Raise your hand if you or someone you know have ever seen pornography in magazines, movies, or on an internet site.

I feel comfortable assuming that's nearly ever single person reading this article. Even if you have never seen porn, you probably know someone who has or even someone who watches it regularly. What's the big deal, right? It's just for fun.

Besides, you can obtain new and exciting ideas about sex. I mean, really, you're doing your spouse (or future spouse) a favor by getting yourself educated.

WRONG.

Despite our culture making porn mainstream, acceptable, and encouraged, there is sufficient research that proves that pornography harms us in three major ways.

The Brain

For those of you who are unfamiliar, the human brain uses something called a reward pathway. This is where our brain releases chemicals when we participate in some sort of satisfying act. The most widely known of these chemical is called dopamine.

Cigarettes are a great example of how the reward pathway works. When an individual smokes a cigarette, a dose of the chemical is released without them actually having to do any work. The brain then creates a pathway that leads back to the source of the release. The more cigarettes an individual smokes, the more pathways are created, the more they want and eventually need cigarettes. Their brains are essentially being rewired.

Want to take a guess at something else that has the same effect on the brain? That's right -- porn. The more an individual views porn, the more their brain is rewired in such a way that produces an increasing need for the chemical release it causes.

However, just like a drug addict, those dopamine releases start to be less and less satisfying. This is where we see individuals seeking more porn, more intense porn, and seeking it more often.

Dr. Jeffery Satinover of Princeton University said “It is as though we have devised a form of heroin … Usable in the privacy of one’s own home and injected directly to the brain through the eyes.”

Relationships

Rachel was just like any other teen, she had been exposed to pornographic media through music and movies and so on and had nothing against it or people who chose to watch pornography.

Fast forward a few years and Rachel has found the man of her dreams. She plans everything out, and she marries him. Little did she know that her new husband had also been exposed to pornographic media, except, he, just like 64% of American men, began viewing it regularly.

When Rachel found out, at first she just didn't mind. However, it became more and more apparent to her that her husbands viewing of pornography was something more like an addiction. Rachel started to question herself. Was she doing enough for her husband sexually? emotionally? Was he even attracted to her at all?

These doubts kept creeping in until finally she asked her husband to quit watching pornography. But we all know how hard it is for an addict to quit their substance. And so it went, her husband couldn’t quit. Needless to say, this took a serious toll on not only their relationship but also on Rachel’s mental health.

The most shocking and eye-opening quote from Rachel is this: “Imagine the pain of seeing your significant other actually have a sort of withdrawal because he has gone too long without seeing a naked women on the screen.”

Sadly, there are millions of stories just like Rachel’s. And not just from spouses, but from children, mothers, and friends. The thing about pornography is that it is almost ignorant for one to think that it can be watched without changing their sexual desires.

In a recent study about the affects of pornography, men were divided into three groups: one was show little porn, the next a medium amount and the next was shown an excessive amount.

The result of the study showed that the more porn that the men viewed, the more they desired and insisted that women be submissive and subordinate in not only sex but in relationships as well. Studies also show that porn viewers (and YES this includes women) have a higher chance of committing acts of sexual violence.

Along with the change in desires, there is also a change in attraction. In one of the most comprehensive studies ever done on pornography, researchers found that even those who were exposed to “softcore” sexual material were significantly less happy with their partners looks, willingness to try new sex acts, and overall sexual performance.

As if that is not enough, porn can also cause physical changes in the human body. In the last several years, researches have discovered a new form of ED called Porn-induced erectile dysfunction.

This works nearly the same way in women who view porn. The body gets accustomed to becoming aroused by dramatic, and may I add false, interpretations of sex, and as a result, has a much harder time finding interest in REAL people.

Society

So how does this effect our society? How does the personal decision to view porn affect an entire culture? Well that’s simple: supply, and demand.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, when individual after individual begin submerging themselves in pornographic media, that increases demand.

We want more. So what happens? They give us more. More sex slaves are traded, more teens are illegally used, and more men and women are forced to be constantly violated. Yes, that's right. FORCED.

If you think the actors and actresses in the films you watch for pleasure are enjoying it, you are sadly mistaken. Don’t believe me? Look it up. Read one of the millions of published stories from inside the porn industry. It will wake you up.

According to psychologist Rebecca Bigler from the University of Texas, there is one driving factor behind the sexualization of American mainstream media: Porn. And no one is exempt from its consequences.

Because of the large demand for porn created by the increasing number of consumers, it has begun to flow over into our mainstream media. Think about it, when is the last time you saw a movie without at least one sexual innuendo or scene? Or heard a mainstream song without those same components?

Why do you think that is? We’ve all heard “sex sells”. Well, friends, because of the demand that WE have created, sex now sells to everyone. Including our children. Bigler says, “you see it in the stiletto heels that came from the porn industry and the thongs that are now being sold to 10 year olds.”

So the question is, when will we wake up? In the 1960’s, society thought that smoking cigarettes was cool. It was harmless, and non-addictive. It was encouraged.

Obviously now, we recognize that not only is it addictive but it is indeed one of the most harmful habits to take up. So when will we begin to think the same of pornography? When will we realize that porn rewires the brain, it destroys relationships, and it harms our society as a whole?

Let me tell you, porn kills love, and NO ONE is exempt.

For more information on the very real negative effects of pornography, visit fightthenewdrug.org