Participants: Margot Marshall (Host), Dr. Eddie Ramirez
Series Code: HL
Program Code: HL000026A
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00:14 Welcome to "Healthy Living!"
00:16 I'm your host Margot Marshall. 00:18 Today we explore research on the connection between 00:22 sex addiction and mental health. 00:24 We recommend parental guidance for this program. 01:05 We live in a sex-crazed society, 01:07 are there negative consequences to that? 01:10 Let's ask our guest, Dr. Eddie Ramirez. 01:13 Welcome Eddie! Thank you. 01:14 We're looking forward to what you have to tell us 01:16 about this connection with mental health. 01:19 Yes, this is an extremely important subject because 01:23 there are many people struggling with this subject. 01:27 And you know, in the old days, #1- It was less 01:33 available and #2- If you wanted access to this type of 01:38 material like pornography, you have to show up your face. 01:42 You have to go to the store and people could see you, etc., etc. 01:47 But today, many people with the advent of the internet 01:52 have easy access to these types of material. 01:57 And, many people actually struggle and they would 02:00 like a solution from this, so stay-tuned, 02:04 we will give you some good strategies 02:07 for you to conquer this, and the reason why is that 02:10 we have quite a bit of experience with this 02:13 because we have a residential mental health program, 02:18 and I can tell you that many of those patients 02:22 actually have a history of using these type of materials, 02:28 and we know that in order for them to get better, 02:32 they actually need to deal with this issue. 02:36 So that's a contributing factor to their mental illness? 02:39 That's right, in fact, I have published in the 02:43 "Journal of Sexual Health," two important papers. 02:48 One of them showing how sexual relationships outside 02:54 of marriage are related to worsened depression, 02:58 and that included masturbation in that sample. 03:03 It was a big sample, 5,600 participants. 03:07 In the second study that is also published in the 03:09 "Journal of Sexual Medicine," is how this behavior 03:14 also decreases what is called "emotional intelligence." 03:19 Emotional intelligence is related to your ability 03:23 to interact with other people, 03:26 so it's a very important factor in success. 03:29 If you want to find this research, search 03:34 "ResearchGate Ramirez and Depression," 03:38 and you will find that in your Google. 03:40 Alright, then "Ramirez," and you're spelling 03:42 that "R-a-m-i-r-e-z?" Correct! Okay. 03:46 And you know, there are some interesting studies that 03:50 have been done with animals. 03:52 For example, you get a female rat that is receptive 03:57 and you put, in that same cage, a male - immediately 04:02 the male will start to do his romantic-type of approaches; 04:09 there will be copulation and this will be repeated, repeated 04:12 until it slows down and he doesn't want anymore. 04:16 You introduce another female to the cage and, you know, 04:21 the pattern starts again. 04:23 It starts getting romantic, copulation takes place 04:26 with the new rat, but also he gets tired of her. 04:29 You introduce another one and the same pattern continues. 04:33 This happens until this male rat is completely exhausted. 04:40 This effect has been given a name and we call this 04:44 "The Coolidge Effect" in which with novelty 04:49 these patterns start to restart. 04:52 And you know, this is exactly the same situation 04:56 that happens with humans and pornography. 05:00 The reason why is that there is novelty and the availability 05:05 of something new and the pattern repeats and repeats and repeats, 05:12 but this has negative effects in mental health 05:15 as we will talk about it in a minute. 05:17 Yes, that's a really big concern, I mean, I don't 05:20 know whether people have made that connection 05:22 that there's also an effect on your mind 05:25 or your mental health, really, not just on physical aspects. 05:29 So talk more about that. 05:31 And by the way, this not only happens in males, 05:35 but this effect also can occur in females, 05:40 and, if given the opportunity, both males and females 05:45 will behave in this way. 05:48 So in order to understand this topic, we need to review 05:53 a little bit an important chemical that we have 05:57 in our brain that is called "dopamine." 06:00 And the reason why you pursue sex is because you are 06:06 pursuing this dopamine. 06:09 And you know, this reward circuit is a very important 06:14 part of our brain - there's a reason why it's there. 06:18 And we can see on the screen a little bit about this 06:21 dopamine reward system. 06:22 We see that on top of that we have food, sex, love, 06:28 friendship, novelty and this naturally reinforces 06:32 are contrasted with natural addictive substances. 06:38 And the reason why we have this circuit, the Creator 06:44 put it there for a reason because when we are active, 06:49 we are focusing in work, in something else - school 06:55 and so forth, we are very focused on that. 06:57 The reason why God put that in us is because those things 07:03 reminds us that there are other 07:07 important things in life like eating. 07:09 If not, you would be working so focused in your work, 07:13 you would forget about eating. 07:16 You would forget about resting and there are things that 07:21 gives us this pleasure when we do it - so that we can 07:25 break our focus and concentrate in other things that 07:29 actually help us with our survival. 07:31 So when you are aware that you're hungry 07:34 via the dopamine system, then you start thinking, 07:37 "Well, what am I going to eat? Where am I going to eat? 07:41 When am I going to eat? With whom am I going to eat?" 07:44 And so forth, then your mind starts planning due to the 07:48 reminder that this dopamine circuit gives you. 07:51 And you know, this is very fascinating - the more 07:55 you want something, the more the amount of dopamine 08:00 that will be secreted. 08:02 So if there is no dopamine, you usually will ignore that. 08:07 For example, chocolate cake, ice cream - those you have a 08:11 big amount of dopamine, while celery - not that much. 08:17 And you know, sexual stimulation and orgasm 08:22 are one of the biggest natural secretors of that dopamine 08:28 in the brain - that's why the people seek that. 08:32 And that's why this dopamine has been called 08:34 "the molecule of addiction." Okay. 08:38 So when this mechanism is used with moderation 08:48 and so forth, it's a big blessing, you know. 08:50 You actually tend to have more of a balance in your life 08:57 and so forth. 08:58 But when this reward system is being overloaded 09:05 with excess or with material like pornography, 09:12 things start going out of that balance and this is 09:17 when you actually start having a very negative effect 09:21 in your whole being because not only your mental health 09:25 suffers but also things like productivity and creativity 09:30 get affected by this. 09:31 And you know, these supernormal stimulants, for example 09:39 the novelty of the pornography and so forth, override 09:44 your brain satiation mechanisms that would say, 09:49 "You know, this is enough." 09:51 But you're bringing that overstimulation and 09:55 this actually rewires the brain. 09:58 In other words, the brain changed - so instead of 10:01 saying, "I'm done," the person wants more of this 10:07 dopamine stimulation and this has negative effects. 10:12 So the negative effects are - what are we talking about here? 10:16 What we were talking at the beginning such as mental 10:21 depression, low emotional intelligence, but also 10:25 an unbalance in life. 10:28 So these things start to run your life, and you know, 10:32 you're supposed to go to work, enjoy your work 10:35 and play with friends and talk to family and so forth, 10:39 but you're so concentrated in seeking the stimulation 10:45 of the dopamine in your brain, that there is an unbalance 10:49 and you start neglecting things that are a normal part of life 10:55 in order to seek the super stimulation 10:59 by the novelty of the material and so forth. 11:03 So things like unhealthy food, unhealthy sexuality, 11:08 are more addictive, according to neuroscientists, 11:12 than alcohol and the anticipation of the reward 11:17 and the novelty amplifies the signal of the dopamine 11:21 and this and that changing a part of your brain 11:26 that is called the "limbic system." 11:29 Okay, that's where you have your feelings, your emotions. 11:32 That's right and things go out of control. 11:35 Your frontal lobe should be what humans should use 11:40 to guide their decisions, but when you are 11:44 overstimulating your dopamine reward system, 11:47 your limbic system is the one that takes control, 11:50 and it is like putting a child as president - for example, 11:56 it is disaster! Yes. 11:58 You know, because it is, "Oh, I want this, I want that," 12:01 not thinking about consequences and long-term 12:06 effects and so forth. 12:08 So there are some stages that the brain starts to go through 12:11 as this overstimulation of the dopamine system 12:16 is taking place. 12:18 #1... You start losing your sensitivity. 12:23 And those receptors in your brain that are supposed to 12:26 receive the signal of the dopamine - start to decrease. 12:32 That means that in order to get the same high 12:36 or the same pleasurable effect in your brain, 12:40 You need higher and higher stimulation, and you know 12:45 this is a big problem worldwide. 12:47 People start getting into more of a hard material and so forth, 12:54 even to the level of pedophilia and so forth because 12:57 the usual one doesn't even give them that dopamine pleasure 13:02 and that's why they seek that more perverse-type 13:06 of material and so forth. 13:09 And, the interesting thing is that the more pleasure 13:13 they seek for their dopamine reward system - the less 13:16 pleasure they get. 13:18 That's interesting isn't it? 13:19 It's just the very opposite of what you would hope for. 13:22 And this is what Solomon experienced - if you read 13:26 Solomon's Book, he describes - Oh King Solomon, yes. 13:31 Ecclesiastes, that's right, how he was seeking 13:34 all the pleasure that he wanted. 13:37 What happened to him? 13:38 He ended up depressed exactly because of that. 13:43 If you are not familiar with that, Google on the internet 13:45 the Book of Ecclesiastes, it's a very interesting study, 13:49 how pleasure instead of creating a happy king, 13:55 he actually became a miserable person. 14:00 He had quite a bit of excess 14:02 when it came to women, didn't he? 14:03 Women and building and food, and whatever 14:07 he wanted, he got it. 14:09 I think he had something like 900 women all together. 14:12 That's right! And he lost the pleasure of having 14:18 you know, a normal relationship as God had designed it. 14:24 There's a saying in Spain that says, "The one that has 14:31 slept with one woman - has slept with all of them; 14:36 the one that has slept with all of them - has slept with none." 14:39 And there is very much truth in that saying - how you lose, 14:45 you know, that blessing and pleasure that God 14:49 wanted human beings to experience as you take 14:52 this to excess has negative consequences. 14:54 So they start having something that is called, 14:56 "a super memory of pleasure." 15:00 And you know, the person starts seeking this pleasure 15:04 cutting corners, lying and having behaviors that 15:11 are negative in order to accomplish that - and they 15:16 need higher amounts and this is the stage in which 15:22 depression starts coming in, anxiety starts coming up, 15:26 and things start not to go well. 15:30 Then you go to the third stage which is called, 15:33 "hypofrontality," the frontal lobes of the brain 15:37 that are supposed to be the guide and 15:40 where you take your decisions, start not to work very much 15:46 because the limbic system - the animal part of the human brain 15:51 starts to take over and this actually leads to 15:56 very bad consequences. 15:58 And the thing of it is that there's actually 16:00 a rewiring at the level of the brain - the neurons start to 16:05 connect in different patterns and so forth. 16:09 So there's actually something physical happening in the brain, 16:12 physical changes rewiring, yes. 16:15 The impulses are reduced - your ability to control 16:20 your impulse as your will is weakened and you're not 16:26 able to foresee the consequences of your actions. 16:30 And here, the limbic system is guiding; frontal lobe is 16:34 decreasing and that is actually not very good. 16:38 Now during that time in which there is that decrease 16:44 in the relationship of a normal couple, there's a reason 16:48 why the desire comes down. 16:51 It is because the brain needs some rest; the body needs 16:56 some regeneration and so forth, and when you are forcing 17:00 the body beyond that point, you actually end up 17:04 having negative consequences. 17:07 There's research that shows that androgen receptors 17:11 decrease, estrogen increases. And you know - 17:16 Tell us about androgen receptors. That's right. 17:19 This is when the testosterone comes in and we can see 17:24 here on the screen - reduced androgen receptors, 17:28 higher estrogen receptors - an increase in opioids 17:31 that dampen the libido. 17:34 And the androgen receptors is what gives the drive 17:40 to a human being. 17:42 The reason why, you know, some people have these leadership 17:48 abilities and so forth, androgen receptors are 17:51 working very well - enough levels of testosterone 17:55 are present and we can see here about the importance 17:59 of the testosterone and the androgen receptors. 18:03 This is what brings creativity; this is what brings persistence; 18:07 this is what brings courage! 18:09 And you know, we also know that some of the greatest 18:14 physical and mental accomplishments are done 18:18 among single people before marriage. 18:21 And these positive associations between testosterone level 18:25 and spatial cognitive function and memory 18:28 for verbal and visual stimuli are less in males - so you can 18:34 see that this is very important. 18:37 So what couples tend to do when they start reducing 18:43 having these types of situations, is that sometimes 18:48 they try to awaken this by artificial stimulation such as 18:58 they go ahead and try to use, if they're a couple, 19:03 they try to have access to pornography and so forth, 19:06 possibly to spice up a little bit the 19:08 relationship and so forth. 19:10 And you know, this actually has negative consequences 19:15 because this starts to actually, instead of making 19:22 the emotions between the couples more strong, you actually 19:26 end up separating and then strange forms are introduced 19:32 such as bonding and pain inflicted-type of situations 19:40 and all kinds of aberrations in order to somehow 19:45 overstimulate that dopamine system - that is there's a 19:51 reason why saying, "You know, calm down," because 19:55 regeneration takes place and this actually creates 19:59 many emotional and problems 20:04 between the relation of the male and the female. Yes. 20:07 Well I was just thinking about, you know, this overstimulation 20:09 and a very similar kind of thing can happen with food 20:13 where you really have had enough - you know you have 20:16 and you're feeling full and you even get to the point 20:18 of feeling like, "Oh, I think I'll be sick if I have any more, 20:21 but it tastes so good." 20:23 And do you know, I seem to recall that (was it the Romans?) 20:28 they would probably go out and vomit, so they could come back 20:31 and eat more. To come and eat again - that's right. 20:33 And keep doing it, and it's like is this the same kind 20:37 of thing going on here. It's something similar, 20:38 that's right - that's right. 20:39 The body is saying, "Enough, I cannot deal 20:43 with anymore of this," and I guess too that constant 20:47 sexual activity would deplete a lot of other things 20:51 in the body - I don't know about that, but there 20:54 must be some kind of depletion. 20:56 Vitamin B12 and other things actually get 20:59 depleted as a result of this. Yes. 21:02 And the same thing happens, you know this experiment 21:04 with the rat that I was mentioning, the same thing 21:06 happens with monkeys. 21:08 They get this female monkey, they actually gave her 21:11 hormones so that she is very receptive - you put a male 21:15 monkey and suddenly he's going to get tired of 21:18 that female monkey and then you introduce another female 21:23 monkey with stimulation with the hormones and the monkey 21:30 again wakes up and so forth, and we're understanding now 21:33 that actually dopamine is the one that is saying, "stop it." 21:37 And if you are going above that, you actually end up 21:41 rewiring the brain in a negative sense. 21:44 And there's another important hormone there called, 21:47 "PEA," and that PEA is the reason why when there 21:53 is a new relationship, you start getting in love 21:58 and so forth - you kind of become blind to the situation. 22:03 And people say, "Oh are you blind or what's 22:05 happening to you?" 22:07 It is because that PEA makes you take away 22:16 from the important things and you're 22:17 just focusing on that particular situation because you want to 22:21 advance it and so forth. 22:23 So now we explain, you know, what's the problem 22:26 and what are the implications of this - why don't we talk 22:30 about some solutions? Are we doomed by this? 22:34 Absolutely not! 22:36 And what we do is that when we are overstimulating 22:43 the system, we can see on the screen, this can have 22:47 some negative consequences. 22:50 When you are under that overstimulation, 22:54 there are plastic changes - your head is literally changing. 23:00 And, you reduce those estrogens, there's higher estrogen and 23:04 there is an increase in opioids. 23:06 So how can we come back to normality? 23:11 See, what we need to do, we need to do what we 23:15 apply to our participants - that is called, "the 90-day reboot," 23:22 that's the name of this method that we like to utilize 23:26 with our participants. 23:28 In that 90-day reboot, we asked participants - no pornography, 23:34 no masturbation and if you are married - no excess 23:41 in your relationships - we would like to keep 23:46 that to once a week. 23:48 During those 90 days, if you are not married, 23:53 we would like for you not to get involved in 23:56 any type of sexual stimulation, 24:00 and you know what happens, the brain starts to rewire. 24:05 So we're looking at about 3 months here. That's right! 24:09 It takes DISCIPLINE! 24:11 And you know, we have many, many testimonies about this. 24:16 In fact, there is a good website if somebody 24:20 is dealing with this situation. 24:23 The name of the website is yourbrainonporn.com 24:28 It is a forum with many people if you are struggling with 24:32 this, you can access that, this is completely free. 24:35 Just say that again, the website. 24:36 yourbrainonporn.com (your brain on porn.com) 24:40 And people that are seeking help - for example, let me 24:44 read you one of the testimonies from the website. 24:48 It said: "Masturbated 5 times today and all the 24:50 old depressive feelings came back. 24:53 I could clearly see that the depression was not because 24:56 I felt bad about relapsing, but because I didn't. 25:01 It was all about my brain, it got depressed, paranoid 25:05 and very anxious 30 minutes after my binge. 25:09 I finally understood it now, not just in the abstract but 25:14 as a matter of experience, I recognize the feelings 25:17 that often made me depressed and socially awkward. 25:20 My solution was all the time the problem. 25:23 I never suspected masturbation had this big impact 25:27 on my whole life." 25:28 And you know, there are so many positive effects 25:32 when somebody has that 90-day reboot. 25:38 People report feeling much better, feeling alive, 25:42 feeling like a man again, interacting much better 25:46 with people, thinking more clearly. 25:50 Physically, they feel stronger; mentally, their memory 25:54 works better and I could tell you story after story 25:58 about what a blessing this is. 26:01 And I want to leave the viewers with one last resource that 26:05 that I have seen in the clinical experience 26:08 that it works very well and that is a little book 26:12 by the name of: "Steps to Christ," 26:15 or I know they also have another name of it? 26:18 Oh, it's also being put out under the title: 26:20 "Paths to Peace," but it's exactly the same book. 26:28 That is a public domain book, you can access that book 26:32 on your tablet, on your computer or you can 26:36 Google and order either one of those copies. 26:39 It's just a tiny, little book that will help you get 26:44 victory over this type of behavior. 26:46 The author of that book was a prolific writer, more than 26:50 100 years ago and she is the most translated female author 26:55 in the history of literature. 26:57 She was named by the "Smithsonian Institute" 27:02 as one of the 100 most influential Americans 27:07 of all time - up there with Abraham Lincoln 27:10 and Heller Keller, and so on. 27:13 So she is a very respected author and writes beautifully, 27:17 and even though that book has been written a long time ago, 27:21 it has been translated to well over 100 languages. 27:24 And we know that very well among addictions, you know. 27:28 If you analyze, for example, the steps that the 27:34 Alcoholic Anonymous do, even though that is not 27:38 per se a religious program, the last steps there 27:44 talk about recognizing that there is a God and asking 27:48 that God for victory! 27:50 Believe me, He has the power to help you go ahead 27:54 and experience it in your own life. 27:56 In fact, that program didn't work until they introduced the 28:00 spiritual component and this book is her masterpiece 28:04 on spirituality - there is nothing better 28:06 than "Steps to Christ," so yes, I would really think that 28:09 was a great way to go. 28:11 So in closing, I would encourage you to tap into your 28:14 spiritual resources to help you to take charge of your 28:18 whole life and if you'd like to watch our programs on demand, 28:22 just go to our website at 3abnaustralia.org.au 28:26 Just click on the watch button, and God bless you! |
Revised 2019-12-09