n prison, making escape more difficult. This is how addiction works, and why it's so difficult to get to recovery.

What Does Addiction Have To Do With Porn? So, what does addiction have to do with pornography...after all, pictures aren't drugs. Actually, pornography produces more powerful drugs than anything you can get from the doctor or the street vendor. When we bec

What do pictures have to do with addiction? I just admire this art form...why should I worry about becoming addicted? How do I know if I'm becoming addicted? These are a few of the questions we answer in the second of our three articles on pornography addiction.

What Is Addiction? To understand porn addiction, we need to understand addiction in general. Addiction can be defined as an ever-increasing dependence on a substance. To illustrate addiction, draw a large triangle on a piece of paper. Label the top point "Belief (self-Image)", the bottom Right point "Action" and the bottom Left, "Results (emotions)" Now, add arrowheads on the triangle lines pointing from Belief to Action, Action to Results, and Results to Belief. We'll call this the BAR Cycle. Addiction starts with a Belief, that we're somehow missing out on something and that some substance ( let's say... a drug) might fill that void. This belief triggers the Action of experimenting with the drug, which leads to positive and negative results. Positive-the void was temporarily relieved. Negative-withdrawal, hangover, guilt and fear. Both the positive and negative Results work to strengthen your Belief that you have a void and the Action of taking the drug can fill it, but this time it takes more of the drug to do so.

This BAR Cycle is a simple way to understand how addiction works. Every time we go through the cycle, our self-image is lowered, requiring more of the drug to temporarily relieve the void we feel. Imagine that every time you go through this cycle, you're adding a BAR to your addiction prison, making escape more difficult. This is how addiction works, and why it's so difficult to get to recovery.

What Does Addiction Have To Do With Porn? So, what does addiction have to do with pornography...after all, pictures aren't drugs. Actually, pornography produces more powerful drugs than anything you can get from the doctor or the street vendor. When we beco

ed as an ever-increasing dependence on a substance. To illustrate addiction, draw a large triangle on a piece of paper. Label the top point "Belief (self-Image)", the bottom Right point "Action" and the bottom Left, "Results (emotions)" Now, add arrowheads on the triangle lines pointing from Belief to Action, Action to Results, and Results to Belief. We'll call this the BAR Cycle. Addiction starts with a Belief, that we're somehow missing out on something and that some substance ( let's say... a drug) might fill that void. This belief triggers the Action of experimenting with the drug, which leads to positive and negative results. Positive-the void was temporarily relieved. Negative-withdrawal, hangover, guilt and fear. Both the positive and negative Results work to strengthen your Belief that you have a void and the Action of taking the drug can fill it, but this time it takes more of the drug to do so.

This BAR Cycle is a simple way to understand how addiction works. Every time we go through the cycle, our self-image is lowered, requiring more of the drug to temporarily relieve the void we feel. Imagine that every time you go through this cycle, you're adding a BAR to your addiction prison, making escape more difficult. This is how addiction works, and why it's so difficult to get to recovery.

What Does Addiction Have To Do With Porn? So, what does addiction have to do with pornography...after all, pictures aren't drugs. Actually, pornography produces more powerful drugs than anything you can get from the doctor or the street vendor. When we bec

with a Belief, that we're somehow missing out on something and that some substance ( let's say... a drug) might fill that void. This belief triggers the Action of experimenting with the drug, which leads to positive and negative results. Positive-the void was temporarily relieved. Negative-withdrawal, hangover, guilt and fear. Both the positive and negative Results work to strengthen your Belief that you have a void and the Action of taking the drug can fill it, but this time it takes more of the drug to do so.

This BAR Cycle is a simple way to understand how addiction works. Every time we go through the cycle, our self-image is lowered, requiring more of the drug to temporarily relieve the void we feel. Imagine that every time you go through this cycle, you're adding a BAR to your addiction prison, making escape more difficult. This is how addiction works, and why it's so difficult to get to recovery.

What Does Addiction Have To Do With Porn? So, what does addiction have to do with pornography...after all, pictures aren't drugs. Actually, pornography produces more powerful drugs than anything you can get from the doctor or the street vendor. When we bec

you have a void and the Action of taking the drug can fill it, but this time it takes more of the drug to do so.

This BAR Cycle is a simple way to understand how addiction works. Every time we go through the cycle, our self-image is lowered, requiring more of the drug to temporarily relieve the void we feel. Imagine that every time you go through this cycle, you're adding a BAR to your addiction prison, making escape more difficult. This is how addiction works, and why it's so difficult to get to recovery.

What Does Addiction Have To Do With Porn? So, what does addiction have to do with pornography...after all, pictures aren't drugs. Actually, pornography produces more powerful drugs than anything you can get from the doctor or the street vendor. When we bec

n prison, making escape more difficult. This is how addiction works, and why it's so difficult to get to recovery.

What Does Addiction Have To Do With Porn? So, what does addiction have to do with pornography...after all, pictures aren't drugs. Actually, pornography produces more powerful drugs than anything you can get from the doctor or the street vendor. When we become sexually aroused, our bodies begin producing the most powerful drugs ever known. Endorphins work like heroine, soothing and relaxing us. Adrenalin works like crack, preparing us to fend off competition for the attentions of our mate. As these drugs build in your system Phenylethylalanine (PEA) is added to produce the rewarding feelings you get at and after climax.

Looking at sexually explicit pictures triggers this normal sex-drive and redirects away from normal sexual relations. This actually increases the guilt in the BAR Cycle and adds another Resulting emotion...shame, due to the social stigma surrounding unusual sexual behavior. So, you can see, viewing sexually explicit pictures has everything to do with drugs and is at least as addictive as a needle full of heroine. If you read our first article in the series, "Pornography Addiction-Who Is Hurt?" you know the harm of porn addiction can be just as severe.

How Do I know If I'm Addicted? Where do we draw the line between viewing pictures and addiction? Many people say an action isn't addiction unless it interferes with your life. Though this is technically correct, it leaves too much room for interpretation...or denial. Answer the following questions honestly to yourself:

Am I doing more of this than I was a year ago?

Is more than 50% of my computer Spam about pornography?

Do I use pornography to enhance or spark sexual interest in my partner?

Do I prefer Pornography to normal sexual relations?

Have I t