Winter Season of Pornography Addiction

Sin including addiction, strengthens across time. Sins and addictions-like alcohol and drugs- typically have three seasons of growth. They are:

Spring Season of Sin/Addiction

We know during this season Satan deceives us by allowing us to experience pleasure while we sin. Alcohol, drugs, (and other immoral behavior that triggers the sexual response) are effective and dependable- They can change the way you feel –usually “joy, pleasure and happiness”. We learned about the first or Spring Season of sin/addiction in the blog; Pleasures of Sin.

Summer Season of Sin/Addiction
During this season the habit of sin or addiction strengthens. The
person typically experiences “Pain” and learns to deal with that pain -negative consequences- by participating in the sin or addiction. At this point the sin or addiction continues to produce relief from the pain with – joy, pleasure or happiness. I refer to this group as “Successful Sinners”. They enjoy the joy, pleasure or happiness of sin and have yet to experience the “bondage, loss of agency, addiction” that awaits them. Those in the Summer Season can successfully stop the sin or addiction by initiating self-recovery techniques and exercising willpower. The blog Successful Sinners teaches us about the Summer Season.

The Spring and Summer Season of Sin /Addiction binds loosely like ………………
“A [one] flaxen cord” and NOT YET like “the strong cords [many]“ that

Our scripture 3 Nephi 27:11 illustrates the three seasons of Sin/Addiction. We read

Spring Season: ……”they have joy in their works for a season,”
Summer Season:….”and by and by the end cometh,”
Fall Season:…………”and they are hewn down and cast into the fire,

Fall Season of Sin/Addiction
During the Fall Season of Sin/Addiction the person develops the “disease”. It is in this stage the individual’s Physical Body, Spiritual Body, and Mind become addicted. Words like “bondage and enslaved” are used to describe this season. Willpower is weakened. Ability to stop using, willpower and self-help techniques don’t work anymore. The blog I can’t stop. Help! – Fall Season of Sin/Addiction shares more detailed information.

Winter Season of Pornography Addiction
It’s been my experience most addictions including alcohol and drug use, end with the addictive behavior itself. For example, the end result of alcoholism is the skid-row (homeless) person walking the streets with a brown paper bag. In a similar way, an individual with an addiction to pain medication may end up “doctor shopping” to get more than a legal amount of pain pills.

This is not so with pornography addiction.

“VIEWING LEADS TO DOING”

Porn addiction seems to have one more season-Winter
Dr. Victor B. Cline one of the first LDS psychologists to write about the stages of porn addiction says,

“I have found that four things typically happen to some people who become immersed in erotic or pornographic material. First, they become addicted. They get hooked on it and come back for more and more. Second, their desire for it escalates. They soon need rougher and more explicit material to get the same kicks and excitement. Third, they become desensitized to the abnormality of the behavior portrayed. In time, they accept and embrace what at first had shocked and offended them. Fourth, eventually there is a tendency and temptation TO ACT OUT what they have witnessed. Appetite has been whetted and conscience anesthetized. I have observed this progression countless times with some users of pornography. And everyone is vulnerable—even good people.” (Obscenity. How It Affects Us, How We Can Deal with It, Ensign, April 1984)

In my approximate 25 years of working with thousands of criminally charged sex offenders my experiences have been similar to Dr. Cline’s.  My conclusion: Usually someone charged criminally with a sex offense also reports viewing of porn.

Here are few church leaders’ quotes suggesting an “acting out” stage to porn addiction:

“The spreading oil slick of pornography carries with it terrible consequences such as BIZARRE AND OPPRESSIVE SEXUAL BEHAVIOR, CHILD AND SPOUSE ABUSE and ultimately a loss of the capacity to love.” (Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book, That Ye May Believe, p. 99.)

And one more,

“Continued exposure [to pornography] desensitizes the spirit and can erode the conscience of unwary people. A victim becomes a slave to carnal thoughts and actions. AS THE THOUGHT IS FATHER TO THE DEED, EXPOSURE CAN LEAD TO ACTING OUT what is nurtured in the mind.” (David B. Haight, Morality, Personal Morality, 1992)

ONE MORE THING…
In more recent years I have been surprised (and I’m not easily surprised) about how many 13 or 14 year old LDS youth, with felony sex charges, report having viewed porn for a year or longer.  Not only “good people” but “very young people” are now committing felony sex offenses. For example, I’ve evaluated individuals with felony “touching” sex offenses anywhere from age 9 to 90 years old   – The 90 year old was an Endowment Worker at the local LDS Temple. :{

FYI-check out these rather old porn stats from SafeFamilies.org.

• 9 out of 10 children aged between the ages of 8 and 16 have viewed pornography on the Internet, in most cases unintentionally.
• Average age of first Internet exposure to pornography: 11 years old.
• Largest consumer of Internet pornography: 12 – 17 year-old age group.

The numbers have been increasing.

THE ENDING
Regardless of an individual’s age or goodness – By the time the Winter Season of Porn Addiction has arrived:
— the individual’s personal Sexual Response Cycle has usually become deviant. That is he/she shows sexual interest in aggression/violence, children, fetishes, beastiality or something else.
And
— the now deviant Sexual Response Cycle has been reinforced numerous times by the individual’s repeated masturbation while having viewed such deviant images.

(See the blog: The Safest Road To Hell – Gradual Slope.)

Over the years I’ve been face-to-face with murders, bank robbers, embezzlers, … and any other criminal you can think of…

I am convinced Satan’s MOST powerful tool to destroy someone’s eternity is to influence them to misunderstand and misuse God’s Love Chemicals.

CHALLENGE
If you have learned to successfully deal with sexually explicit messaging WHEN you are exposed, then:
Don’t wait too long to have several “Birds and the Bees” talks with others – perhaps your spouse, your children and grandchildren -to help them do likewise.

If you have NOT learned to successfully deal with sexually explicit messaging WHEN you are exposed, then:
FIND resources to help you NOW.- Lots of them. (See blog: Five to Survive) If you are experiencing Fall or Winter seasons of addictions – You will need a “miracle.”  God will have to intervene to change your heart.

dr rick
dr rick’s index