You Can Train Your Brain (How Conditioning Works and How to Reverse It)

09/08/22 • 16 min

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Ever wonder why your brain decides to light up for certain things and not for others? Have you found yourself craving unwanted habits and behaviors, without a real explanation as to why? This episode provides a basic understanding of how your brain is conditioned to desire pornography and other unwanted behaviors using the chemical dopamine and the psychological principle of conditioning.
What we learn from conditioning is that sexual urges are paired with the instant gratification that porn offers to form a bond. This bond is strengthened over time and begins to condition our brains to expect a similar response each time we feel sexually aroused. This also helps explain why we may develop certain cues or triggers, such as times of the day or specific locations, which cause us to seek out porn for that familiar rush of dopamine.
The great hope that science offers on this topic is that just as our brains can be conditioned for porn, they can be unconditioned. Reversing such strong conditioning often takes time and requires a multi-faceted approach, but it is possible and has been proven by science and by countless men who have made the journey already.
Join us for this episode to learn how conditioning works and how you can begin to reverse the damage porn has done to your brain.
https://reclaimedrecovery.com
Here's a supplemental article at Fight the New Drug that offers a quick rundown of Pavlovian conditioning and why porn can be so hard to quit: https://fightthenewdrug.org/why-porn-can-be-difficult-to-quit/
Here's an article from simplypsychology.org that provides an explanation of Pavlovian conditioning using more scientific terms: https://www.simplypsychology.org/pavlov.html#:~:text=Pavlov%20showed%20that%20dogs%20could,an%20unconditioned%20(innate)%20response.
A scary article from Your Brain on Porn that shows how porn can lead men to develop dangerous and unnatural tastes for sex due to repeated conditioning over time: https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/relevant-research-and-articles-about-the-studies/sexual-conditioning/

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Previous Episode

Dopamine and Your Brain (Understand the Science Behind Your Habit)

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Have you ever wondered why your brain keeps you coming back to addictive habits like pornography, even though you're trying really hard to stop? In this episode, Kolton gives an overview of how dopamine works to train your brain. We cover many essential questions related to dopamine, such as:

What role does dopamine play in my pornography habit?
How is dopamine making it hard for me to quit porn?
If I've done harm to my brain, is it possible to heal from this?

Understanding the neuroscience and behavioral science that goes with these questions can be very empowering in the struggle with porn. The good news is, our brains and bodies are capable of extraordinary things, and healing is one of those things. The same power that made us, is capable of healing us, and damage done to the brain can be reversed.
For this episode, we want to credit the Huberman Lab Podcast. We referenced Andrew Huberman (neuroscience teacher at Stanford University) and his 2-hour masterclass on dopamine to create some of our content in this episode. If you want to check out his podcast and take a deeper dive into dopamine, you can check it out here:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/42F7z6Z4CB8hJAstRqMCiV?si=vJuiXkxdTOCjCS2hHTPwqg
Another great resource we cited in this episode was Gary Wilson's best-selling book, 'Your Brain on Porn', You can check out their website, which does a phenomenal job at explaining the neuroscience behind why porn is so harmful, here: https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/
See https://reclaimedrecovery.com/ for more helpful resources and tools Reclaimed has to equip men for overcoming their struggle with porn.

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Next Episode

Getting to the Heart of the Issue (And Stop Should-ing On Yourself With Drew Boa)

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In this episode, we take a deep dive with guest Drew Boa to uncover the heart of the issue when it comes to pornography. Drew leads a community of men at Husband Material, where he coaches men on how to 'outgrow porn.'
Key topics in this episode include

Drew's story of struggling with porn and then breaking free from it.
What Drew considers to be the biggest issues men face when trying to overcome porn.
Drew's philosophy he uses to help men get unstuck and outgrow porn.
How important it is to consider healing the inner boy that feels hurt all these years later.
What it feels like to go on a healing journey and outgrow porn for good.

Check out Drew's website at https://www.husbandmaterial.com.
If you're looking for coaching, community, and a hands-on approach to help you recover from porn, contact either us at Reclaimed Recovery or reach out to Drew and his team at Husband Material. Either way, we'll get you on the right track, and there's no better time to start your recovery than now.
https://reclaimedrecovery.com/

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