the chaser effect how pornography consumption contributes to it I'm dr Trish leigh let's talk
about it in this video okay this is the video that many people have been asking for on the chaser
effect so in this video we are going to cover three things number one what is the chaser effect
number two what is happening in the brain to create it and unfortunately to create
a nasty negative feedback loop that keeps you going back to the screen over and over and over
then of course number three is your brain tip for the day how can you break that negative feedback
loop pattern interrupt it create a positive feedback loop for lasting change so you can
ride off into the sunset and thrive which is my goal for you okay let's dig in what is the chaser
effect in case you haven't heard of it so actually many people have been asking me to make a video
on this because so many people are experiencing the chaser effect what it is is especially after
you have abstained from watching pornography or masturbating if then you have a slip or a
relapse it can lead to a binge or a bender where you keep going back for more and more and more
especially if you've abstained so the chaser effect is basically after you watch pornography
and masturbate the feeling that you want to do it again you want to keep chasing
the dopamine and that's basically what it is and it comes down to dopamine and dopamine receptors
in the brain which we'll talk about in a second but just to make sure that you understand what i'm
talking about is especially in this porn brain reboot when we're trying to reboot your brain
and rewire it and if you have been able to stay away from the habit and your brain is going
through this rewiring process and for many of you you may have experienced that feeling that urge
that craving that hijacker talking to you in your brain telling you i've got a brilliant idea let's
go watch some porn when you have that thought dopamine's already being released into your brain
what will happen is your brain's getting the dopamine and if you give into it it will get
dopamine at that high high level that you haven't for a little while so if you've abstained for
a week or two weeks or three weeks your brain really wants itself to be bathed in that high
level of dopamine that you had given it in the past and maybe consistently and frequently with
even greater intensity in the past it wants it it is the hijacker telling you let's take a dopamine
bath in my brain okay so what's happening in your brain what happens is we know it's this flood of
dopamine into your system what you might not know is that at the same time the dopamine receptors
and without going into it there's different types but in particular d2 dopamine receptors
are actually lowered so the receptors that receive the signal that your brain is getting
dopamine are lowered so your brain actually needs more and more dopamine to kind of trigger that
signal that yeah in fact we're getting all this dopamine so that we can feel this easy button
instant gratification of the dopamine bath so when it comes to the chaser effect in particular
it goes back to these d2 dopamine receptors being dulled or being lowered and dopamine
signaling signaling is interrupted and it's not sending the signal throughout your brain
to tell you in fact we're getting this flood of dopamine so first of all it's created by too much
dopamine because this dopamine bath frys out the reward center in the middle of your brain it's
desensitizing these receptors and it is disrupting the signaling so how does it lead back to the
feelings that we're talking about in the chaser effect these this bath of dopamine and these lower
receptors make your brain want it again makes your brain want to chase it down now if you've watched
any of my other videos and you hear me talk about dopamine i basically always call it the
pleasure seeking neurotransmitter because we think it's the neurotransmitter that gives us pleasure
what it actually is is the neurotran transmitter that makes us want to continue to find pleasure
it seeks pleasure keeps moving towards it so basically that end goal is always moving and
that's what's happening in the chaser effect you get a ton of it the receptors are lowered the
signal signaling is disrupted your brain wants more and more of it because it just got a hit
so basically what your brain is telling you is we just got this big hit let's do it again and
your brain wants to get more and more and more what that can lead to is a binge and a massive
dopamine flood now i work with so many people that i can see into their brain performance pattern
using brain mapping and neurofeedback and what i can see is after a slippery relapse like that
the brain is really in a dysregulated pattern it is just low and slow
and that's why you feel numbed out but what it leads to is not being able to think brain fog
those feelings of maybe regret maybe guilt because that will lead you to the change
point which is going to be one of your brain tips for today i actually have a couple of them
but what's happening is dopamine is actually lowered after you get that dopamine flood
and so then now that's why your brain's seeking it even more we also know that there's an a b effect
when it comes to a pornography cycle which just about everybody has so if you're in the reboot
stage and you're not giving your brain the dopamine that it wants on its typical cycle
it's going to want it even more and that's where you're gaining the strength in your journey
by creating the new neural pathways for change so every time you're able to abstain from an urge
or craving you're laying the new optimal neural pathway in place and so if you continue to take
that pathway by continuing to have the strength and the commitment the discipline the resilience
to be able to take the new pathway that pathway is going to be come trampled down and you'll be
able to take it with greater ease and the old pathway will weed over and cover itself up and
that way you won't have to keep going back to the screen okay so that's basically the chaser effect
it's your brain telling you we need to keep keep going back for more and more because i don't want
these lower levels of dopamine i like the levels you just gave me but sometimes the things that
make us feel good aren't good for us many times unfortunately right so remembering the damaging
effects that that dopamine bath can have on your brain can help you stay the course and take the
new neural pathways using these three brain tips okay so i have three brain tips for you today
number one i basically already alluded to is that in the in a pornography consumption cycle that
just about everybody has there is a pivot point which i've talked about in other videos in this
video i want to talk about the change point the change point happens at the bottom of the cycle
and so after you've given your brain that massive release of dopamine
hopefully right before you go back for more with because of the chaser effect what can happen is
that's when you have the feelings like i shouldn't have done that i don't want this for my life this
doesn't fit in with my moral congruency like we've talked about before when you have those feelings
that's the change point that's when people reach out to me uh to schedule consultations it happens
all the time people say to me i'm not really sure why i made the appointment i know it's because
you were in that change point you were in the point where your brain pattern was telling you
your brain was saying let's not keep abusing me in this way let's heal me so that i can work for you
for the rest of your life and my life instead of me controlling you that's the change point
so if you experience the change point reach out to someone because that's your best time that you
might actually be able to reach out for help and that you'll be able to receive the help that you
need to break this cycle if you're interested your brain will thank you because once the cycle keeps
moving forward that change point is going to move towards guilt and shame again and that shame is
going to trigger the cycle all over so if you're in that change point take it uh let it lead you
towards becoming a better version of yourself okay so then next we want to talk about the chase her
effect or and i've borrowed this from your brain on porn i saw it on one of the pages that someone
wrote about their anecdotal experience saying that instead of using the chaser effect to go back to
the screen during their reboot what they did was take that chaser effect and make it the chase
her effect and chase their honey for more actual sex in the real world with a real live
human being so you can change that effect still get your needs met and the needs of your brain met
but we know when you are having actual sex a real experience instead of uh you
know the fourth wall experience that you get when you're consuming pornography yes you're going to
get lower levels of dopamine but it's going to give your brain the perfect amount of dopamine
and it's going to be lower levels of intensity but it's going to be mixed with intimacy and
with connection and you're going to get serotonin and oxytocin to couple your brain to your partner
in the real world so chase her instead of chase er back to the screen which leads me to you the third
uh brain tip for the day is that when you are in a reboot journey or if you're on a no fap journey i
want you to remember that your goal for sexuality is changing it's no longer getting this massive
intense dopamine flood in your brain that is causing damage you have to change your goal and
remember this the goal is what i just talked about lower levels of balanced neurotransmitter release
for intensity and for happiness and for connection so remind yourself of what your goal is that is
your goal lower levels of neurotransmitters at the perfect level to be able to balance out your
experience so that you can have real experiences in the world with real human beings not this
massive intensity that is literally bringing you back to the screen in that negative feedback
loop it's pulling you back you give your brain what it wants at too high of levels which then
pulls it back you have to interrupt that pattern to be able to be free from it a positive feedback
loop is you give your brain the perfect amount of neurotransmitters and once it rewires itself
it's going to want those levels and it's going to want the experience and the connection the
balanced aspect of it so change your goal from unhealthy sexuality at these high high levels high
highs low lows that are really bad for your brain and bad for your life and change your goal to
balanced in the middle using that perfect brain speed for calm focus which not only is going to
help you in your sexuality but is also going to help you in your focus you're not going to feel
as stressed out you're going to be able to get on purpose in your work in your relationships
you're going to be calmer you can get back to enjoying your hobbies balance spreading it out
so hopefully you'll be able to go do that if you're looking for help on your journey please
reach out to me at drtrishleigh.com i have my porn brain reboot programs at three different levels
so that i can help you at different price points or investments and different levels
of support and remember that i'm in the midst of setting up the nonprofit organization so all of
your contributions go right back into the cause so that i can help you more and that we can help more
people together and i so appreciate you being here and helping me to help you and to heal your brain
and help us help other people heal theirs too so remember control your brain or it'll control you