The Link Between Porn Addiction & ADHD

Summary

In this insightful video, Coach Frank Rich from Rebuilt Recovery explores the connection between pornography addiction and ADHD, suggesting that the latter may be a result of dopamine deficiency caused by excessive porn use. He explains how supernormal stimuli from porn spikes dopamine unnaturally, leading to a drop that results in lack of motivation and focus. Frank emphasizes that overcoming this cycle involves quitting porn and setting meaningful life goals to restore a healthy dopamine balance, offering a 12-step training program for those seeking to break free from addiction.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker, Coach Frank Rich, discusses the link between excessive pornography use and the development of issues such as ADHD, lack of intimacy, and lack of motivation.
• 🔬 He has spoken with neuroscientists, including Dr. Anna Lm and Dr. Trishley, to understand the connection between dopamine, supernormal stimuli, and the effects on men's focus and attention.
• 💡 Dopamine is described as the chemical of pleasure and motivation, which is crucial for pursuing meaningful goals and experiencing reward.
• 📉 Pornography is identified as a 'supernormal stimulus' that spikes dopamine levels unnaturally high, leading to a significant drop and associated negative effects like lack of motivation and depressive thoughts.
• 🚫 The speaker suggests that ADHD may not be an inherent disease but a result of a dopamine deficiency caused by compulsive pornography use.
• 🔄 The cycle of dopamine involves an increase followed by an equal decrease, and the unnatural spikes caused by pornography disrupt this balance.
• 🔄 The speaker emphasizes the importance of establishing a healthy dopamine cycle through meaningful daily activities and goals.
• 🛑 Practical advice is given to stop consuming pornography and to set purposeful goals to create a healthier dopamine response.
• 🌟 The script encourages viewers to take action towards building a life that is meaningful and purposeful, which can help overcome the need for pornography.
• 📚 Coach Frank Rich offers a 12-step training program through his organization, Rebuilt Recovery, to help men break free from pornography addiction.
• 👍 The speaker invites viewers to subscribe to his podcast, engage with the content, and share it if they find value in the message.

Q & A

What is the main issue discussed in the video script?

The main issue discussed is the potential link between pornography addiction and the symptoms of ADHD, as well as the broader impacts on men's lives including intimacy, purpose, physical health, and focus.

Who is Coach Frank Rich?

Coach Frank Rich is the founder of Rebuilt Recovery and the host of the Rebuilt Man Podcast, whose mission is to help men overcome pornography addiction and improve their lives.

What does Coach Frank Rich suggest is the root cause of the issues faced by the men he speaks with?

Coach Frank Rich suggests that the root cause of the issues faced by these men is a compulsive use of pornography and masturbation, which he believes leads to dopamine deficiency and the symptoms associated with ADHD.

What is the 'supernormal stimuli' mentioned in the script?

The term 'supernormal stimuli' refers to stimuli that are more intense than natural stimuli and can cause an exaggerated response in the brain, such as the high levels of dopamine released by pornography.

How does Coach Frank Rich describe the dopamine cycle in relation to natural activities versus pornography?

He describes the dopamine cycle as a balance where an increase in dopamine from natural activities, like going to the gym, is followed by a proportional decrease. However, with pornography, the dopamine spike is much higher, leading to a more significant drop and causing feelings of lack of motivation and depression.

What are some of the side effects mentioned in the script that are associated with pornography use?

The side effects include lack of intimacy, struggle to connect with partners, lack of purpose, difficulty finding motivation, physical health issues such as weight gain, and struggles with focus and attention, which some attribute to ADHD.

How does the script suggest that ADHD is not a disease?

The script suggests that ADHD symptoms may be a byproduct of a dopamine deficiency caused by the excessive and unnatural dopamine spikes from pornography use, rather than a disease in itself.

What practical tips does Coach Frank Rich offer to help overcome the issues discussed?

He advises to stop consuming pornography, set meaningful and purposeful daily goals, and create a healthy cycle of dopamine through small wins and accomplishments that move one closer to their desired self.

What resource is provided for those seeking help to break free from pornography addiction?

A 12-step training program is mentioned, which can be found at rebuiltrecovery.com/12steps, and is said to have helped thousands of men overcome pornography addiction.

How does Coach Frank Rich define the mission of the Rebuilt Man Podcast?

The mission is to help men become better by quitting pornography and rebuilding their lives, focusing on creating a meaningful, purposeful, and inspirational life.

What is the significance of the '12 steps' mentioned in the script?

The '12 steps' refer to a training program designed to guide individuals through the process of overcoming pornography addiction and rebuilding their lives with a focus on meaningful and purposeful activities.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 The Link Between Pornography Addiction and ADHD

This paragraph discusses the correlation between pornography addiction and ADHD symptoms. Coach Frank Rich, the founder of Rebuilt Recovery, explains that many men who reach out for help with porn addiction are experiencing problems in various areas of life, including intimacy, purpose, physical health, and focus. He suggests that these issues may be linked to compulsive pornography use and masturbation, which can lead to dopamine deficiency. Frank references the work of neuroscientists Dr. Anna Lmy and Dr. Trishley, who have contributed to understanding the impact of supernormal stimuli like pornography on dopamine levels and its effects on attention and focus. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of dopamine for motivation and reward, and how excessive pornography use can disrupt the natural dopamine cycle, potentially leading to ADHD-like symptoms.

05:00

🚀 Understanding Dopamine Cycles and the Impact of Pornography

In this paragraph, the concept of dopamine cycles is explored to explain how the use of pornography can lead to dopamine deficiency and associated symptoms. It is explained that dopamine operates on a scale, with natural activities providing small increases in dopamine levels, which then naturally decrease to baseline. However, the supernormal stimulus of pornography causes a significant spike in dopamine, which must be followed by an equally significant drop, leading to feelings of lack of motivation, depression, and a cycle of seeking out more stimuli to compensate. The paragraph suggests that the symptoms of ADHD may not be a disease but rather a result of this disrupted dopamine cycle caused by compulsive pornography use. Practical advice is given to break free from this cycle, including quitting pornography, setting meaningful goals, and creating a life of purpose and accomplishment.

10:01

🌟 Embracing a Life of Meaning and Purpose to Overcome Addiction

The final paragraph concludes the video script with a motivational message from Coach Frank. He encourages viewers to take action towards building a life that is meaningful, purposeful, and inspirational, which can help overcome the need for pornography. Frank emphasizes that freedom from addiction is within reach and that the journey towards becoming the person one aspires to be is waiting. He invites viewers to check out the 12-step training at Rebuilt Recovery for further guidance and support, and he expresses his love and support for the community, looking forward to the next encounter.

Keywords

💡Pornography Addiction

Pornography addiction refers to an unhealthy compulsive use of pornography that negatively impacts an individual's life. In the video, it is presented as a root cause of various problems faced by men, including lack of intimacy, purpose, and focus. The script discusses how this addiction is linked to dopamine deficiency and the resulting attention and focus issues.

💡ADHD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulty with sustained attention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. The video suggests that for some individuals, the diagnosis of ADHD may be a byproduct of a dopamine deficiency caused by compulsive pornography use, rather than an inherent condition.

💡Dopamine

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with the brain's reward system and plays a role in motivation and pleasure. The script explains how dopamine operates on a scale and how the use of pornography can artificially spike dopamine levels, leading to a deficiency and subsequent issues with motivation and focus.

💡Supernormal Stimuli

Supernormal stimuli are exaggerated versions of natural stimuli that elicit unusually strong responses. In the context of the video, pornography is described as a supernormal stimulus that can cause extreme dopamine spikes, leading to imbalances and addiction.

💡Intimacy

Intimacy refers to close, personal relationships and connections, particularly in a romantic or sexual context. The script mentions that men struggling with pornography addiction often experience a lack of intimacy, indicating a disconnection from their partners.

💡Purpose

Purpose is the sense of meaning or reason for one's actions or existence. The video discusses how men with a pornography addiction often lack purpose and struggle to find motivation to pursue meaningful goals in life.

💡Focus

Focus is the act of concentrating one's attention on a particular object or activity. The script highlights that men with a pornography addiction often struggle with focus and attention, which may be misdiagnosed as ADHD.

💡Neuroscientists

Neuroscientists are scientists who study the nervous system and brain function. The video references conversations with neuroscientists Dr. Anna L.M. and Dr. Trishley, who have contributed to the understanding of the links between pornography use, dopamine, and issues like erectile dysfunction.

💡Rebuilt Recovery

Rebuilt Recovery is the organization founded by Coach Frank Rich, which aims to help men overcome pornography addiction and rebuild their lives. The script mentions the 12-step training program offered by Rebuilt Recovery as a resource for those seeking to break free from addiction.

💡Dopamine Cycle

The dopamine cycle refers to the process of dopamine release and subsequent decrease that occurs in response to rewarding activities. The video explains how the extreme dopamine spikes from pornography use disrupt this cycle, leading to a need for more intense stimuli to achieve the same level of pleasure.

💡Meaningful Goals

Meaningful goals are objectives that contribute to a sense of purpose and fulfillment. The script suggests setting and pursuing meaningful goals as a way to create a healthy dopamine cycle and overcome the negative effects of pornography addiction.

Highlights

The speaker has spoken with thousands of men struggling with pornography addiction and identified problems in their lives.

Men experiencing side effects from porn use include lack of intimacy, lack of purpose, and health issues.

Many have been prescribed ADHD medications and sought therapy without success.

A common link among these men is compulsive pornography use and masturbation.

The speaker has discussed with neuroscientists about the links between dopamine deficiency and porn use.

Pornography is considered a supernormal stimulus that spikes dopamine levels unnaturally.

Dopamine operates on a cycle, requiring an equal decrease after an increase.

The drop in dopamine after porn use can lead to depressive thoughts and lack of motivation.

ADHD is suggested to be a byproduct of constant dopamine spikes and deficiencies from porn use.

The speaker provides a 12-step training program to help men break free from pornography addiction.

Practical tips include quitting porn, setting meaningful goals, and creating a healthy dopamine cycle.

The program aims to help men build a life that is meaningful and purposeful, reducing the desire for porn.

The speaker emphasizes that freedom from addiction is within reach and encourages taking action.

The mission is to help men become better by quitting porn and rebuilding their lives.

The speaker invites viewers to subscribe to the podcast and share the content if they find value in it.

The importance of building a life that no longer needs, wants, or desires pornography is highlighted.

The speaker concludes by expressing love for the audience and looking forward to the next session.

Transcripts

is your porn use the cause of your

ADHD you know over the last four plus

years I've spoken with thousands of men

who are struggling with a pornography

addiction and every single one of these

men that reaches out to us is coming to

us because they've identified problems

within their life they've identified

that their use of pornography is holding

them back and these men all are

experiencing side effects some of them

are lacking with intimacy struggling to

connect with their wives many of them

are lacking purpose struggling to find

the motivation and desire to get up off

the couch and go chase the meaning in

their life many of them are struggling

with their fitness health they've seen

their weight go up and up on the scale

over

years but many of them are struggling

with focus with

attention and a lot of them have been

prescribed with ADHD perhaps even been

told since a young boy

boy you are not normal you have ADD you

have ADHD and they've been on

medications they've sought out therapy

but yet none of it has

worked but once again A Link Between all

these men whether it's connection with

their wife whether it's purpose meaning

physical health or attention deficit

disorder one thing that links them all

together is a compulsive use with

pornography and

masturbation now I've also been

fortunate to speak with a handful of

neuroscientists

two in particular Dr Anna lmy and Dr

trishley and I think it was Anna's work

in dopamin nation and the conversation

that I had with her on the super life

that really brought an understanding to

me about the links of these things and

how it's tied to dopamine

deficiency and then more recently in my

episode with Dr Trish Le we Dove deep

into erectile dysfunction porn use and

the root cause of many of these issues

with a lot of men and once again it

brought even more insight into my

understanding between the links between

pornography use supernormal stimuli our

dopamine

receptors and how men can struggle with

focus and

attention so I want to talk to you today

about the link between your porn

addiction and why you struggle with

attention focus or perhaps have even

told yourself I have ADD or

ADHD for those of you that new here my

name is Coach Frank Rich founder of

rebuilt recovery and host of the rebuilt

man podcast and it is our mission to

help men become better men by quitting

por of rebuilding their lives and we do

that here three times per week on this

show if you're watching there on YouTube

make sure to hit that subscribe button

turn those post notifications on and if

you can make sure to give this video a

thumbs up like this video so we can

spread it across the algorithm if you're

tuning in on the audio side guys you can

take a moment after today's episode and

leave us a festar rating and written

review but if you want some help and

Breaking Free from addiction we put

together a 12ep training teaching our

framework that has helped thousands of

men break free from pornography

addiction and you can find that at

rebuilt recovery.com

sl12

steps now to understand the link between

porn addiction and

ADHD you have to understand how dopamine

in our brain

works dopamine many of us recognize as

the chemical of pleasure but is also the

chemical of motivation and

reward when we are pursuing the

meaningful things in our life that are

bringing us closer towards the desired

outcome that we've set for ourselves we

get small drips of

dopamine now let's talk about dopamine

maybe on a scale of 1 to 10 the numbers

are going to be irrelevant here but the

picture that is painted is what's going

to matter so if our dopamine is

regularly supposed to operate on a scale

of 1 to 10 our Baseline is somewhere

between a five six maybe upwards of a

seven now pursuing small meaningful

goals going to the gym working on a

project doing work outside on the home

to break to bring more Beauty into your

landscape those are moving you closer

toward a desired outcome you have

already told yourself that accomplishing

those

things will make your life better so

when you take small steps in progression

of those goals your dopamine may go from

from a six to a 7 and a half or possibly

to an

eight now with pornography because

pornography is a super normal

stimuli it takes your dopamine from a

baseline level of six to seven maybe

upwards of a 14 to

15 nothing in the natural world will

give you the stimulus that pornography

and drugs and alcohol and gambling do

these are super normal stimuli we're not

meant to live off of these things now

what's interesting and this is from my

conversation with Dr Anna lmy is our

dopamine works on a

cycle so with every increase in dopamine

in order for it to return back to

Baseline it must have a decrease of

equal measure so using that scale of 1

to 10 if you operate at a six but going

to the gym brings you towards a seven

and a half then somewhere shortly after

that workout you will fall back to a

four and a half

now if going up in the scale brings us

pleasure we must understand that going

down in the scale brings us pain and

pain often times associated with

dopamine is going to be lack of Drive

lack of

motivation perhaps intrusive or

depressive thoughts lack of purpose

meaning fulfillment on a small small

scale here I'm talking so when you go to

the gym and you feel really good you're

not going to become utterly depressed

shortly thereafter the scale wasn't big

enough but you may lose a little bit of

your motivation we've all experienced

this you after a workout you don't feel

like going to workout

again so that's how that scale works and

if we're operating in a natural way we

never deviate too far from our

Baseline but when we pull that lra of

pornography that supern normal stimuli

that takes us from a six to a 15 well

now we have a ninepoint spread we have a

margin of nine that we must have to make

up so in order for us to return back to

a

six our dopamine Baseline must drop to

A3 now

a-3 that's where the intrusive thoughts

can become really depressive that's

where the hopelessness can become into

play when you're in those stages you're

seeking anything that'll pull you out of

it right so whereas normally the music

the social media the

YouTube the going back to pornography

the let me find the next shiny

object because you're looking for that

shiny object to return you back to a 15

but you're at a three so you see what

I'm getting to here is your ADHD is not

a disease that you hold it's nothing

more than a dopamine deficiency that is

the byproduct of you constantly pulling

that lever of pornography now the more

regularly that you hit it the more you

return back to it the more you're going

to need more and more stimuli it's going

to create almost that puppy dog

experience in your life if you've ever

had a dog you know that a puppy cannot

stay attention for on anything for any

length of time every two seconds it's

something new and if you felt this way

in your life it's not because there's

something wrong with you there's

something wrong with the way that you're

living there's something wrong with the

way that you created your life so how do

you get out of this addiction how do you

cure your ADHD well check out the

12-step training rebuilt recovery.com

12ep

it's linked down there in the show notes

but here's some practical tips here

today for you get off pornography stop

consuming the behavior stop hitting that

button that is going to jump you from a

six to

15 set meaningful and purposeful goals

in your life on a daily

basis small tasks small wins small

accomplishments that when executed on

and

recognized are moving you closer towards

the man that you want to become and in

that recognition of doing the things

that are bringing me closer towards the

man that I want to become I will go from

six to s six to8 six to seven and a half

now I've created a healthy cycle of

dopamine because when you're in a four

you're not going to look for the Big

Shiny object to pull you out of it but

you look for the next thing to move you

closer towards your goals the next thing

to move you closer towards the man that

you want to become your ADHD is not a

disease it's not something that makes

you rare or unique

your ADHD is nothing more than a

byproduct of you constantly pulling that

lever of pornography and spiking your

dopamine and returning your dopamine

into a deficient

State and when you understand it and see

it through this lens the pathway out of

it is so clear to see because quitting

porn is not just about stopping the

behavior is about creating a life that

is Meaningful

purposeful and inspirational for you to

wake up every single day and attack so

like I said check out their training at

rebuilt recovery.com

12 steps it's linked down there in the

show notes below subscribe to the

podcast share this if you got value out

of it but I want to encourage you no

matter where you are in your

journey your freedom is not as far as

you believe it to

be begin to take action begin to build a

life that no longer needs wants or

desires pornography

and I'm telling you everything you hoped

dreamed and desired to become is sitting

there waiting for you Coach Frank the

rebuil man we love you guys we'll see

you in the next one

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