Young boys' brains 'rewired' by excessive video games and porn

Renowned psychologist warns of the dangerous affects the digital world has on young boys.

Young men, spending a lot of time playing video games and watching pornographic materials, are becoming digitally rewired, warns renowned psychologist Philip Zimbardo in his new book, "Man (Dis)connected." Zimbardo believes this is a social crisis people must look into.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - This new addiction leads boys into failing academically, socially and sexually like never before, Zimbardo states. He argues that because of the isolation these inordinate activities cause for young men, they are becoming detached with real life experiences.

"It begins to change brain function... it happens more in boys' brains than girls' brains. Boys' brains are becoming digitally rewired," explains Zimbardo, American Psychological Association's former president, noting that this over consumption characterizes another addiction mostly harming young people.

Playing five or more hours of video games, with a break in between of watching porn, is an excessive activity deteriorating the mental capacities of these boys. The description was made after conducting a survey with 20,000 respondents, majority of which were young men.

The new addiction, as he argues in the book, creates a different level of issues parents and the public must address now.

"Kids are getting turned on by watching videos, but physiologically they are less aroused. We called it P.I.E.D. - Porn Induced Erectile Dysfunction," said the psychologist as cited in The Blaze. The isolation and alternatives the gaming and explicit materials offer young men are perceived as "far less demanding and far more appealing for many than sex, sports and social interaction in the real world."

Zimbardo encourages parents, guardians and the general public to determine and supervise what their kids and young people consume digitally. He believes the impact of this addiction to cognitive and social development will transcend to the young people's lives in the future.

The book was co-authored by Nikita D. Coloumbe.

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