How Watching Pornography Changes The Brain

[badrobot14]

It's an awkward topic to talk about but sadly many youths indulge in this due to the widespread shamelessness around us... Please do read the article, its enlighting:

How Watching Pornography Changes The Brain

Additional stuff intended for the muslims:

(shytaan's lunch )

Reading list:
http://islamqa.info/en/ref/42165/
http://www.suhaibwebb.com/ummah/men/how-watching-pornography-changes-the-brain/

 

[Ahmedfj]

Its an awsum thread srsrly coz this topic is very important to disucss nowadays .. and as far as i think ... youth indulge in it becoz of the frustration and the restlessness created by the so called "fashionable" attire of female gender and the second reason is the widespread shamelessness in TV commercials, print media, morning shows, schools etc

 

[Ahmedfj]

"Many sinners sin without deriving any pleasure from it and without any urge to do it except that they experience pain in quitting it."

 

[tokamakinvalhalla]

Nice thread man. There's a flood of research on internet addiction going on and porn is probably one of the major ones on the list.

Basically, how it happens - "We all have the brain reward circuitry that makes food and sex rewarding. In fact, this is a survival mechanism. In a healthy brain, these rewards have feedback mechanisms for satiety or ‘enough.’ In someone with addiction, the circuitry becomes dysfunctional such that the message to the individual becomes ‘more’, which leads to the pathological pursuit of rewards and/or relief through the use of substances and behaviors.

-The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM)"

It is not just limited to pornography.Internet gaming and video game cause major addiction as well, however according to a Dutch study "erotica has the most potential of any online activity to become addictive."

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16497122

If you want to read more on the research being done, go to : http://yourbrainonporn.com/

​

 

[black_berry]

This Economy is an X-Rated Economy !

Forbes Magazine ([18 Sept. 1978] age 81-92) ran a lead article entitled "The X-Rated Economy" by James Cook. He began by stating : "Pornography is ... no longer an illegal business. The market for pornography ... is not confined to perverts or other emotional cripples. To the contrary, the largest part of the market ... is middle class people....

Cook went on to say that according to the California Department of Justice, the nation's pornographers do more than four billion dollars' worth of business a year--more than the combined incomes of the often supportive movie and music industries. Other estimates place the total pornographic business--including a large segment of the burgeoning home video market--at three times that much. The article said that skin magazines circulate sixteen million copies a month and generate nearly 500 million dollars a year in revenue. Adult films are seen by two million people per week at $3.50 per ticket, grossing over 365 million dollars. (Remember, this article was written in 1978, so all these figures are much higher today.) Another hundred million dollars goes into sex toys. But the biggest grosser of all, Cook tells us, are "adult" bookstores. Some bookstores in New York take in $10,000 a day. The Los Angeles Police Department estimates that $125 million annually is spent in bookstores throughout the city.

What do you understand by X- rated economy ? An economy where products, services and ideas thrive on publicity through glamour which grows more obscene due to cut throat competition and it reaches a stage where people judge your products only b your beautiful models and other obscene glamorous ads. Even Item songs and Pop music sell more than ghazals in a traditional country like India and Pakistan.

If some one studies the trends in advertisement world he can come across many astonishing facts about sexual revolution in conventional economic system how many people would be interested in watching an average looking girl playing chess or scrabble which does not require any body movement or short dresses? Compare it with over crowded stadiums during French open and Wimbledon.

Maria Sharapova earned billion dollars upon winning grand slam, but she earned 2 billion dollars more in modeling and fashion shows!

The 2006 US Open women's singles winner she has won seven grand slam titles less than Roger Federer but she has made more money than him this year. That's because she earned in excess of a whopping 25 million dollars or approximately 116 crore rupees last year. Her career earnings on the WTA Tour was more than three million coming in 2006 alone!

But surprisingly, she is the richest of all the tennis players earning more than even Roger Federer who takes home 22.1 million dollars a year. That's because Federer may have nine grand slam titles as compared to her two, but she has the glamour and the oomph factor that make her an advertisers dream.

The conventional economy is an X-rated Economy : The sexual revolution is another hazard of conventional economic system, where there is a lot of cut throat competition to sell products, and people stoop down to any level to get sales. One such gimmick is obscenity If any one wants to study how fat sexually liberation has changes our lives, our choices our thinking habits , just look at the covers of magazines, read the supplements see the supplements of news papers, etc, Assemble all these things and you will notice that sex is celebrated every where due to marketing, in fact sex is marketed instead of products Even some religious festivals, entertainments, news, are captures by obscenity.

The X rated economy is one of the prime causes of adultery and fornication in the society.
Because of obscenity around us in festivals, entertainments, social gatherings as well as in media the mind set of people is changing including young children as well as house wives. This has led to believe among a mass section of society that sex before marriage and outside marriage is no more a sin but it is a matter of choice and in some societies a matter of pride and boasting. It is no longer a shame when industrialist, film stars and other celebrities and other men and women confess in public that they enjoy sexual liberty with the opposite sex.

 

[badrobot14]

Something I found really alarming mentioned in that article was:

Sadly, that’s not the end of it. After such a disappointment in the actual experience due to the unrealistic fantasy-based expectations, the brain not only refrains from releasing dopamine; it actually dips below baseline levels. It goes into a depression response that results in disappointment, dissatisfaction, and unhappiness in the marriage since the wife is “not up to what he expected”. Despite the efforts by many women to “spice things up” and even subject themselves to the demeaning acts that have been artificially downloaded into their husbands’ brains, the pornography-addicted husbands will only enjoy themselves for a very short while before losing interest. Meanwhile, the wife feels unattractive and emotionally abandoned despite her best efforts, not knowing that she couldn’t compete with the dopamine buzz offered by pornography.

http://www.suhaibwebb.com/ummah/men/how-watching-pornography-changes-the-brain/

so basically a person is destroying their future family life too while watching the horrible stuff, plus adding depression to their life...
I've seen muslim boys talking about this... how sad.

 

[XPFMember]

aoa wr wb!

jazakAllahu khairen..
how much Allah loves us..and asks us to avoid certain things, just so that we aren't harmed...
It's just that we realize this and really understand... "Allah loves us always...!"

 

[badrobot14]

aoa wr wb!

jazakAllahu khairen..
how much Allah loves us..and asks us to avoid certain things, just so that we aren't harmed...
It's just that we realize this and really understand... "Allah loves us always...!"

wa iyyakum..

True... Whatever Allah tells us is better for us, whether we understand it or not.. we have to try our best to abide by His commands and ask for forgiveness for our shortcommings.

 

[GetSomeLife]

It's an awkward topic to talk about but sadly many youths indulge in this due to the widespread shamelessness around us... Please do read the article, its enlighting:

JazakAllah brother Thanks for sharing!

I have no idea how it changes the brain OR why it does so... All i know is that Allah has declared getting indulged in such things FORBIDDEN and it is a good enough reason for any and every MUSLIMS to stay away from it

 

[Spidey21]

May Allah give all those indulged to get away from it and all those not indulged the Ajjar....

Jazak Allah Brother for sharing!!

 

[confused123]

wa iyyakum..

True... Whatever Allah tells us is better for us, whether we understand it or not.. we have to try our best to abide by His commands and ask for forgiveness for our shortcommings.

''weather we understand or not'' i think its important to understand each and everything in detail and depth about your religion and the principles laid down by religious books otherwise its like following blindly everything and you may misunderstand things. everything has a logic so i guess its not hard to comprehend anything which is said by God. no harm finding out the reason to a command or revelation.

 

[confused123]

Makrooh

Although all legal schools of thought consider masturbation to be haram, some scholars have allowed it as a last resort for unmarried individuals attempting to avoid succumbing to the greater sin of zina.[


The Quran, chapter 23 (Al-Muminun), verse 5 to 7:

“​

“And who guard their private parts, Except before their mates or those whom their right hands possess, for they surely are not blameable, But whoever seeks to go beyond that, these are they that exceed the limits” — translated by M. H. Shakir

The Quran, chapter 24 (An-Noor), verse 33 to 33:

“​

And let those who do not find the means to marry keep chaste until Allah makes them free from want out of His grace. And (as for) those who ask for a writing from among those whom your right hands possess, give them the writing if you know any good in them, and give them of the wealth of Allah which He has given you; and do not compel your slave girls to prostitution, when they desire to keep chaste, in order to seek the frail good of this world's life; and whoever compels them, then surely after their compulsion Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.— translated by M. H. Shakir




A narration attributed to Abdullaah ibn Mas’ood reports:

“​

We were with the Prophet while we were young and had no wealth whatsoever. So Allaah’s Messenger said, "O young people! Whoever among you can marry, should marry, because it helps him lower his gaze and guard his modesty (i.e. his private parts from committing illegal sexual intercourse etc.), and whoever is not able to marry, should fast, as fasting diminishes his sexual power." Bukhari:5066.



It should be noted that this hadis mentions illegal sexual intercourse instead of masturbation however it also should be noted that the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) recommended fasting and did not mention masturbation.
Ibn Kathir wrote in volume 5 p. 458:[2]




A narration attributed to Hasan ibn Arfah reports:

“​

Nabi (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) said, 'Seven persons are such that Allah will not look at them on the Day of Qiyaamat nor will He purify them nor will He include them among the learned and Allah will enter them into Jahannam. They will enter Jahannam first except for those who repent. As those who repent Allah will accept their repentance.

1. A person who masturbates.
2. A person who performs the act of sodomy.
3. The person upon whom the act of sodomy is performed.
4. A perpetual drunkard.
5. The person who hits his parents so much that they appeal for help.
6. The person who harms his neighbors so much so that they curse him.
7. The person who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife.

 

[Monster]

A really Really good effort I must say as it is PROHIBITED by Allah and it is a really appreciable thing on your part to bring it forward!

 

[smzimran]

''weather we understand or not'' i think its important to understand each and everything in detail and depth about your religion and the principles laid down by religious books otherwise its like following blindly everything and you may misunderstand things. everything has a logic so i guess its not hard to comprehend anything which is said by God. no harm finding out the reason to a command or revelation.

Aoa,
you are wrong there!
not everything in religion can be defined by logic,
the reason being that the thinking capability of humans is very limited in Allah's sight!
i may quote some examples to support this but im afraid that might degrade the imaan of some people!
Hope u understand

 

[confused123]

Aoa,
you are wrong there!
not everything in religion can be defined by logic,
the reason being that the thinking capability of humans is very limited in Allah's sight!
i may quote some examples to support this but im afraid that might degrade the imaan of some people!
Hope u understand

Hey walekumsalaam bro .
well yeah not everything but most of the things are comprehend-able by a human mind. i am talking about the book quran which is a message of Allah to his creation. As Allah says that he has openly explained his verses. the message is for human so he/she must be able to grasp it. plus i read quran translation i don't find things so difficult or inability to understand them. some things need debates and going depp. plus the use of authentic hadis. obviously thinking sight is very limited but Allah has bestowed us with some talents and abilities to discover the truth and secrets of universe.
so i just felt that by saying ''weather we understand or not'' means limiting yourself. if you will not understand the cause or the verses clearly then how you will be able to convince or preach your religion effectively. i mean everyone will keep on living with the inherited faith he got. so bottomline is that for a better convincing argument you must understand your religion as much as you can as it will increase your satisfaction and IA will increase Imaan.

P.S i will encourage you to post those examples as its perfectly fine to post things which are not inappropriate and we all are mashallah educated and the purpose is to better understand life. Imaan is not so weak that it will be shaken by some debate. it becomes better by understanding things around in my case.

 

[smzimran]

Hey walekumsalaam bro .
well yeah not everything but most of the things are comprehend-able by a human mind. i am talking about the book quran which is a message of Allah to his creation. As Allah says that he has openly explained his verses. the message is for human so he/she must be able to grasp it. plus i read quran translation i don't find things so difficult or inability to understand them. some things need debates and going depp. plus the use of authentic hadis. obviously thinking sight is very limited but Allah has bestowed us with some talents and abilities to discover the truth and secrets of universe.
so i just felt that by saying ''weather we understand or not'' means limiting yourself. if you will not understand the cause or the verses clearly then how you will be able to convince or preach your religion effectively. i mean everyone will keep on living with the inherited faith he got. so bottomline is that for a better convincing argument you must understand your religion as much as you can as it will increase your satisfaction and IA will increase Imaan.

No doubt about it that we should understand our religion with reason.
However, in some cases the human mind cannot reason a judgement, and debating makes it even more controversial and creates conflicts!
So, sometimes we have to BLINDLY accept Allah's commandments because true faith means devoting yourself fully to a cause and have blind trust in oneself, in case of Allah S.W.T, how can we ever think that if we trust HIM blindly in some issues we may be led wrong!!!

Allah is the one who created us out of a clot of congealed blood, HE shaped our organs, body stuctures in our mother's womb (without the mother knowing what is going on inside), then when we stepped into this world HE arranged two loving hearts for us in the form of parents and food in the form of mother's milk. Then, when we grew up, HE taught us the ability to walk, eat, talk, and do worldly dealings.
After such a tremendous amount of favours bestowed upon us, is it right that we should not have BLIND trust in Almighty ALLAH (S.W.T) ???

At all times it should always be kept in mind the meagre and negligible thinking skills we humans possess, (remember what happened at treaty of hudaibiya ?)

The bottomline:
We should trust and accept Allah's commandments without objection. Then if we happen to discover the logic or reason behind it, it further strengthens our faith !
However, if we fail to find a logic, we should just accept it, knowing ALLAH knows best!!!

 

[XPFMember]

No doubt about it that we should understand our religion with reason.
However, in some cases the human mind cannot reason a judgement, and debating makes it even more controversial and creates conflicts!
So, sometimes we have to BLINDLY accept Allah's commandments because true faith means devoting yourself fully to a cause and have blind trust in oneself, in case of Allah S.W.T, how can we ever think that if we trust HIM blindly in some issues we may be led wrong!!!

Allah is the one who created us out of a clot of congealed blood, HE shaped our organs, body stuctures in our mother's womb (without the mother knowing what is going on inside), then when we stepped into this world HE arranged two loving hearts for us in the form of parents and food in the form of mother's milk. Then, when we grew up, HE taught us the ability to walk, eat, talk, and do worldly dealings.
After such a tremendous amount of favours bestowed upon us, is it right that we should not have BLIND trust in Almighty ALLAH (S.W.T) ???

At all times it should always be kept in mind the meagre and negligible thinking skills we humans possess, (remember what happened at treaty of hudaibiya ?)

The bottomline:
We should trust and accept Allah's commandments without objection. Then if we happen to discover the logic or reason behind it, it further strengthens our faith !
However, if we fail to find a logic, we should just accept it, knowing ALLAH knows best!!!

 

[badrobot14]

No doubt about it that we should understand our religion with reason.
However, in some cases the human mind cannot reason a judgement, and debating makes it even more controversial and creates conflicts!
So, sometimes we have to BLINDLY accept Allah's commandments because true faith means devoting yourself fully to a cause and have blind trust in oneself, in case of Allah S.W.T, how can we ever think that if we trust HIM blindly in some issues we may be led wrong!!!

Allah is the one who created us out of a clot of congealed blood, HE shaped our organs, body stuctures in our mother's womb (without the mother knowing what is going on inside), then when we stepped into this world HE arranged two loving hearts for us in the form of parents and food in the form of mother's milk. Then, when we grew up, HE taught us the ability to walk, eat, talk, and do worldly dealings.
After such a tremendous amount of favours bestowed upon us, is it right that we should not have BLIND trust in Almighty ALLAH (S.W.T) ???

At all times it should always be kept in mind the meagre and negligible thinking skills we humans possess, (remember what happened at treaty of hudaibiya ?)

The bottomline:
We should trust and accept Allah's commandments without objection. Then if we happen to discover the logic or reason behind it, it further strengthens our faith !
However, if we fail to find a logic, we should just accept it, knowing ALLAH knows best!!!

Alhamdulillah, may Allah bless you for explaining.

I'd like to add some worldly examples:
A guy has his car broken, he goes to a mechanic he trusts (coz the mechanic has always fixed his car in the past). The mechanic tells him "a sensor in the EFI (electronic fuel injection) system is faulty and needs replacement, should I proceed replacing it?"
the guy would logically say yes! the most illogical reply wd be "WAIT! let me 'understand each and everything in detail and depth about' my EFI system before I allow you tempering with it...." (I assure u EFIs are pretty complex )
Same way you trust the doctor.. now Allah (S.W.T) is infinitely more wise, loving, merciful etc... we don't ask 'why' if He commands us.. we just make sure the command is really from Him... then we do it, no questions asked.


"It is not fitting for the believing man nor for the believing woman, that whenever Allah and His Messenger have decided any matter, that they should have any other opinion."
[Holy Quran 33:36]

and this is not blind following... we have reason to submit.
and messenger was commanded to say that I call to Allah with eyes open/'basiraah':
Say, "This is my way; I invite to Allah with insight, I and those who follow me. And exalted is Allah ; and I am not of those who associate others with Him."
(12:108)

-------
Edit: One thing I should have said is that we never liken Allah to His creation. In front of His wisdom our wisdom does not exist... we can't comprehend the greatness of His wisdom or any of his other attributes, may He be exalted... So eventhough I mentioned 'infinitely more' in the analogy I gave, I want to further clarify that I don't mean to liken Allah to the creation.

 

[Nibz]

(Aoa) ^ Your analogy -

 

[gary221]

Alhamdulillah, may Allah bless you for explaining.

I'd like to add some worldly examples:
A guy has his car broken, he goes to a mechanic he trusts (coz the mechanic has always fixed his car in the past). The mechanic tells him "a sensor in the EFI (electronic fuel injection) system is faulty and needs replacement, should I proceed replacing it?"
the guy would logically say yes! the most illogical reply wd be "WAIT! let me 'understand each and everything in detail and depth about' my EFI system before I allow you tempering with it...." (I assure u EFIs are pretty complex )
Same way you trust the doctor.. now Allah (S.W.T) is infinitely more wise, loving, merciful etc... we don't ask 'why' if He commands us.. we just make sure the command is really from Him... then we do it, no questions asked.


"It is not fitting for the believing man nor for the believing woman, that whenever Allah and His Messenger have decided any matter, that they should have any other opinion."
[Holy Quran 33:36]

and this is not blind following... we have reason to submit.
and messenger was commanded to say that I call to Allah with eyes open/'basiraah':
Say, "This is my way; I invite to Allah with insight, I and those who follow me. And exalted is Allah ; and I am not of those who associate others with Him."
(12:108)

totally logical n fitting reply...badrobot14, u rock...