From Crisis to Connection: Dr. Don Hilton - Your brain on porn - an interview with a brain surgeon - Episode 26

In this episode I interview Dr. Don Hilton, a world-renowned neurosurgeon and expert on the impact of pornography on the brain. He is the author of "He Restoreth My Soul: Understanding and Breaking the Chemical and Spiritual Chains of Pornography Addiction Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ".

In this episode, we discuss: 

- Is pornography really an addiction?
- What pornography does to the brain and why pornography is so addictive. 
- The different parts of the brain that are impacted by addiction
- How the brain becomes out of balance so it’s more difficult to resist the addiction.
- How can brain heals from the impact of pornography. 
- A challenge to the belief that it’s religious shame that causes pornography problems, not pornography itself. 
- How modern pornography is exploiting our mirror neurons to create more addiction.
- The difference between “viewing" pornography versus “participating" in pornography and how future innovations in virtual reality and haptic devices will make pornography even more addictive. 
- Why we can’t minimize the need to do more in-depth treatment with individuals participating in pornography

Biography

Donald L. Hilton, Jr. M.D. graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Lamar University, and cum laude with a medical degree from the University of Texas, where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. He was trained as a neurosurgeon at the University of Tennessee, and is a clinical associate professor of neurosurgery at the University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio.

Dr. Hilton speaks nationally and internationally in the field of minimally invasive spinal surgery, and has published book chapters, peer-reviewed journal papers, and developed techniques widely used in this subspecialty. He is currently listed in Best Doctors in America, and as a Texas Super Doctor and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.

Dr. Hilton also publishes and speaks on the subject of pornography and sexual addiction. He and his wife received the “Guardian of the Light” award from the anti-pornography organization Lighted Candle Society in 2008, where Dr. Hilton gave the keynote address, “Pornography and the Brain: Understanding the Addiction.” He authored the book He Restoreth My Soul, which explores the effects of pornography on the brain, along with spiritual paradigms of healing. His publications on the subject include

Pornography Addiction: A Neuroscience Perspective. Surgical Neurology International, manuscript in press, Donald L. Hilton Jr., MD, Clark Watts, MD, JD.
Slavemaster: How Pornography Drugs and Changes Your Brain. Salvo Magazine.
Hagelin: Addiction to Porn is Real, Destructive. Washington Times
“As a Swallowed Bait: How Pornography Addicts and Changes the Brain.” BYU Law School, “Stand for the Family” Symposium.
He and his wife, Jana, are the parents of five children and have three grandchildren.

Contact Dr. Hilton at [email protected]