Viewing porn may seem like a harmless act, and for some, maybe it is. For others, occasional pornography use and kicking back to view some internet porn turns into a full-blown porn addiction.
The truth is porn use can be harmful. It can even cause problems like erectile dysfunction and lead to sexual addiction. Porn addiction can seep into your life and take a strong foothold on your behavior, thoughts, and emotions. Is porn interfering with your life?
Keep reading to see if you or someone you love is addicted to porn and learn how long it takes to beat porn addiction.
What Is Porn Addiction Recovery?
Quitting porn takes effort to change the habit, as it’s a behavioral addiction, but you should know that it’s entirely possible with the right support system. How long does it take to recover from porn addiction? It takes just an instant to decide to quit, but depending on several factors, the amount it takes to quit porn varies.
Although the timeline to quit porn is not an exact science, some experts say that 18 to 24 months is a realistic timeline to truly feel like you’re past your addiction. Many who have beat the addiction say that getting past the first 90 days is the milestone goal, and it gets easier from there.
Factors for how long it takes to quit porn include how long you’ve had a porn habit, the frequency of your porn use, and your commitment level to quit your internet pornography habit. As with any addiction, quitting can be a quick decision, but recovery is an effort that is a lifelong process.
If you feel shame about your porn habit, know you aren’t alone. Trying to beat any addiction in isolation is challenging, and there are support groups available to help that are 100 percent free and anonymous.
How Prevalent Is Porn?
One in five searches on the internet is related to porn. That’s right — one out of five searches are porn-inspired. Does it blow your mind that 28,258 people look at pornography online every second?
Viewing porn is seen as relationship-enhancing by some couples, and some sex experts say it can spice things up in the bedroom. The problem comes into play when porn becomes an addiction you can’t stop. One study showed that nine percent of people couldn’t quit their porn addiction when they tried to end their habit alone.
Maybe you aren’t sure if you’re addicted to porn, but you’ve found that your porn use is strong enough to negatively impact your life. This article may help determine whether your porn habit has crossed over to addiction territory. Keep reading to evaluate if you or a loved one has a porn addiction — and learn how long addiction recovery can take and more.
Are You Addicted to Pornography?
You know yourself better than anyone else, and it may be time to have an honest conversation with yourself to see if your once casual porn use has turned into compulsive sexual behavior.
Here’s a checklist to reflect on as you evaluate whether or not you have a porn addiction:
Have you tried to quit porn unsuccessfully in the past?
When you go without porn for a period of time, do you have cravings to engage with pornography?
Is porn your go-to for dealing with stressful situations in everyday life?
Has your porn habit negatively impacted your relationship?
Do you crave more pornography and feel unsatisfied at times?
Have you lost interest in real sex with your partner?
Do you lose track of time and become unproductive due to getting lost in the fantasy world of porn?
Does porn distract your thoughts, and do you find your mind often drifting to pornography?
Do you recognize the negative effects of porn but cannot stop?
After thinking about these questions, if this is hitting home, you may have an addiction to porn, and it might be time for a reboot of your mindset. Let’s explore reasons why porn addiction starts, and then we’ll dive into strategies for quitting, getting support, and more.
Why People Get Addicted to Porn
Porn users start watching porn for a wide variety of reasons — one study cited a few top reasons as relieving boredom, with a common theme of attempting to alter emotions via porn. Some of the reasons cited were curtailing a bad mood, suppressing negative emotions, and alleviating stress. There are other reasons people start to use porn, including low self-esteem, loneliness, or one of the most common reasons is simply wanting a visual aid for masturbation.
Studies showed that porn addiction could begin to cause our brains to rewire the reward pathways, referred to as “miswiring” the circuits associated with rewards. This creates an environment that makes porn a potentially powerful addiction.
Pornography, like other types of addiction, can increase the dopamine in your brain, giving the “feel-good” effect that keeps you coming back for more. You could say that part of the addiction is getting a porn-induced high.
Let’s explore a few reasons why porn addiction has increased in recent times and how risk factors play a part.
The Triple A’s
It likely won’t surprise you that online pornography use is on the rise. Some experts have attributed this to what is referred to as the “triple A’s.” Never heard of it?
The premise is that with online porn being free or with a low entry cost and users viewing from the comfort of their device, use has skyrocketed due to Accessibility, Affordability, and Anonymity.
Addictive Personality
Are you the type of person who has an addictive personality? If so, you could be more susceptible to habits like gambling, alcohol or drug use, video games, and, yes — porn addiction. Sometimes, people with an addictive personality simply have a hereditary tendency towards it.
Other times, mental health issues, no matter how minor, such as ADHD, can play a part in compulsive or obsessive-type behavior. If you suffer from anxiety or depression, and you find yourself engaging in risky behavior, or when you do something, you tend to always do it a little too much, consider if you may have an addictive personality.
If you do, this can play a role in developing a porn addiction or other addictive behavior.
Avoidance of Other Problems
Porn is a way some people cope with life as a way to avoid other problems. These can be minor stresses of life or something more serious, such as unresolved trauma they’ve never dealt with. Porn can be used as a coping mechanism to self-medicate and avoid real-life problems that are new or have existed for a long time.
Getting Support for Porn Addiction
Once you’ve decided to kick your porn habit to the curb, you’ll need to enlist some support to avoid relapse, adopt a porn-free lifestyle, and avoid feeling isolated. Many resources are available, but many people are hesitant to reach out due to the stigma surrounding porn addiction.
You may even be inhibited from sharing your problem with loved ones or even your partner. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one avenue you can pursue with a professional, and some start by downloading an app that’s 100 percent confidential.
Sober Sidekick is an app that helps people from all walks of life beat addiction to substances, drugs, and even sex addiction, gambling, and porn.
Sober Sidekick offers 24/7 support, and you can remain completely anonymous if you choose. There is no obligation to share anything about your story unless you want to. Many find the support group is the breakthrough they need and can help immensely with withdrawal symptoms from addiction.
Takeaways
You can have a healthy sex life again and a more natural relationship with sex that enhances your life rather than impeding your progress. There is no shame in getting help; an entire judge-free community at Sober Sidekick will help you through the process.
How long your recovery process takes is both an art and a science and depends on your commitment level to quit pornography and how strong your support system is to be there for the tough days. Know that quitting cold turkey is possible, but also know relapse is a part of the recovery journey.
What are you waiting for? Check out Sober Sidekick and download the free app today!
Sources: