Freedom Renewed: Healing From Addiction Through Grace and Growthنموونە

Day 2: How a Habit Becomes an Addiction

The human sex drive is one of our most vital biological imperatives, hardwired into our bodies and brains. At the heart of this imperative is a neurotransmitter called dopamine: the “feel good” brain chemical. It’s the pleasure-giving and pleasure-seeking driver in our brains. It also pushes us to satisfy our natural desire for sex. Whenever a person has sex, or even thinks about having sex, dopamine is released in the brain.

But porn fulfills that biological desire in a fabricated and disruptive way. It floods your system with rushing rivers of dopamine, giving your brain an unnatural high that it would not encounter otherwise. For those addicted to porn, it is the dopamine “hit” that the brain needs, not sex.

Porn use typically begins as a pleasure-seeking activity but increasingly becomes more about avoiding stress, pain, or anxiety. With lower levels of dopamine being derived from healthy, real-world sources, as would have occurred without porn use in the picture, the user becomes disenchanted with their work, relationships, and hobbies. With increased consumption over time, porn use transitions to abuse and ultimately to addiction. For many, strife becomes a way of life.

If this is your story, up until now you have been reinforcing the behavior of a porn habit with a high dopamine reward. The good news is that the brain will chase down the reward you give it. So it is important to provide it with a healthy one. You can shift the reward you currently receive from compulsive sexuality to healthier dopamine rewards associated with your work, relationships, and hobbies.

First, recognize: how do you get your dopamine hits? Aside from watching porn, they can come from something as simple as scrolling through porn-adjacent images on social media. Yet if we stop watching porn, the neural pathway back to porn dies off. At the same time, if you establish new healthy thoughts and actions, you will capitalize on neuroplasticity to make positive changes in your life, which will help you reach your full potential. What healthy feel-good actions can you turn to to replace those hits?

Response: Reflecting on the idea of how habits can turn into addictions, how has the pursuit of pleasure or avoidance of pain shaped your choices? Consider the ways you might begin to replace unhealthy habits with life-giving, healthy practices that provide genuine satisfaction and peace. How can inviting God into this process help initiate healing in your mind and heart?

Prayer: God, please show me where and how addictions have formed in my life. Guide me toward new sources of comfort, so I can notice when I’m seeking a boost and turn to something that will bring me peace rather than harm.