Pornography Addiction – The Hunt
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Pornography addicts commonly go through a process I like to call “the hunt.” The best way to explain the hunt is to understand the brain. The brain has a part called the “limbic system” and another part known as the “frontal cortex.” The limbic part of the brain is the instinctive or survival part. The frontal cortex is the logical and thinking part of the brain.
All animals have a limbic system as well, but most have very limited if any frontal cortex. Take a lion for example. If a lion is hungry, what does it do? It goes on the hunt and with fluid skill stalks out, hunts, and attacks its prey. In other words…it eats at all costs. This is a function of the limbic system.
One instinctive part of the limbic system is sexuality. Pornography alters the way our instinctive sexual desires function, creating unrealistic and unfulfilled expectations for very real and natural desires. Pornography literally alters the limbic system to incorporate the need for porn as a survival mechanism…like any other addictive drug. Most porn addicts are as addicted to the “hunt” for porn as they are to the actual viewing. The hunt becomes part of the addictive cycle and excitement of the addiction. Planning out (hunting) the next porn fix is a part of all porn addicts cycles. When a porn addict begins to understand the process of their hunt, they are able to put checks and balances in place to help gain sobriety. The hunt generally starts well before the actual acting out and viewing porn. If an addict can learn to recognize the beginning signs of the hunt and put them aside, the chances of learning sobriety greatly increase.
