Can online porn become an addiction? Can It Be Cured?

You wouldn’t be on this page, unless your use of Porn wasn’t causing pain to yourself or others.  Many times it destroys families and careers.  The importance it plays in your life escalates and takes precedent over hobbies, education, exercise, time with family and relationships with friends.

So can it be cured?  Consider Porn Addiction as a chronic illness:

1) The behavior can stop today!

2) Like taking insulin for diabetes, Porn Addiction requires a daily practice of awareness and an individual plan, set with a counselor, to maintain sobriety.

3)  The maintenance of the cure, depends on your willingness and motivation to change.   People often hope for an easy cure.  Unfortunately it takes a big commitment to change.

4)  Ask yourself the following questions?

Am I willing to spend 25% of the time I used  Porn, to stop the use of Porn?

Am I ready to admit that I cannot do this alone?

Am I willing to seek the help from others to maintain new healthy behaviors?

5) Seeking help is easy when we are desperate for change.  It is the follow thru, that can be difficult.  At the beginning and for awhile you will need to make weekly visits to a counselor, who will maintain and modify the treatment program.

6)  The work you do today will decrease the pain you feel, and lead to more fulfilling life with your family, your friends and yourself.

These are the behaviors that will help you determine if you need help today:

  • fail to meet obligations
  • watch pornography during work hours
  • have recurring problems in your relationships
  • spend lots of money that is probably allocated for basic needs
  • hide what you do from others
  • have a sex life that is less satisfying than your fantasy life

If you suffer from 1+ of these behaviors, the answer is yes.

 

The new world of pornography starts with a computer.  In times past, someone had to leave their home, drive to a store to purchase, rent or watch pornography.   Those days ended with the Internet.  Now pornography is only one click away.   People, mostly men, (though 30% of porn watchers are women) can spend hours a day hiding in front of their computer screen.

These behaviors are not limited to time online.  Fantasy begins to take over one’s life.   Men tend to spend much of their waking life thinking about sex.  The images that one sees on the computer can be indelibly imprinted in the mind.  These fantasies are available 24 hours a day.

Addiction is a way to soothe oneself, when unwanted feelings arise.  Men are taught at a very young age that feelings are for women, or sissies.  Real men need to be strong, crying is not allowed.  When feelings of sadness, anger, or even love arise, men do not know how to react.  They will want to reduce the anxiety.  The internet will  and provide an instant a respite from uncomfortable experiences.  The problem is that once the behavior stops the feelings may return.  In order to prevent this, more of the addiction is needed.

You may ask yourself:  “how do I get out of this vicious cycle?”

Since pornography is done mostly in isolation, the quickest way to begin recovery is to get help from others.  The first time one asks for help can be very difficult.  The first call for help feels like impossibility. The shame that is involved with this addiction has no boundaries. Alcoholics no longer need to hide their problem.  Sex addicts are spurned by the culture and live lonely lives hidden from everyone.   The porn addict may not know that they are suffering with millions of other people.  Once the first call for help is made a person’s life may change forever.

More information on Addictions

Counseling and Therapy for Sex Addiction

Recovery for Alcohol or Substance Abuse

To the Partners of Sex Addicts.

ARISE addiction interventions

Issues of Codependency