Bad Effects Often Watching Porn Films, According To Experts Can Disrupt Emotion Control

JAKARTA – A thing that is done excessively will not have a good effect on one aspect of life, especially on the mental and physical body. This includes frequent viewing of pornographic films, which have long been studied for their effects on behavior by experts including neurologists, psychiatrists, and psychologists.

Through various fields, often watching porn turns out to be more bad than good. As reported by Science Focus on Saturday, December 18, Dr. Valerie Voon from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge found that people with 'compulsive sexual behavior' (as researchers call people who are addicted to watching porn) exhibit abnormal patterns of brain activity.

Voon would not name someone who watches porn regularly as an addict, but she did call it based on the findings in her study, namely its effect on compulsive sexual behavior or viewers who watch excessively and compulsively.

In general, Voon's study found that those who watch porn compulsively affect relationship difficulties, job loss, and even suicide attempts.

Voon's findings were investigated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to probe deep into the anatomy of the brain. Her team found that there was greater activity in three different brain regions in people who exhibited compulsive sexual behavior.

First, the brain region in the ventral stratum whose function is related to dealing with rewards and motivation. Second, the dorsal anterior cingulate, which is concerned with appreciation and desire, and third, the amygdala, which is responsible for processing emotions.

In addition to Voon's research, a 2014 study Brain Structure and Functional Connectivity Association With Pornography Consumption: Brain On Porn published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry noted that there was decreased activity in many areas of the brain in casual porn viewers. Researchers found that pornography can change brain function. However, this study noted that there were certain characteristics before assuming the person was addicted to pornographic films.

Although there is no clear measure of what and how much someone watches porn, it is called addiction, but according to Voon, it has something to do with the neurobiological level. A neurologist at UCLA, doctor Nicole Prause, says porn addiction doesn't look like any other addiction. She added, the so-called 'addiction' to porn and sex looks similar to people who like to gamble.