Are you addicted to porn? Statistics show that you probably are, so you don’t need to lie. In this article, you’re going to learn if you are and how to quit porn so you can start living a normal life again.
Quit porn now before it’s too late.
In fact 79% of men between the ages of 18 and 30 view pornography regularly every month. Overall 64% of men in the U.S of all ages watch porn on a regular basis, so you’re not alone dude.
Out of those men watching, you’re most likely wondering whether you watch too much right?
Well, the answer MAY be yes. This is what you’re going to find out by reading everything below.
If you are addicted to porn, then I’m going to help you put a stop to it, because it could eventually ruin your sex drive, relationship, future relationships and even have an affect on your career if it gets too bad.
If you’re not addicted, then great! You’re one of the few that can watch porn recreationally without it having any impact on your life.
But… it’s still good to know the signs of whether you are becoming addicted or not, just so you can quit it before it’s too late.
Ok, so let’s get started.
What is porn addiction and why does it affect you?
Does it really exist?
With the rise of Internet pornography and “tube sites” you can watch porn more easily now than ever before. The ability to check out porn relies solely on your ability to be connected to the internet.
Occasionally viewing pornography doesn’t mean you’re addicted though, so it’s important to identify the difference between casually viewing the graphic visual content and watching it to the point of developing a reliance on porn.
Porn addiction occurs when you view the content (regardless of if you get off with it or not) takes place without your control. Basically, you’ll have this urge to view the material and there is nothing you can do to really keep yourself from watching it.
“51% of male and 32% of female students first viewed porn before their teenage years (12 and younger)” source
If you suffer from porn addiction and you’re not able to control yourself regarding when you watch it, you’re not alone. While everyone’s a bit different, the addiction will affect you both mentally and physically. It’s also important to note that porn addiction is different from sex addiction.
The primary cause behind porn addiction also differs from sex addiction. You may turn to pornography when struggling with depression, low self-esteem, anxiety or other psychological issues in order to escape from the discomforts related to these problems and really just everyday life.
But why in the world would suffering from depression or anxiety cause you to turn to porn?
While viewing pornography, the content causes the brain to release neurotransmitter dopamine, which allows the brain to feel pleasure. You may also experience the release of adrenaline, oxytocin endorphins and serotonin.
Now, if you only occasionally views pornography, you’ll experience the same release of dopamine and biochemicals.
The situation becomes an addiction when you abuses the release of these biochemicals in order to avoid feeling depressed (or other psychological issues). In this way, addiction to pornography is similar to that of any other addiction.
Is porn addiction a real thing?
Surely it can’t be right?
Porn addiction is a very real thing. It’s not a made up term or catch phrase someone made up in order to excuse their behaviour as a disorder.
As the body releases chemicals within the brain, you’ll become addicted to the feeling of this chemical release. If you’re addicted, in a drive to experience the chemical release more frequently, you’ll return to the cause of the release, which is viewing pornography.
This quickly turns into the need to scour free porn sites more and more often. The definition of addiction states it’s the compulsive need for and use of a habit forming substance.
While not a substance in the physical, tangible sense, porn addiction is habit forming with a compulsive need to view the content in order to receive the chemical release in the brain.
6 Signs you are addicted to porn
Take note of these signs dude.
Of course, you need to know that just viewing pornographic material does not mean you are addicted. We’ve all had our moments. Even viewing porn multiple times a week does not mean anyone is addicted to porn.
Instead, there are very specific signs you have developed an addiction. Not all signs need to be present, but chances are if you have developed a reliance on pornography, you’ll show a good number of these signs.
1. Unable to be intimate/romantic
One of the most common signs of porn addiction is the inability to develop and sustain any kind of intimate, romantic relationship. Now, we all have our dry spells in the dating world. However, this inability stems from either no desire to form such a connection or not showing any desire to create a lasting relationship.
2. A feeling of disconnection and isolation
At the same time, despite not wanting to form such a bond, you may feel isolated, depressed and even shameful.
You may become disconnected with close family and friends while even drifting away from a current romantic partner both physically and emotionally.
3. Abnormal consumption of porn
In more direct signs of pornography addiction, you will spend hours, if not full days consuming porn, often at the detriment of finishing work, studying for school and spending time with friends.
“However, current research tells us that for approximately 5 to 8 percent of the adult population, porn use can evolve into an addictive behavior…” Source
The watching of porn for hours, if not days at a time is not just a continual jerk off session. In fact, little of the time will be devoted to self pleasure. That’s because an orgasm is the end of the viewing session, which marks a return to reality, with the biochemicals no longer released in the brain.
Are you consuming too much?
As the entire purpose of spending so much time with porn is to escape the feeling of everyday life, you probably won’t even attempt to get off with the porn until further into the viewing.
4. Unable to hold down a normal job
Due to the sheer volume of time spent watching porn, you’ll begin to struggle with your job, see grades fall and be reprimanded for openly viewing porn within the confines of a work or educational environment. This in turn can bring about legal issues connected to pornographic use.
5. Leads to other forms of addiction
With prolonged porn addiction, you may begin to combine pornographic use with other addict-forming items, such as drugs and alcohol. You can see how easy it is to form a new addiction right?
Habits whether good or bad are incredibly easy to continue if you don’t seek help or break the cycle yourself.
6. Sexual problems such as impotence
This combination opens up the risk of personal injury and they may develop sexual problems such as ED, the inability to reach orgasm and delayed ejaculation.
Just because you’re a porn addict, it doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to experience sexual issues in bed. But studies suggest that a recent sharp rise in sexual health problems amongst young men are a direct result of too much porn.
The side effects and dangers of porn addiction
If you spot any of these, be careful.
The dangers of porn addiction come in both mental and physical form. Understanding the side effects and dangers of porn addiction can help both those who are suffering from addiction realise the road they are traveling down is not a release from depression.
It can also illustrate to loved ones what someone is suffering from when they are addicted to porn, so be careful to look out for the signs above if that’s the case.
Mental Side Effects
As you develop an addiction to pornography, you’ll suffer a decline in any kind of personal relationship, whether it’s with family members, friends or even current romantic interests.
Additionally, while many addicts turn to porn as an escape from depression and anxiety, it can actually lead to an increase in both of these mental conditions.
This is because you’ll remove yourself from meaningful relationships, spend more time inside and won’t exercise as much, each of which are important factors in battling depression and anxiety in a healthy way.
“56% of divorce cases involved one party having an obsessive interest in pornographic websites.” Source
The increased feeling of depression and anxiety stems from your continual promise to change, the feeling of self-loathing for sexual acts performed during porn viewing and even the sheer powerless feeling over a your own actions.
So while the viewing of pornography provides a short release from several mental conditions, it ultimately digs you deeper into exactly what you’re trying to escape.
Physical Side Effects
When combined with a sex addiction, you and anyone else who suffers from porn addiction is far more likely to contract a venereal disease.
You could lose your boners.
In fact, according to the Departmental Management of the USDA, 45% of women and 38% of men who have a form of sex or porn addiction suffer from some sort of venereal disease.
For women, additional porn addiction stats indicate 70% will become pregnant with at least one unexpected pregnancy.
The 3 stages of porn addiction
Porn addiction recovery has several different stages. However you reached the point of porn addiction, when you’ve decided to quit porn, you will enter the first stage.
Thankfully, knowing how to stop porn addiction is the first step towards improving yourself. Like any other addiction there are always pitfalls along the way, but as you make your way through these three stages, you’ll increase your ability to quit porn.
And, as always, make sure to ask for porn addiction help if you need it as it is always easier to battle addiction when you have friends and loved ones around.
Stage One: The battle is about to begin
If you have decided to move forward with your quest to quit porn you’ll enter into the first stage. In this stage you may feel anger or even hatred towards yourself due to what pornography has done to you.
If the addiction manifested itself into a problem with work, grades and other relationships, it’s this time you’ll feel regret and spiteful.
You need to move past this stage as it may feel hopefully and, as you used pornography as a coping mechanism previously, you may fall right back into the same trap.
The beginning stage often requires the most initial structure. This is because after going a few days without viewing porn, it becomes difficult to stay away as the body calls for the crutch it has become accustomed to using.
Using filters on Internet devices and avoiding anything that may lead to sexual desire is necessary. It may also help to schedule tasks throughout the day to prevent yourself from extended downtime.
Sitting around, not doing anything and having all the time in the world on your hands often sends you back down the road to porn.
PRO TIP: As you prepare yourself to give up porn, it’s a good idea to write down what you want to do and what’s been done. A kind of checklist of goals. You’ll be surprised at how powerful this actually is as it plants seeds in your mind that tell your subconscious what you’re working towards.
Stage Two: The hardest part
While battling through stage one you may slip up from time to time, but as long as you don’t let it turn into a habit and dust yourself off from the small lapse you’ll be able to continue to improve.
With stage two, as you find ways to prevent yourself from viewing porn, you need to identify what causes you to go backwards and watch pornography.
This is where you can really look at your day, what you do, activities and other tasks you take part in and look for what might send you down the rabbit hole of pornography.
Stage two is more than just looking at what might cause you to look at porn. You also need to begin looking at what causes you to feel the urges as well (write those down). Where as seeing the cover of a Victoria’s Secret catalog may send you towards viewing porn, this process looks at why you are triggered in the first place.
“Of all activities on the Internet, porn has the most potential to become addictive.” Source
Sometimes this can be difficult to do or even painful. It is possible you view porn because you are especially depressed and the depression originated with a certain event or activity. Understanding what triggers you and why you’re triggered can help with correcting the urge in the first place.
Eventually during this phase, you’ll need to begin practicing reactions to triggers and avoiding the use of pornography when those triggers are activated.
For example, if the sight of a certain actress causes you to run for your computer to fire up the nude search, initially going without viewing the actress is important. However, at some point in your life you’ll likely see her picture again.
Now you’re in control.
You need to challenge your mind and body to go without the visual and mental stimulation of pornography. Your brain has become accustomed to receiving the biochemical release when viewing the actress.
By re-educating your mind and body that you will not receive the biochemical release, the trigger will start to go away.
Practicing in this way may require help from a close friend, advisor or another partner who can keep you honest and focused on the goals of quitting porn and avoiding the porn addiction side effects.
PRO TIP: Visit “no-fap” or addiction forums, meetup with friends, workout, read and do things that will help take your mind off thinking about watching porn. The more your mind is active on other things, the harder it is to form more bad habits.
Stage Three: Great work! Keep going
When you hit stage three, it means you’re doing well. Your old triggers are no longer hindering you and you can go extended periods of time without viewing pornography. Stage three is the stage you’re in for the rest of your life.
Battling off the desire to view porn is easier, but you will still have, from time to time, temptation. You may feel like you deserve a reward for making it so long. Or depression from another life event may hit, which can push you closer towards returning to pornography.
It’s important to stay vigilant and to be mindful of what is going on. While it is easier now to avoid the pitfalls of porn addiction, if you are not careful you can begin to slide back down this slippery slope. So while you’ve show incredible progress, you need to be mindful of what is going on.
PRO TIP: When you feel a strong urge to watch porn, do something that will distract your mind, like going to the gym, talking to a friend on the phone, working on a project that requires either left or right side thinking.
Porn Addiction Therapy: How To Quit Porn TODAY
Time to quit dude.
Porn is far more widespread than you might believe. In fact, according to Jeff Logue, Ph.D. (SAGU, 2015), 40 million American adults regularly visit porn sites.
10% of all adults admit to having some sort of Internet sexual addiction, and this is just those who admit it. The number is likely far higher when including those who do not admit to addiction.
In order to help battle porn addiction and make it through the three steps, it’s recommended to seek out porn addiction therapy.
Individual therapy is an excellent way to seek out help. It is recommended to set up an appointment with a certified mental health professional. There are some who focus specifically on sexual health, so when looking for a therapist, this is what you should consider.
Other kinds of individual therapy sessions can include cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which focuses specifically on your emotions, behaviour and it works to change the negative attributes in your life to positive thoughts.
This can help battle depression as well. Psychodynamic therapy is an unconscious form of therapy where digging through your unconscious memories may help identify the cause of your addiction.
Group therapy is conducted with multiple individuals who suffer from similar forms of addiction. The purpose of this kind of therapy is to help provide positive reinforcements from other members of the group.
You might want to consider couple’s or marriage counselling if you are in a relationship where porn addiction is causing significant problems.
Porn Addiction Relapse: What to do when you fall off the wagon
Here’s what you need to do.
Porn addiction relapse is not if you turn to view pornography one time. While it is never recommended to turn to porn when battling addiction, a relapse occurs when you fall back into the same pattern of viewing.
Perhaps it is a few days worth, or you use it to battle depression and revert back to what you had been doing before therapy. Relapses can happen in any form of coming clean from addiction.
What is important is to learn from what caused the relapse, brush yourself off and begin again. You can quit porn when you put your mind and focus to it. The process just takes time.
Quick tips for quitting porn: Do these every day… they work
Try these, all proven to work.
- Use a website blocker: Cut yourself off at the source and don’t give yourself a chance to get caught up in the same of old porn loop. Download a website blocker and restrict your ability to visit certain sites. You could even go one step further and ask your internet provider to block on porn sites at the ISP level.
- Replace bad habits: You’ve heard that humans are creatures of habit right? Well that’s because we are really damn good at doing the same thing or task on a regular basis. So swap out the porn habits with exercise, reading, meetup groups and side projects to keep your mind busy.
- Be more social: Socialising with your friends is a great way to keep your mind busy and your head in the right place. The more you spend away from being isolated with porn, the better.
- Don’t get emotionally involved: A lot of guys have a favourite porn star. This is a BAD idea. It means that you fantasise about them, invest emotionally in them and place them on a pedestal. This will only hinder your ability to connect with real women physically and mentally because they can’t meet your expectations.
- Identify your triggers: What things do you see, read or listen to that make you think about porn? Once you realise what triggers you to think about jerking off, stop doing that. There are likely several triggers right now that make you think of beating one out.
- Meditate: Yes, mediating works and you should be mediating instead of jerking it. Learning how to be more mindful will help you to control urges and make you feel more powerful.
- Take it day by day: Use a simple wall calendar to keep track of how many days you’ve lasted without porn. Don’t forget to add a cheat day for mastubration also. You’re not a monk!
Most common questions about porn addiction
Have a question?
Why is porn addiction a bad thing?
Porn addiction is bad because it prevents you from developing meaningful relationships. It can also cause problems with your work and schooling. Once it begins affecting your life, you know there’s a problem.
What’s the best way to control my porn addiction?
When first battling porn addiction, the best way to control yourself is to stay busy. Viewing porn is more likely to occur when you have too much free time. Whether it is heading to the gym, walking the dog or doing anything, you need to stay busy.
Eventually, your drive to fulfil your addiction will drop off. To help safeguard yourself, set up passwords and filters to prevent you from viewing the porn. It might help to have a friend set up the passwords so you can’t just turn the filters off.
Why is porn so addictive?
Porn is addictive because of the biochemicals the brain releases while viewing the content. Porn addiction actually shares similar traits with chemical addiction because it triggers the release of these “feel good” chemicals.
Your body then becomes accustomed to these chemicals released into the brain, which results in you returning to the cause of the chemical release, which is watching porn.
I’ve relapsed more than once, can I stop being addicted?
Everyone falls down and makes mistakes. It is important to not give up. You should also look at the mistakes and what caused you to relapse. When you do this you can identify what triggers your relapse and go about it differently the next time.
How to quit porn conclusion: What you need to do now…
Porn, like anything can be addictive. Now you can either let it take a hold of your life OR you can come to your senses and take control.
I’d strongly suggest you follow the steps above and even start today with the No Fap Challenge, just so you’re taking action. The important thing is that you DO SOMETHING immediately.
The more you do, the less likely will be to fall into old habits of watching your favourite pornstar sucking an oversized veiny penis.
If you’re not interested in quitting porn and need some inspiration, check these out:
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