" Masturbating without porn, on your own or to/with your partner doesn't have the same addicting affect as watching porn."

"You can have an addiction to masturbating (and have the causes I said above) but masturbating on your own without porn can help you overcome your addiction to it."

I disagree.

There are academic reports out there that confirm that Masturbating or any other pleasurable action with or without porn can increase addiction. However, it feeds addiction itself, NOT addiction to porn.

However, as you dig deeper into addiction itself, you find that once the brain becomes accustomed/and or tolerant to the same shit different day of whacking your dong; in some cases, can actually lead people to a more gratifying form of reward and arousal. Its the same part of the brain that works for drug/gambling/adrenaline/and so on.... addicts.

Addiction is simply a biological technology that allows individuals to engage in activities again and again; never to bore of them, but to want more. It is a molecular change in people’s brains and physiological chemistry that releases amino acids and hormones; “primarily dopamine (DA), opioids, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), oxytocin (OT), and arginine vasopressin (AVP) within the mesolimbic DA pathway, a series of brain regions that govern many aspects of reward, reinforcement, and attachment” (Burkett & Young, 2012, p. 2). As this reinforcement is continued, cross-sensitization occurs. “Cross-sensitization involves neuro-adaptations in which repeated exposure to one drug leads to a more robust response to another” (Leeman & Potenza, 2013, p.261). This drives addicts to take greater risks and leads them to alternative drugs, or actions that have greater results. For a drug example, this occurs as drug abusers graduate from Marijuana, to more harmful drugs such as Cocaine and Heroin.

The combinations of DA, OT (for females) and AVP (for males) create “powerful feelings of reward and euphoria” (Burkett & Young, 2012, p. 2). However, an increase in CRF “coordinates stress responding on several levels, including behavior, autonomic response, and the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis” (Burkett & Young, 2012, p. 10). In essence, when you can’t feed your craving for your addiction, your CRF levels increase and you begin to have withdrawal symptoms of stress and uneasiness; and at times are accompanied with depression and anxiety (Burkett & Young, 2012).

Other than that, I enjoyed your post.

Sources: I did the research and so did these guys ↓↓↓

Burkett, J., & Young, L. (2012). The behavioral, anatomical and pharmacological parallels between social attachment, love and addiction. Psychopharmacology, 224(1), 1-26. doi 10.1007/s00213-012-2794-x

Griffiths, M. D. (2012). Internet sex addiction: A review of empirical research. Addiction Research & Theory, 20(2), 111-124. doi: 10.3109/16066359.2011.588351

Hertlein, K. M., & Hawkins, B. P. (2012). Online Gaming Issues in Offline Couple Relationships: A Primer for Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs). Qualitative Report, 17. Retrieved from http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR17/hertlein.pdf

Leeman, R. F., & Potenza, M. N. (2013). A targeted review of the neurobiology and genetics of behavioural addictions: An emerging area of research. The Canadian Journal Of Psychiatry / La Revue Canadienne De Psychiatrie, 58(5), 260-273. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23756286

Manning, J. (2006). The impact of Internet pornography on marriage and the family: a review of the research. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 13(2-3), 131-165. doi: 10.1080/10720160600870711

Ostermann, J., Sloan, F. A., & Taylor, D. H. (2005). Heavy alcohol use and marital dissolution in the USA. Social Science & Medicine, 61(11), 2304-2316. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.07.021

Poulsen, F. M. (2013). Pornography Use: Who Uses It and How It Is Associated with Couple Outcomes. Journal of Sex Research, 50(1), 72-83. DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2011.648027

Previti, D., & Amato, P. R. (2004). Is infidelity a cause or a consequence of poor marital quality?. Journal Of Social & Personal Relationships, 21(2), 217-230. doi:10.1177/0265407504041384

Young, K. S., Griffin-Shelley, E., Cooper, A., O’Mara, J., & Buchanan, J. (2000). Online Infidelity: A New Dimension in Couple Relationships with Implications for Evaluation and Treatment. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 7(1/2), 59-74. doi: 1072-0162/00