Given that an estimated 91.5 percent of males and 60.2 percent of women consume pornography, odds are that if you’re reading this right now, you’ve had considerable interaction with pornography at some time in your life.
Maybe you came upon it by chance years ago while perusing the internet, or maybe it was in your parents’ room. Maybe you’re one of the rare people who has never watched porn, yet it has penetrated your relationships and influenced your life in some manner.
Regardless of how much or how little porn you’ve seen, everyone should understand how porn may affect themselves, their relationships, and our world so they can make an informed decision about whether or not to consume it.
Not everyone is addicted
Let’s get one thing out of the way right away: even if you watch porn on a regular basis, you could not be addicted to it. There’s a range of emotions here. Not everyone who abuses alcohol is an alcoholic, and not everyone who consumes pornography on a regular basis is a “addict.”
Addiction is “a basic, chronic illness of brain reward, motivation, memory, and associated circuits,” according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Because it’s an illness, not merely an issue, it’ll be treated as such, in a certain way. Consider how big an issue it would be if everyone who had one drink of alcohol was labeled an alcoholic.
try tracking your online presence that prevents you from watching porn
The spectrum of addiction
According to current research, a child’s first exposure to porn occurs around the age of preteen years. According to a 2020 poll, the majority of children are exposed to porn by the age of 13, with some as early as seven.
Many people are utterly ignorant of the dangers of pornography and go years without recognizing how it affects them. You may not have chosen to be exposed to porn in the first place, as we have stated. It’s extremely probable that you belong into that category statistically, and you first found it when you were a child, and now you’re fighting a long-standing habit.
Where to begin combating porn adddiction?
So, what’s next? How can you even begin to tackle something so widespread and persistent?
If you’ve decided to give up porn for good, here are some things you can do right now to get started:
COVENANTEYES are great resources to find tools and advice to help anyone who struggles with porn. Click here to learn more about this recovery platform.
- Breathe. Don’t be concerned. Attempt to eliminate the self-defeating, humiliating ideas that are holding you back. Remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint, and take a big breath. Slow down, concentrate, and take it easy. You’ve got this.
- Evaluate the reasons you watch pornography. A porn fixation is frequently not about satisfying a sexual urge. Instead, it frequently stems from a lack of ability to cope with strong unpleasant feelings or sorrow, and perceiving porn as a way to escape. So, what motivates you to watch it? What feelings are you experiencing before you make a decision? Is it because you’re lonely? Depression? Anxiety? Do you ever feel like there’s too much going on in your life that you can’t control? Understanding what motivates you to view porn might be quite beneficial.
- Believe you can get assistance. It’s all too easy to think you’re beyond assistance or that you don’t deserve it, but that’s not the case. There are a plethora of resources available, as well as whole communities with platforms like our Fortify affiliates that will support you every step of the way.
- Tell someone you can rely on. You don’t have to face this on your alone. Turning to someone you can trust is one of the finest ways to obtain support. Even if individuals don’t always answer correctly, you’ll need some people who are aware of what’s going on and can assist you.
- Consider getting help from a therapist or joining a support group. Similar to how you could go to physical treatment to strengthen your knees, if your mind needs strengthening when it comes to resisting pornography, you can consider going to therapy to learn how to train it.
- educate yourself. There are a slew of fantastic anti-sexual exploitation and anti-pornographic groups out there.
