Your Brain On Porn

The internet has made access to sexually explicit content radically more easy than ever before. This book is essential reading for those who are troubled by their own relationship with pornography, and for those who want to understand the world we now live in. Republished with extensive revisions in December 2017.

Pornography is powerful. Our contemporary culture as been pornified, and it shapes our assumptions about identity, sexuality, the value of women and the nature of relationships. Countless Christian men struggle with the addictive power of porn. But common spiritual approaches of more prayer and accountability groups are often of limited help. In this book neuroscientist and researcher William Struthers explains how pornography affects the male brain and what we can do about it. Because we are embodied beings, viewing pornography changes how the brain works, how we form memories and make attachments. By better understanding the biological realities of our sexual development, we can cultivate healthier sexual perspectives and interpersonal relationships. Struthers exposes false assumptions and casts a vision for a redeemed masculinity, showing how our sexual longings can actually propel us toward sanctification and holiness in our bodies. With insights for both married and single men alike, this book offers hope for freedom from pornography.

Two neuroscience experts explain how their 4-Step Method can help break destructive thoughts and actions and change bad habits for good. A leading neuroplasticity researcher and the coauthor of the groundbreaking books Brain Lock and The Mind and the Brain, Jeffrey M. Schwartz has spent his career studying the structure and neuronal firing patterns of the human brain. He pioneered the first mindfulness-based treatment program for people suffering from OCD, teaching patients how to achieve long-term relief from their compulsions. For the past six years, Schwartz has worked with psychiatrist Rebecca Gladding to refine a program that successfully explains how the brain works and why we often feel besieged by bad brain wiring. Just like with the compulsions of OCD patients, they discovered that bad habits, social anxieties, self-deprecating thoughts, and compulsive overindulgence are all rooted in overactive brain circuits. The key to making life changes that you want-to make your brain work for you-is to consciously choose to "starve" these circuits of focused attention, thereby decreasing their influence and strength. As evidenced by the huge success of Schwartz's previous books, as well as Daniel Amen's Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, and Norman Doidge's The Brain That Changes Itself, there is a large audience interested in harnessing the brain's untapped potential, yearning for a step-by-step, scientifically grounded and clinically proven approach. In fact, readers of Brain Lock wrote to the authors in record numbers asking for such a book. In You Are Not Your Brain, Schwartz and Gladding carefully outline their program, showing readers how to identify negative brain impulses, channel them through the power of focused attention, and ultimately lead more fulfilling and empowered lives.

“An extremely helpful and much needed resource….I highly recommend it.” —Harville Hendrix, author of Getting the Love You Want Internationally recognized sex therapist, educator, lecturer, and author of The Sexual Healing Journey, Wendy Maltz offers proven strategies for healing from porn addiction. Boldly addressing a debilitating problem that no one likes to talk about, The Porn Trap provides help and hope for addicts and their partners. Barry McCarthy, Ph.D., author of Men’s Sexual Health, calls this essential guide to overcoming the problems of pornography, “groundbreaking…the best book on the market to help compulsive porn users and the people who love them to confront and change this destructive pattern.”

The Porn Myth is a non-religious response to the commonly held belief that pornography is a harmless or even beneficial pastime. Author Matt Fradd draws on the experience of porn performers and users, and the expertise of neurologists, sociologists, and psychologists to demonstrate that pornography is destructive to individuals, relationships, and society. He provides insightful arguments, supported by the latest scientific research, to discredit the fanciful claims used to defend and promote pornography. This book explains the neurological reasons porn is addictive, helps individuals learn how to be free of porn, and offers real help to the parents and the spouses of porn users. Because recent research on pornography's harmful effects on the brain validates the experiences of countless porn users, there is a growing wave of passionate individuals trying to change the pro-porn cultural norm-by inspiring others to pursue real love and to avoid its hollow counterfeit. Matt Fradd and this book are part of that movement, which is aiding the many men and women who are seeking a love untainted by warped perceptions of intimacy and rejecting the influence of porn in their lives.

Which would surprise you more: that nearly nine out of ten young college men use porn or that more than one in five 12-year-old girls do? Porn has broken out of seedy backrooms and into the mainstream largely thanks to the Internet, which allows millions to access an unlimited (and mostly free) supply of porn and cybersex from the convenience of their own homes. And that's what we do. Because porn is fun. Like...really, really fun! In fact, Internet porn is unnaturally fun, providing far more stimulating variety than we would ever encounter in real life. These sights trigger powerful neurological reactions, and over time consistent porn users undergo actual brain changes similar to those seen in alcoholics and gambling addicts, eventually developing one or more of many common and unpleasant symptoms such as: Porn-induced erectile dysfunction (PIED) and reduced libido for real partners Difficulty reaching orgasm with a partner Cravings for and emotional reliance on porn Escalation to extreme sexual preferences or fetishes as tolerance increases and regular sex becomes boring Emotional numbness and difficulty forming relationships Social anxiety, depression, apathy, and "brainfog" Sexual orientation obsessive compulsive disorder This book is not a moral or religious attack on pornography. This book is a scientific exploration of how Internet porn affects us, an examination of how it has influenced our culture, and a guide for those who would like to quit the porn habit and heal themselves of porn-induced symptoms. This is the story of people who have acted to retake control of their lives and restore themselves to full sexual and emotional function. This is my story. This may be your story. -Noah B.E. Church

EMPOWER YOURSELF AS YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR PORNOGRAPHY ADDICTION, AND DISCOVER HOW TO FIND A WAY OUT OF IT Read on your PC, Mac, smart phone or Kindle device. This book will start you on your journey to recovering from your pornography addiction. This is for those who want to understand why this addiction holds them (or others) captive, and how to find a way out. It is a book that will give you hope as you not only understand pornography addiction, but also learn empowering strategies to challenge and overcome the mind-sets that support it. In this book we discuss rewiring your brain, and the term neural bonding is introduced. We will show how changing neural bonding, not just using 'try harder', is the key to success in breaking this bondage. This is an easy to read, and incredibly helpful book. The aim of this ebook is to not only help you understand what is going on under the surface, but to also give practical strategies to give you hope and a road to recovery. "Paul Crawford has done a great job in bringing clarity to a difficult topic in this easy to read book. It will be a powerful, practical, and vital tool in the hands of men, many of whom are desperate for a way of escape from the vice-like grip of porn addiction. This book is realistic, doable, non-judgmental, full of hope, and backed up by years of successful experience." Pastor Tak Bhana Church Unlimited Running With Fire Auckland, New Zealand "At last, a book to help men in an area that is increasingly more common. I pray for so many men with issues around porn, and to be able to recommend a wonderful tool like this is fantastic." Geoff Wiklund Senior Pastor, Eden Assembly of God Promise Keepers, Board Member Auckland, New Zealand "Paul Crawford's book Breaking Pornography Addiction is both a description of the techniques used to help men overcome addiction to pornography, and a guide for those men who are seeking to be freed from this obsession. Included are descriptions of various ways men may become infatuated with pornography... and techniques used to effect freedom from this addiction. The book balances straight forward explanations of the science and psychology of treatment with helpful tips and guidance for the reader. It provides hope for those who may find their circumstances hopeless because of this powerful threat to their wellbeing." Cecil D. Price, MD Director Wake Forest University Student Health Service Winston-Salem, NC 27109 USA Here Is A Preview Of What You'll Learn Magnitude Of The Problem Why Do I Do It - What's In It For Me? The Justification Factor - The Role Of The Subconscious Misbeliefs That Support The Addiction Mental Fusions - Triggers And The Slippery Slope Willpower Is Needed But Is Not Enough In Itself Society No Longer Provides The Invisible Barrier The Way Into Personal Freedom - A Strategy For Moving Forward Take action right away to start your empowering journey today by buying this book, "Breaking Porn Addiction Through Rewiring Your Brain"! Tags: Pornography addiction, addictions, addiction recovery, internet pornography, neuroplasticity, brain rewiring, overcoming addiction, neural bonding

Many situations we face require a particular predisposition and specific behavior. We often can't behave properly, not only because of a lack of awareness, but also because of limitations posed by our bodies. It is very interesting how much depends on the well-being and physical fitness of your body. Unfortunately, many people don't know much about the processes that drive it. I will do my best to make sure that in this book you learn about important issues related to your physical well-being and how to use them in practice. Authorities on the subject: "Any failure to appreciate the impact of sexual arousal on one's own behavior is likely to lead to inadequate measures to avoid such situations" - Professor Dan Ariely "So strong and impelling is the desire for sexual contact that men freely run the risk of life and reputation to indulge it. When harnessed, and redirected along other lines, this motivating force maintains all of its attributes of keenness of imagination, courage, etc., which may be used as powerful creative forces in literature, art, or in any other profession or calling, including, of course, the accumulation of riches." - Napoleon Hill "Willpower is what separates us from the animals. It's the capacity to restrain our impulses, resist temptation - do what's right and good for us in the long run, not what we want to do right now. It's central, in fact, to civilization." - Professor Roy F. Baumeister "This book [Quit Porn and Get Rich] is needed and should prove very interesting to a lot of men especially." - Mary Sharpe, CEO of The Reward Foundation This is not yet another motivational book, which bookstore shelves are lined with, providing nothing but a temporary boost to your mood. This book describes the real impact of eroticism and pornography on your performance in everyday life. It also explains how overcoming these habits can vastly increase the chances of success in many areas. Your life without unnecessary eroticization can be active and focused. Do you know how successful people approach this problem? How pornography can prevent them from achieving their goals? How they find motivation and whether pornography can destroy it? In the book you will find: how using pornography affects your self-esteem and confidence how using pornography affects your motivation and self-control how using pornography affects your courage, approach to negotiation, and risk handling how using pornography affects your relationships and social intelligence how using pornography physically changes your brain and the processes responsible for the features mentioned above and finally, how using pornography limits your success. The book cites a number of scientific studies, situations from business life, and the universal rules that govern the world of finance. Although the book discusses the problem of pornography mainly in terms of the subject of entrepreneurship and getting rich, the tips contained in it will be helpful in professional life for every career path, and for all those who want to derive the greatest possible joy and satisfaction from life. In addition, in the book you will find information on how to definitively part ways with unnatural sexual stimulation, and how to use this problem to your advantage. Your life can be rich in experience, rich in professional successes, rich in kindness to others, rich in family happiness, and materially rich as well. Or you can spend it in front of the computer, watching strangers copulating. This book is based on 55 scientific studies.

Uses personal examples, illustrations from Scripture, and twenty years of counseling experience to explain how porn struggles begin, what to do to prevent them, and how to overcome them once compulsive behavior presents itself.

"Strips porn of its culture-war claptrap . . . Pornified may stand as a Kinsey Report for our time."—San Francisco Chronicle Porn in America is everywhere—not just in cybersex and Playboy but in popular video games, advice columns, and reality television shows, and on the bestseller lists. Even more striking, as porn has become affordable, accessible, and anonymous, it has become increasingly acceptable—and a big part of the personal lives of many men and women. In this controversial and critically acclaimed book, Pamela Paul argues that as porn becomes more pervasive, it is destroying our marriages and families as well as distorting our children's ideas of sex and sexuality. Based on more than one hundred interviews and a nationally representative poll, Pornified exposes how porn has infiltrated our lives, from the wife agonizing over the late-night hours her husband spends on porn Web sites to the parents stunned to learn their twelve-year-old son has seen a hardcore porn film. Pornified is an insightful, shocking, and important investigation into the costs and consequences of pornography for our families and our culture.

How to rewire your brain to improve virtually every aspect of your life-based on the latest research in neuroscience and psychology on neuroplasticity and evidence-based practices Not long ago, it was thought that the brain you were born with was the brain you would die with, and that the brain cells you had at birth were the most you would ever possess. Your brain was thought to be “hardwired” to function in predetermined ways. It turns out that's not true. Your brain is not hardwired, it's "softwired" by experience. This book shows you how you can rewire parts of the brain to feel more positive about your life, remain calm during stressful times, and improve your social relationships. Written by a leader in the field of Brain-Based Therapy, it teaches you how to activate the parts of your brain that have been underactivated and calm down those areas that have been hyperactivated so that you feel positive about your life and remain calm during stressful times. You will also learn to improve your memory, boost your mood, have better relationships, and get a good night sleep. Reveals how cutting-edge developments in neuroscience, and evidence-based practices can be used to improve your everyday life Other titles by Dr. Arden include: Brain-Based Therapy-Adult, Brain-Based Therapy-Child, Improving Your Memory For Dummies and Heal Your Anxiety Workbook Dr. Arden is a leader in integrating the new developments in neuroscience with psychotherapy and Director of Training in Mental Health for Kaiser Permanente for the Northern California Region Explaining exciting new developments in neuroscience and their applications to daily living, Rewire Your Brain will guide you through the process of changing your brain so you can change your life and be free of self-imposed limitations.

What controls our sex lives? Our brains. Yet there is surprisingly little research into how our brains influence one of the most fundamental of all human behaviors. And there is even less understanding of what can happen to the sexuality of a person who suffers a brain injury or illness such as a stroke, Parkinson’s disease, or dementia. In Sex in the Brain, clinical neuropsychologist Amee Baird explores fascinating case studies of dramatic changes in sexual behavior and explains what these exceptional stories have to say about human sexuality. She illuminates the extraordinary insights into how the brain works that injury or disease can divulge. Each chapter includes striking personal accounts, many from individuals Baird has met in her clinical practice, of unexpected shifts in sexuality. Until now these fascinating, frightening, and funny stories have been hidden in medical journals or untold outside of the clinical setting. This revealing and sometimes heartbreaking book unfolds a better understanding of the links between brain function and our sexual selves.

Understanding and Treating Sex and Pornography Addiction demonstrates why people’s lives are being destroyed by compulsive sexual behaviour and what we can do to help them. The book examines the latest research into these conditions and outlines the new integrative C.H.O.I.C.E. Recovery Model, a practical, sex-positive model which incorporates CBT, ACT and psychodynamic theories to help people enjoy lifetime recovery. This new edition has been updated throughout, with new material covering pornography addiction, ChemSex, internet offending and female sex and love addiction. Written in a clear and informative manner, this book contains support and advice for both the clinician and for those who suffer from sex addiction, and provides tools for securing confident and rewarding recovery. Understanding and Treating Sex and Pornography Addiction is essential reading for anyone looking to make an enduring recovery from these conditions, as well as for clinicians new to the field and those wanting to update their skills and knowledge.

This book carefully walks someone struggling with porngraphy through the steps to recovery. Dr. Skinner discusses how pornography becomes a problem in the mind and how it becomes addictive. Then he teaches the reader how to rewrite the patterns in the mind. It closes with the key steps of recovery. Included in the book is a brief assessment tool "Assessing Pornography Addiction."

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

The much-anticipated second edition of the breakthrough book about recovering from online sexual addiction. As the Internet becomes a more powerful, imposing force in our lives, indeed becoming difficult to avoid, the potential for related problems also increases. This includes troubles of a sexual nature. When accessing porn no longer requires even a trip to the store, when we can view and participate in sexual activities anonymously, when younger and younger children are being exposed to sex online, when virtual interactions take over, limiting and even destroying real-time relationships, we are in crisis.Compulsive online sexual behavior is a real and growing problem. Yet the situation is not without hope. For those who are seeing signs of significant online problems in themselves or a loved one, this updated second edition of In the Shadows of the Net provides answers, understanding, and tools for recovery. With the latest statistics, discussion of recent technologies and devices, and new thinking on developing a healthy relationship with the Internet and avoiding relapse, this book offers authoritative, professional advice for achieving lasting, healthy change and healing.

What if great sex wasn't just great sex: what if great sex could actually change your life? A groundbreaking and intriguing look at how each one of us can grab a better life through better sex, this book lays out a bold yet simple path for uncovering desire and maximizing its effects. You will learn how to discover your true desires, understand what they mean, and use those secrets to create powerful change.

A researcher and consultant burrows deep inside the heads of one modern two-career couple to examine how each partner processes the workday—revealing how a more nuanced understanding of the brain can allow us to better organize, prioritize, recall, and sort our daily lives. Emily and Paul are the parents of two young children, and professionals with different careers. Emily is the newly promoted vice president of marketing at a large corporation; Paul works from home or from clients' offices as an independent IT consultant. Their days are filled with a bewildering blizzard of emails, phone calls, more emails, meetings, projects, proposals, and plans. Just staying ahead of the storm has become a seemingly insurmountable task. In Your Brain at Work, Dr. David Rock goes inside Emily and Paul's brains to see how they function as each attempts to sort, prioritize, organize, and act on the vast quantities of information they receive in one typical day. Dr. Rock is an expert on how the brain functions in a work setting. By analyzing what is going on in their heads, he offers solutions Emily and Paul (and all of us) can use to survive and thrive in today's hyperbusy work environment—and still feel energized and accomplished at the end of the day. In Your Brain at Work, Dr. Rock explores issues such as: why our brains feel so taxed, and how to maximize our mental resources why it's so hard to focus, and how to better manage distractions how to maximize the chance of finding insights to solve seemingly insurmountable problems how to keep your cool in any situation, so that you can make the best decisions possible how to collaborate more effectively with others why providing feedback is so difficult, and how to make it easier how to be more effective at changing other people's behavior and much more.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s bestselling new novel, To Paradise, available now.

Quitting porn can be extremely easy. And it doesn't require you to fight your way to the finish line.It doesn't require you to scare yourself, guilt yourself, or punish yourself.Sadly, most conventional techniques focus on all the wrong ways to quit porn. That is why most people end up failing after a few days, weeks, or months. And even if they don't, they feel like they're pushing against a mountain "resisting" it for the rest of their lives.This book presents a completely different approach that works. It challenges conventional advice out there, which is why you don't see it shared more widely. It's based on coaching untold men from across the world to quit porn easily--for good! Whether you're 14 years old or 70 years old, this approach works.It's also based on 10+ years of my own frustrations at trying to quit porn. This approach is the only method that helped me quit immediately and painlessly. And I haven't looked back since.It's also based on the best research on addiction recovery, cognitive behavior therapy, and mindfulness. In short, this approach works!My promise to you: I'm not going to guilt you, shame you, talk down to you, or scare you. All those tactics actually make it harder to quit porn.I will also not put you through torture to quit porn. It will be easy. Perhaps you think your case is different. That you are truly broken beyond repair. I've worked with such people as well. And in every case, by the end of our time together, they would see through the issue and say out loud themselves: "I can't believe that's how easy it was."You have very little downside, and an extremely large upside from taking me on this! If this approach works, you will be free from porn for the rest of your life. Without the cravings. Without the self torture.Imagine the self-confidence and energy you will gain back! Imagine the impact in your relationships and school and work! Imagine the change in your own personal self perception.So join me in the easy way to quit porn forever!About the Author: Hi, call me Yogi. I'm a happily married man living in California, who used to have a deep secret.For most of my life, I used to be an addict, and I want to share that story with you.Right now, I feel this incredible sense of confidence that I am definitely never going to look at porn again. It wasn't always like this.I got hooked probably when I was 12 or 13 years old. It was in the days of of dial-up internet (2001, 2002) but I remember the tantalizing feel of having those static images load up. With time, it just got worse.I was probably 18 years old when I realized I had a problem. I tried to quit it but my mind just did not want to cooperate. I still just saw it as a habit, not as an addiction. Even in college, when there were some amazing people who wanted to be with me, I instead stuck with the Porn-Masturbation-Orgasm (PMO) habit.Watching porn no longer held any pleasure for me. It was just a compulsion. And I hated myself for it.Then one day, I stumbled across an idea that changed my life...This idea was so easy, so downright magical, I was able to quit porn once and for all. Overnight. What felt difficult, an uphill battle to "quit the porn habit" became as easy as pie. What used to take all my willpower to resist became almost laughable. Over the next few months, I coached a select group of men to quit porn. Some as young as 14. Others in their 50s.Students, doctors, lawyers, artists, programmers, entrepreneurs, musicians, construction workers, plumbers, etc.Atheists, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists. All have benefited from this.You name it, I've helped them.And every time, the shift was magical.Now I want to help you do the same. I've put the best ideas from everything I've learned to write this book.Read this book and quit porn easily--forev