust reigned. Lust is the problem, not the brain damage. Or the brain damage is a result of lust not the other way around.
It seems that frontal lobe damage, caused by long-term porn addiction and the compulsive masturbation that accompanies it, will give rise to a constellation of behaviors called “frontal lobe syndrome”. These include four main behavior patterns: (1) Impulsive behavior with little regard to consequences. (2) Compulsive behavior, often leading to total loss of control. (3) Emotionally labile behavior, i.e., sudden and unpredictable mood swings. (4) Impaired judgment, leading to disastrous decision making.
How about addiction to TV or gaming and what that does to the brain. How about people’s arousal over books? So is book arousal ok for the brain?
To me the issue of the brain has little to do to shed light on breaking free from bondage to lust or even helping those understand what is happening in their lives. All of our brains have to be pretty messed up. We lust bad food, which affects the brain and body, we lust money which effects our moods and stress levels, we lust sex which from this article above is telling us how it affects the brain. Some people chose to lust sports, cars, houses, power, reputation, which must also effect the brain according to this view point. Obviously some distortions of the brain we deem ok and others not so.
When does brain function constitute bad behavior? We can have a rush of dopamine when we work out, so is that ok. When does this get deemed as bad? Or how about when I have sex with my wife? When is too much sexual stimulus with her bad for the brain? At what point does too much dopimine become harmful. Should we all be regulated daily to see what is too much or too little?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine
It seems the focus is on the consequences and not on the culprit.
The process of masturbatory conditioning is inexorable and does not spontaneously remiss. The course of this illness may be slow and is nearly always hidden from view. It is usually a secret part of the man’s life, and like a cancer, it keeps growing and spreading. It rarely ever reverses itself, and it is also very difficult to treat and heal. (See here)
It is sad to read this.
First of all this article always talks about men. Women self gratify all the time. Sex toys are bought regularly by women all over the world. China exports and sells 24 billion in adult material a year (Some of that sex toys)! China also is a country that bans pornography. (This shows that they are exporting other things than porn vids.) Are women’s brains damaged too? How have so many million women’s brains been changed through self gratification? Maybe we all have damaged brains? Yes I’m being a bit sarcastic here.
If all men and women enjoy self gratification, (with or without another body present) and in turn our brains are jacked because of it, then it would reason both genders need healing. From what though?
If lust is the cause, then how do you fix someone of lusting?
If you try and fix the brain damage through drug therapy, then you only cover the symptom. Nothing will change.
Lust is a product of the fall of man. Sin’s desire is for us, to rule over us!
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:7
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
From Jesus perspective, we are all brain damaged! Sin, (lust is a work of sin) is the cancer that has spread in us! The body is a fallen body, one that is damaged through the result of sin. There are many area’s of the body’s biological functions that are a mis due to sins work in it. We hate, kill, steal, envy, are jealous, cheat and all these actions run through the brain. Do we take pills for hating? Killing? Stealing? Being envious of others? Etc…
Back to the article – One of my patients was so deeply addicted that he could not stay away from pornography for 90 days, even for $1,000. It is difficult for non-addicts to comprehend the totally driven nature of a sex addict. When the “wave” hits them, nothing can stand in the way of getting what they want—whether that be pornography accompanied by masturbation, sex from a prostitute, molesting a child, or raping a woman.
An example might help illustrate this problem. Ralph was a sexual addict, married 12 years with three children. He was active in his church and held sincere, high moral principles. He believed in the Ten Commandments and opposed adultery. Yet his particular cycle involved pornography use, followed by paid sex with prostitutes. After each incident, he begged God for forgiveness and swore that it would never happen again. But it did, again and again.
Since the trigger of each adulterous act was pornography-use, we decided to try to free him from his dependence on this material. I asked him to write me a check for $1,000, indicating that I would return it if he went 90 days without using pornography. Ralph loved to hang on to his money and was quite attracted to our strategy. “There’s no way I’d look at dirty videos or magazines if I knew it would cost me a thousand dollars!” he said.
He managed to resist temptation remarkably well for a while. But on the 87th day, he drove past an “adult” bookstore in an unfamiliar city while on a business trip. He slammed on the brakes, entered the store, and went virtually berserk for 90 minutes. When I saw him the following week, he tearfully confessed that he had lost his $1,000. Since he had gone 87 days “sober,” I decided to give him another chance.
So we started another 90-day “sobriety” cycle. We both felt that if he could go 87 days, he could certainly make 90 if we tried again, especially if it meant recovering his $1,000.
This time he went only 14 days before he relapsed. He lost his money, which was given to a charity. He was extremely committed to quit in order to save his marriage and to live in harmony with his religious principles. But that was not the case. In my opinion, even if he had given me $10,000, he still would have relapsed. When the wave hits them, these men are consumed by their appetite, regardless of the costs or consequences. Their addiction virtually rules their lives. (Seehere)
Pornography can be a source for lust to grow, but it is not the culprit either.
Books like the Song of Solomon were on the chopping block at times in history for being to erotic. But the real issue was not the Song of Solomon, it was the lust which was in the person who read it. If lust is not dealt with then lust will find a way, it always does. You can remove all the pornography in the world, yet people will still self – gratify by themselves, or with another body or an animal. So people in history are brain damaged as well, as these practices have been around since the fall. Something needs to happen to change the human heart from a continual lustful behavior.
If the Son set’s you free you are free indeed.” John 8:36
The real way to help people overcome brain damage is not through the body, but through the Spirit! Jesus taught this in John 3 where he said, unless you be born again you cannot see the Kingdom of God. The change that Jesus pointed to was to become spiritually made new and alive!
The Spirit of God is the only way to overcome a fallen body. Romans 7 and 8 so greatly speak on this doctrine.
God is all powerful and His Spirit is able to change behavior of a body that biologically is failing. But most importantly God’s Spirit is able to conquer the culprit; Lust.
Conclusion:
Too much focus is on the effects of the brain (Mark Dricol’s book plus many more)
There is a focus on sexual issues with the brain of men, and not women (not consistent science or social science)
These behaviors that have caused the supposed damage to the brain have been around forever. So we can’t blame the modern pornography industry, though we do it so well!
Understanding my brain will not get me free from the real problem.
The real issue is that I am a fallen, sinful human being.
We need to be made new to have any change to conquer the culprit
Altering lust from sex to power, reputation, beauty, gaming, or TV, radio & readinga will still mean the rule of lust. There is only one true solution. A power to overcome the culprit which is lust.
I ain’t no Bonobo
