Most of us do not go to a dentist when we have a tooth ache, we usually go when the pain becomes greater than the fear. One of the largest gatherings of Godly men in this country is the annual Promise Keeper conference certainly not the place you would expect to find men struggling with addiction to pornography. But I have met hundreds of men there who have confessed that they have either lost or are in the process of losing their families because of a pornography problem. It is dangerously naive to think this problem vanishes when these men are brought into the church. If we are going to successfully help people overcome pornography addiction, I believe it is critical to understand the effect of the addiction on the entire person.
Pornography affects the whole individual physical, emotional and spiritual.
Physical As in all addictions, there are physical effects. The rush of adrenaline from the shame and excitement of something forbidden combined with the physical responses of sexual excitement and orgasm is extremely powerful. Researcher Stanley Rachman found that masturbation in connection with fetish pornography created fetishes in virtually all men. For this reason, recovery from addiction to pornography must incorporate a therapist who specializes in addictions. In recent testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dr. Cline described sexual illnesses as highly addictive, compulsive, repetitive and difficult to treat.