Pornography addiction: how to stop? - Interview with Psychologist Rafael Rossi

With over 3 million hits and 12 forum members, the website "Pornography Addiction: How to Stop" is the leading Portuguese-language portal on the subject. pornography addiction e NoFap. 

In this interview, the site's creator, psychologist Rafael Rossi, who is also the creator of the Revert Program, a leading program in Brazil for reversing pornography addiction, discusses the rise of this phenomenon around the world.

Question: How can pornography be considered an addiction from a scientific point of view?

Rafael Rossi: Neuroscientists who have been studying the effects of addiction on the brain for years have no doubt that behavioral addictions, such as pornography and food, for example, have the same effect on the brain as addictions to narcotics, such as alcohol and drugs. 

Worse than that: in fact, humans are far more prone to addiction to gambling, food, and pornography than to drugs. The reason we can become more addicted to food and sex, even if we are not prone to addiction, lies in the fact that our brain's reward circuit stimulates us to seek sex and food, not drugs.

This is because, unlike drugs or other artificial substances, sex and food are stimuli upon which our survival depends, hence the fact that they have become the number one priority of our genes.

This is so true that obesity is an epidemic spreading throughout the world. Currently, 70% of American adults are overweight and 35% are obese. And pornography is by far the most consumed content on the internet. 25% of all internet content today is pornography, and that number is only increasing.

Question: How much pornography must a person watch to be considered addicted?

Rafael Rossi: The diagnosis of addiction is not necessarily related to the number of hours a person consumes pornography, but rather to the chemical and structural changes that pornography causes in that person's brain.

In this sense, to diagnose someone addicted to pornography, we always adopt the criteria of the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization for addictions. These criteria consist of evaluating 7 basic symptoms. They are:

Tolerance and Escalation (when a person progresses to increasingly extreme genres of pornography).

Withdrawal symptoms (when, upon trying to stop using, she begins to show physical and emotional signs of withdrawal).

Difficulty controlling use (the person cannot stop using, even if they want to);

Negative consequences in the person's life (the person continues to use despite having noticed negative consequences on their mood, self-esteem, health, or work).

Neglect and procrastination (the person reduces social, recreational, or work activities due to pornography use).

Wasted time and energy and unsuccessful attempts to stop (when the person spends a significant amount of time searching for, hiding, planning, recovering from pornography use, or creating schemes to avoid getting caught).

A person who exhibits at least 3 of these characteristics related to pornography consumption is considered addicted.

Question: Besides erectile dysfunction, what other problems can be associated with pornography consumption?

Rafael Rossi: Currently, there are over 250 studies that have evaluated the functioning and structure of the brains of Internet pornography users. These studies, among other things, demonstrate that pornography consumption is directly associated with: sexual dysfunctions, reduced sexual arousal and satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, escalation symptoms, habituation and tolerance (dependence), decreased sexual attractiveness, sexual performance problems, orgasmic difficulties, erectile dysfunction, negative effects on sex with a real partner, preference for using Internet pornography instead of sex with a real partner to achieve and maintain sexual arousal, and the induction of violent attitudes towards women, among others.

Question: And how do I stop using pornography?

Rafael Rossi: To stop your pornography addiction and reverse this process, you will need to reboot your brain. The term "reboot" refers to an experiment of abstinence from pornography and all artificial stimulation, which aims to give the brain a rest to recover from the harmful effects caused by pornography consumption and then reconnect it or associate it only with real stimuli and interactions with real people. 

In other words, rebooting is the equivalent of deconditioning your brain from pornography and virtual stimulation and reconnecting it, or associating it, only with the real situations that existed before exposure to or the existence of these artificial stimuli. 

To learn more about rebooting, how it works, and its benefits, I recommend reading our full article on the subject. Pornography reboot.

Question: Finally, what would you say to someone who is currently addicted and desperately seeking help?

Rafael Rossi: I would advise him to study his condition, read the scientific research and available materials, the success stories of those who have already gone through this, and adhere to treatment as soon as possible, either through our website or through the help of a trusted specialist who is aware of the existence of the addiction.

I would also tell him to have hope (wait with confidence) after adhering to treatment, and above all, I would tell him to forgive himself for his condition, since it is not and never was his fault in an ethical or moral sense, but rather the result of an evolutionary phenomenon not foreseen by nature, a phenomenon that has no relation whatsoever to a person's character or integrity, although now that he knows what it is about, it is his responsibility to put into practice everything he has learned and become free from addiction.

Question: Congratulations on your work, Rafael, and thank you so much for granting us this interview!

Rafael Rossi: Thank you!

To learn more: Pornography Addiction Website - How to Stop?

www.vicioempornografiacomoparar.com