Porn Viewing Spikes Over Christmas
Why does porn use spike over Christmas?
Because family gatherings reopen old wounds. Jeremy Wiles explains that many men re-experience the dysfunction and trauma they grew up with when family comes together, and they feel like a child again. Porn becomes the medication for that pain. Google Trends shows porn searches peaking the week between Christmas and New Year's. Trying harder is not the fix; healing what drives the behavior is.
The latest review of Google Search Trends shows that the week of Christmas brings a spike of porn related search traffic in the US every year.
For leaders wondering where to begin, porn recovery resources for churches is a good resource.
While a popular porn site revealed that Christmas Day is their lowest day in the year for site traffic, data from Google Trends reveals that the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day brings a peak in porn related searches equaled only in mid Summer.
The dip on Christmas Day would suggest that people are typically with their families and friends for the holiday. That said, the Christmas period can be a very difficult time of year for those who have lost family members or friends, or may be spending Christmas alone.
Related Article: 4 Triggers To Be On The Lookout For This Christmas
The search trends following Christmas Day make a lot of sense given that a significant portion of Americans have been conditioned, since they were teenagers, to use porn to medicate emotional pain.
The Church
With 68% of men in the church already using pornography on a regular basis, Churches are in desperate need of a way to help men overcome pornography this holiday season.
Related Article: Why 68% Of Christian Men Watch Porn
The traditional approach that churches have used to address the porn issue is to tell men to try harder – pray more, read your bible more, memorize bible verses… But is this approach really working? A fascinating new cinematic study called the Conquer Series challenges this old approach. According to the film, men are seeking out porn to medicate the pain and worthlessness in their life.
According to the Director, Jeremy Wiles, “they usually find porn at a very early age and it helps them cope with the pain they’re facing in their childhood. But they don’t realize what the enemy is doing to their brain.”
Related Article: This Is What Your Brain On Porn Looks Like
Related Article: 5 Reasons Why Porn Use Increases During Christmas
Brain Problem
The film series reveals through scientific testimony the effects porn has on the brain – physically changing its structure and deactivating parts of the brain where moral decisions and reasoning are made. What starts out as a moral problem, quickly becomes a brain problem.
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“Most men without realizing it are medicating the beliefs they have about themselves: they are worthless, God hates them, if only people knew the real me. So, this increase in shame drives the need for more medication in the form of pornography, which releases dopamine and a concoction of other neurochemicals, and gives them a euphoric ‘high’,” says Jeremy Wiles.
Related Article: How To Delete Porn From Your Brain
So, why does porn use increase during the Christmas season? As an adult, have you ever been around your parents and felt like a child again?
According to Wiles, “Men are acting out around this time of the year partly because Christmas brings together families, which is a good thing, but many men re-experience the dysfunction and trauma they grew up with when their family comes together. They feel like a child again.”
“Trying harder doesn’t work. The answer is not to avoid spending time with family or make a pledge to never watch porn again, rather, it is to get into a process where you can find healing from what’s driving the behavior and learn biblical strategies to find freedom from porn,” says Wiles.
Related Article: When Trying Harder Isn’t Enough
Dr Ted Roberts, host of the Conquer Series says, “We are wounded in relationships, but we heal only in the context of relationships.”
Related Article: Addiction Doesn't Take A Break During Christmas
The Tides Are Turning
Thousands of churches across the nation are watching how the powerful information in the Conquer Series is bringing about real change within the hearts of men in their church.
The Conquer Series is a 10-week course for men that uses war analogies to help men understand the battle they’re facing with porn. Dr. Ted Roberts, host of the Conquer Series, has helped thousands of men find freedom. It has become “ground zero” in the movement to help men find freedom.
“Churches are in a great position to run a Conquer Group to help men find accountability and connect with others this Christmas Season and into the New Year,” says Wiles.
Related Article: How To Lead An Effective Conquer Series Group
If churches do that, they will help men break the bondage porn has on their life, and connect with the true meaning of Christmas – that God loves us so deeply that He sent His Son to Earth as a sacrifice for our sins.
“When men truly grasp God’s grace, his unrelenting love for them, that there is no condemnation in Christ – it gives them the freedom to not sin anymore,” says Wiles.
Get started with the Conquer Series on SoulRefiner.com today!
Writing at the intersection of faith and neuroscience to help men and women break destructive cycles and walk in lasting freedom.
More articles by Jeremy Wiles →Frequently Asked Questions
When is porn use highest during the year?
Google Trends shows the week between Christmas and New Year's Day producing a peak in porn-related searches matched only by mid-summer. Interestingly, Christmas Day itself is the lowest traffic day of the year for one major porn site, which suggests people are with family and friends. The surge comes right after, once the gathering is over and whatever it stirred up is still sitting there.
Does praying more and trying harder stop porn use?
No, and that is the hardest thing for a church to hear. The traditional approach tells men to try harder, pray more, read the Bible more, memorize more verses. Conquer Series director Jeremy Wiles is blunt about it: "Trying harder doesn’t work. The answer is not to avoid spending time with family or make a pledge to never watch porn again, rather, it is to get into a process where you can find healing from what’s driving the behavior and learn biblical strategies to find freedom from porn."
How does porn change the brain?
Scientific testimony shows pornography physically changes the structure of the brain and deactivates the regions where moral decisions and reasoning are made. What begins as a moral problem quickly becomes a brain problem. Each use releases dopamine and a mix of other neurochemicals that produce a euphoric high, which is exactly why a man can hate what he is doing and still find himself doing it again.
What role does shame play in porn use?
A central one. Conquer Series director Jeremy Wiles describes the loop: "Most men without realizing it are medicating the beliefs they have about themselves: they are worthless, God hates them, if only people knew the real me. So, this increase in shame drives the need for more medication in the form of pornography, which releases dopamine and a concoction of other neurochemicals, and gives them a euphoric ‘high’." Breaking that loop starts with grasping God’s grace and His unrelenting love.
What can a church do to help men over the holidays?
Run a Conquer Group. With 68 percent of men in the church already using pornography regularly, the holiday season is exactly when accountability and real connection matter most. Dr. Ted Roberts, host of the Conquer Series, puts the principle simply: "We are wounded in relationships, but we heal only in the context of relationships." That makes a group of men far more useful than another sermon on willpower, and churches are in a great position to start one heading into the New Year.
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