To be addict you simply need a substance,
Alcohol and drugs are substances that can lead to addiction.
The chemical responsible for porn addiction is dopamine.
Its naturally released hormone which makes you feel good,
Everyone desires to feel good. You know that feeling of satisfaction from doing good or receiving admiration, a gift, enjoying a favorite meal, or sitting by a campfire outdoors? Dopamine released in your brain which make you feel that level of satisfaction that makes you feel good.
Since sex and orgasm bring satisfaction, they also release dopamine.
The problem is that, unlike drugs or alcohol, the abused substance is literally present within you, eliminating the obstacles of losing money or the fear of being caught buying substances.
Unlike other addictions that involve physical evidence, such as bottles, needles, pills, or marks, dopamine addiction occurs on a hormonal level and can triggered by imagination, touch, or visual stimuli, making it easily accessible with no visible obstacles.
Your body naturally provides you with the amount of dopamine throughout the day to ensure satisfaction and support your work, relationships, and other aspects of life. The situation becomes more complex because dopamine also plays a crucial role in other essential bodily functions, making it impossible for your body to function properly without it.
At low doses, dopamine can relax blood vessels and act as a vasodilator, but at high doses, it can constrict blood vessels and act as a vasoconstrictor. It affects various aspects of your life, such as behavior, cognition, attention, sleep, and mood. The result is a type of reliance that can ultimately turn into addiction.
Over time, your body becomes accustomed to the high levels of dopamine released during frequent masturbation to pornography. If you try to reduce the frequency, you may not feel physically comfortable.
When you reach a stage where you constantly crave masturbation, with or without pornography, and it becomes crucial for your body to experience that level of satisfaction, that’s when you recognize the signs of addiction.
Resetting is still possible, but the more you engage in masturbation, the more difficult it becomes for your body to adapt. However, it is not impossible, just challenging.
This is precisely why it’s extremely challenging to win this battle on your own.
There are two options for you to win this battle.
YOUR OPTIONS
If you have the determination and willpower, you can try to train your body to live without masturbation. It may take time, but many people have successfully accomplished this and I greatly admire their dedication and patience.
On a side note, God, being fair, will help those who try to break free. This help extends even to those who don’t believe in Him. However, relying solely on your own strength will leave you vulnerable in the face of evil. If your only protection is your own strength, remember the immense temptation mentioned in a previous post. If you are powerful will aided by heavenly power, your feet will not slip.
You enlarged my path under me,
So my feet did not slip. ( Psalms 18:36).
Another possibility is introducing a different source that can stimulate your body to release dopamine naturally and at a level that your body finds acceptable.
EASY YOKE
Hence, we are talking about the easy yoke from God. This is a part of His work, the hidden work that you don’t see until you start. You can’t see it beforehand. You might have heard about it, but to truly experience it within yourself, you have to begin with Him. You have to wake up from your sleep, open your eyes, so that you can realize.
Therefore He says: Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.
(Ephesians 5:14).
This will relax your body and give you a sense of satisfaction, potentially filling the void left by dopamine.
A wise person once said that the best way to overcome addiction is by substituting it with a healthy one.
Being addicted to the dopamine released when feeling clean, pure, happy, saved, and filled with the fruit of the spirit.
You will experience the water that Jesus referred to, which guarantees that those who drink it will never be thirsty again and will find everlasting contentment.
Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:13-14).
Let us seek something that can naturally stimulate the release of dopamine in our body, granting us peace, acceptance, and comfort. This serves as a reminder that we are not bound by sin and that God has granted us forgiveness.
This will effectively handle the dopamine element, and will reduce the craving that comes from our bodies itself. Only Jesus can give such peace.
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.. (John 14:27).
Now to the main question
How?
Before answering that question, we need to discuss 3 things briefly and then we will dive into how to break free and win this battle.
- 1st we need to talk about Understanding the mind of God.
- 2nd we need to talk about God’s thoughts about our failure.
- 3rd we need to talk about The Actual Battle.
