Hooked: The Brain Science on How Casual Sex Affects Human Development - Paperback

by Joe S. McIlhaney Jr (Author), Freda McKissic Bush (Author)

How sex is rewiring your brain--for good and for bad

What does a three-pound brain have to do with one's sex life? A lot, actually.

Hooked is about what's happening to your brain when you're having sex. With scientific data put in layman's terms, this book demonstrates that:

• Sexual activity releases chemicals in the brain, creating emotional bonds between partners. This is great news for marriages!
• Once formed, however, breaking these bonds can have damaging effects on the brain such as depression and difficulty bonding with someone else in the future.
• The continual forming and breaking of these bonds can have permanent effects on a person's brain.

PLUS! This updated edition also includes a brand new chapter about the effects of pornography on the brain.

All this data about bonding, sex, and pornography has important implications in a casual sex culture. Regardless of what we wish were true, the facts tell us "safe sex" isn't as safe as it seems. Learn about your brain, the positive effects of sex within permanently committed relationships, and how you can protect yourself (especially your brain) from the dangers of casual sex.

Front Jacket

"Today, thanks to breakthroughs in neuroscience research techniques, scientists have been able to literally view the activity of the brain as it functions. With state-of-the-art mapping and imaging tools, researchers have unlocked a new world of data on what happens between your ears each day. In addition, new methods of tracking brain chemicals have allowed scientists to understand when and how much of these chemicals are released and how they influence behavior. We now have scientific studies about brain function and sexual thoughts and behavior that are not only fascinating but are true breakthroughs in our understanding of ourselves and the intriguing part of our behavior called sex.

And yes, this new science does establish once and for all that more happens during sex than physical activity or the transfer of secretions, sperm, or germs. What we now know from science is what some have been saying for years--that the largest and most important sex organ is the brain. In fact, the brain itself is being molded by sexual behavior."

--From Hooked

Back Jacket

"I had no idea having sex as a teenager could affect the rest of my life."

What does a three-pound brain have to do with one's sex life? A lot, actually.

Breakthroughs in the burgeoning field of neuroscience explain the impact of sex on the developing brains of adolescents and young adults.

Through scientific data put in layman's terms, this book demonstrates that:

• Sexual activity releases chemicals in the brain, creating emotional bonds between partners.
  
• Breaking these bonds can cause depression and make it harder to bond with someone else in the future.
  
• Chemicals released in the brain during sex can become addictive.
  
• The human brain is not fully developed until a person reaches their mid-20s. Until then, it is harder to make wise relationship decisions.

Parents and others who care about young people now have the facts to steer them away from making life-changing mistakes, and lead them toward reaching their full potential.

Author Biography

JOE S. MCILHANEY JR., M.D., is a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist. In 2001, Dr. McIlhaney was appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. He also serves on the Advisory Committee to the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. McIlhaney has co-authored over six books including Hooked: The Brain Science on How Casual Sex Affects Human Development, and 1001 Health-Care Questions Women Ask. Dr. McIlhaney resides in Austin, Texas with his wife, Marion.

FREDA MCKISSIC BUSH, M.D., is a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist and a partner in private practice with East Lakeland OB-GYN Associates in Jackson, Mississippi. She currently serves as Medical Director of the Center for Pregnancy Choices Metro Jackson and the Henry M. Johnson Women's Resource Crisis Pregnancy Center. Freda spends much of her time speaking on sexuality and social behavior education. Her passion is to help women "raise a standard" to become who they were created to be. To that end, she teaches and encourages a lifestyle of abstinence until marriage and fidelity within marriage. She co-authored her first book, Hooked, with Dr. Joe S. McIlhaney, in 2008.