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How To Stop Porn Addiction? Useful Ways From Experts 2023
Updated on
- Written by Christine VanDoren, Nutritionist
Medically reviewed by
Kathy Shattler, MS, RDN
Sexual desires are a very natural part of life, but in some cases, the urges transform into preoccupations and ultimately become an addiction. Many underlying factors contribute to sex addiction,[1] like uncontrollable thoughts and urges. Intense fantasies and desperation to access anything sexual can eventually present as excessive exposure to pornography.
When we tackle how to stop porn addiction,[2] we should consider where it stems from, how it impacts daily life, and how it can be managed according to individual health and habits. An important first step is to destigmatize the term sex addiction and address sexual matters with maturity and understanding. There are common misconceptions about why viewers watch porn,[3] but we don’t stop to consider lifestyle.
We often think of the stress impact on mental and emotional health, as well as physical, and it’s time we also consider the impact on sexual health.
How To Get Over Porn Addiction?
In order to get over your porn addiction, consider taking the following actions:
- Be mindful of your feelings.
- Find a hobby.
- Make lifestyle changes.
- Work on repairing your relationships.
- Seek mental health counseling.
Symptoms Of A Porn Addiction
Generally, pornography is used as an entertainment medium to get sexual gratification or even get new ideas for spicing up your sex life. Several researchers have concluded that pornography is not an issue, but rather it becomes problematic when viewing[4] becomes an out-of-control porn habit.
When porn dominates your thoughts night and day, and you feel that you would do anything to access it, including trying to view it in your professional workplace, it has likely reached the point of pornography addiction.[5]
The following are possible symptoms you may experience:
- Porn clouds thoughts and judgment.
- Time watching porn interferes with daily responsibilities.
- Porn watching leads to risky actions, even in professional settings.
- Porn may be an outlet for coping.
- Finances are used for porn instead of lifestyle essentials.
- Sex life becomes unenjoyable.
- Sexual expectations become unrealistic.
Helpful Ways To Stop Watching Porn
Mindfulness Of Feelings
One of the first steps regarding how to stop a porn addiction is acknowledging your thoughts and feelings. Think about the way your sexual urges impact you. Do you feel ashamed or guilty when you satisfy them by watching porn?
Also, think about how it affects your relationships and routine, as well as whether you can truly manage these impulses on your own.
One proactive step in the right direction is to log your impulses and responses to them. Notice the time of day and settings when your desire to watch porn gets unmanageable. This is the first step to identifying when a porn addiction begins.
Find A Hobby
As you track your successes and failures against desires, think of ways to fight the itch. You may wonder how to stop watching porn;[6] a great way to do this would be to find a hobby!
When you feel sexual thoughts and the desire to watch internet pornography, replace that with playing sports, exercising, reading a book, or doing a jigsaw puzzle.
Lifestyle Changes
If you have recurring thoughts like “I want to know how to stop my porn addiction,” just reflect on how your days are spent and how you can change it. Increase your physical activity and your hobbies, and consume brain-friendly foods like fruits, vegetables, and omega-3 sources. An earlier sleep schedule and reduced screen time would all help treat porn addiction.
Relationship Repair
As you seek porn addiction help, find ways to nurture your intimate relationship. Porn is sometimes used to get sexual pointers, but it can often cause withdrawn feelings and unrealistic expectations for sex. Look for ways to grow closer to your lover, such as discussing achievable sexual fantasies and engaging in bonding activities.
Mental Health Counseling
Seek a mental health professional if your thoughts impair your daily functions and professional work or if you’ve considered taking drastic measures. When seeking professional help, consider online resources that provide text and phone services if you want to avoid showing your face. Search for mental health professionals with experience in compulsive sexual behaviors, as they are trained to be open and non-judgmental.
When you can engage in mental health counseling every week, a professional will have adamant time to help you understand the why behind your addiction. With porn addiction, there can be various causes, so experiences are independent of each person.
During counseling, you will be asked various questions that can help you discover the real drive you have to continue with watching porn. You can start healing and give more attention to solutions for unresolved trauma that will leave you with no reason to continue watching porn as you have in the past.
You may also find that support groups make you feel less alone, and you can hear other people’s perspectives.
No matter how you choose to get help, it is important to recognize that this process will take a lot of time. Be patient and trust yourself to get to where you want to be.
Causes Of Porn Addiction
Mental Health Issues And Distress
It’s easy to just write pornography off as a socially unacceptable and disgusting form of entertainment. But for some people, it may go deeper than entertainment. It may be a form of escapism or a coping mechanism. The very first step is to recognize porn addiction in a society where such habits are not acceptable.
As we dig deeper, we should consider how society views men, their hardships, and their ability to express their feelings.
There are often negative connotations regarding vulnerability, even though men should be able to open up and express their feelings and mental health, like all people. As time goes on, we gain insightful statistics relating to stressors and mental health. Many men don’t express feelings because they’ve been told that boys don’t cry, or they feel pressured to keep up a manly image.
These bottled feelings and professional and physical stressors lead nearly 18% of men to rely on addictive substances to cope. Other mental health issues are related to anxiety and sexual dysfunction, including the inability to attain or sustain an erection, as well as the inability to ejaculate.
Relationship Changes
Changes in your intimate relationships can have greater consequences than expected. Whatever the change might be, if there is less time for intimacy, porn may be used to fill the void.
It’s not uncommon to see time watching porn increase as partners grow distant from each other. If you feel your partner can’t be reached on intimate levels these days, you may substitute by watching porn.
With time, porn becomes more accessible than your partner. When you have sexual urges, you might opt for watching pornography instead of spending time with your lover.
Chemistry And Neuropsychological Aspects
Believe it or not, changes in neuropsychological function are an underlying aspect of when porn addiction begins, and some people are more susceptible to these chemical changes. Alterations in the prefrontal cortex function and the dopamine response can lead to impulsive behaviors and declined judgment, often seen in addiction.
This is seen in other addictions, like gambling, in which your emotional regulation may decline, and there is an excessive preoccupation with the vice of your desire, in this case, porn.
Addiction, in our terms, sex and watching pornography, is often related to the motivation and reward centers of the brain, so there may be changes in dopamine.
At the initial exposure, an explosive rush of dopamine leads to pleasure and reward. However, eventually, the body creates a smaller amount of dopamine, and instead, you rely on porn to get the rush. This drives you to continue watching porn, leading to an obsession, and it negatively changes the brain.
The Effects Of Porn Addiction On Your Life
Excessive exposure to pornography can lead to negative consequences like emotional imbalance and becoming stress-prone. This can result in developing other behavioral addictive habits like alcohol consumption or smoking. Many people have gone into debt because they put porn over their household necessities and obligations, while neglected obligations have resulted in the loss of jobs.
There is also the concern that pornography may lead to physical or sexual abuse. Amid the unrealistic sexual expectations and distance between partners, beware of the possibility of becoming aggressive with your partner due to stress or feeling that something in the relationship is inadequate.
Final Thought
When considering how to quit porn,[7] understand that Rome wasn’t built in a day, so the experience may consist of highs and lows. It may be difficult but think of how you’ll improve your personal and professional life by investing in your relationships and responsibilities. Your mental and emotional health will also improve, you can alleviate stressors, and you don’t have to be weighed down by guilt, shame, or uncontrollable thoughts and actions related to sexual satisfaction gratification.
+ 7 sources
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- Mayo Clinic. (2023). Compulsive sexual behavior – Symptoms and causes. [online] Available at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/compulsive-sexual-behavior/symptoms-causes/syc-20360434.
- Rubén de Alarcón, Encinas, J., Casado, N. and Montejo, A.L. (2019). Online Porn Addiction: What We Know and What We Don’t—A Systematic Review. [online] 8(1), pp.91–91. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm8010091.
- Haseeb Mehmood Qadri, Waheed, A., Munawar, A., Saeed, H., Abdullah, S., Munawar, T., Shaheer Luqman, Junaid Saffi, Ahmad, A. and Muhammad Saad Babar (2023). Physiological, Psychosocial and Substance Abuse Effects of Pornography Addiction: A Narrative Review. [online] doi:https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.33703.
- Holas, P., Małgorzata Draps, Ewelina Kowalewska, Lewczuk, K. and Gola, M. (2021). A pilot study of mindfulness-based relapse prevention for compulsive sexual behaviour disorder. [online] 9(4), pp.1088–1092. doi:https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2020.00075.
- Gola, M., Małgorzata Wordecha, Guillaume Sescousse, Michał Lew-Starowicz, Bartosz Kossowski, Wypych, M., Makeig, S., Potenza, M.N. and Marchewka, A. (2017). Can Pornography be Addictive? An fMRI Study of Men Seeking Treatment for Problematic Pornography Use. [online] 42(10), pp.2021–2031. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2017.78.
- Clinic, C. (2022). Sex Addiction: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment & Recovery – Cleveland Clinic. [online] Cleveland Clinic. Available at: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/22690-sex-addiction-hypersexuality-and-compulsive-sexual-behavior.
- Fernandez, D., Kuss, D.J. and Griffiths, M.D. (2021). The Pornography ‘Rebooting’ Experience: A Qualitative Analysis of Abstinence Journals on an Online Pornography Abstinence Forum. [online] 50(2), pp.711–728. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01858-w.
Written by:
Christine VanDoren, Nutritionist
Medically reviewed by:
Medically reviewed by:
