Getting Help for Porn Addiction

Some people may consider looking at pornography acceptable. But for Christian men, looking at pornography is a sin. Yet some Christian men become addicted to these images and must consider getting help for porn addiction.

What is Porn Addiction?

Porn addiction is the compulsive need to view pornography, despite its negative consequences. Porn addiction often begins as a coping mechanism for negative emotions resulting from unresolved trauma. You look at pornography because it temporarily makes you feel better. But before you know it, you can’t stop this behavior, and it’s causing you distress.

Signs of porn addiction include:

• Being consumed with thoughts of porn
• Feeling ashamed about looking at porn
• Hiding your porn use
• Trying unsuccessfully to quit looking at porn

Some men who try to stop watching porn experience withdrawal symptoms.

Is There Help for Porn Addiction?

You can recover from porn addiction. But recovery likely means healing the root cause of the addiction, then its symptoms. There are some ways you can attempt to control your porn habits and move toward recovery.

To help stop your porn habits:

• Try Physical Non-Sexual Activity. If you feel like you’re about to give in and turn back to viewing porn, sit and hold hands with your wife or snuggle her. A non-sexual activity can turn your mind back to positive thoughts. It also can show your partner’s intimacy.
• Set Goals. See if you can go a certain period without looking at porn, like members of 12-step recovery programs do with the objects of their addictions. The old maxim, “One day at a time” is more than just a catchphrase. It can be a way of life.
• Avoid Triggers. Thoughts and urges can hit you when familiar, repetitive behaviors happen throughout your day. For instance, your trigger might be lying in bed alone with the door shut and your phone in your hand. If you know your triggers, you can avoid them and work to replace them.
• Use Porn Blockers. You can install online blockers to help keep you from looking at porn on your computer or phone. You may even consider giving the passwords to a trusted other.
• Talk to Someone You Trust. You don’t have to recover alone. Reaching out for help and accountability can be a great way to keep your pornography viewing habits in check. Enlist help from your wife, a close friend or clergy member, or a support group.
• Call a Porn Addiction Hotline. There are numbers you can call to get in touch with caring, helpful people. You can reach out to them when you feel triggered.
• Seek Treatment. Get help from a licensed mental health professional. You may even consider enrolling in a treatment program.
• Draw Closer to God. Prayer, fasting, reading the Scriptures, and attending Church are all positive ways to turn your mind and thoughts away from sinful actions and toward the Lord Jesus Christ:

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:7-8a, NKJV)

Getting Help for Porn Addiction

If your porn habits negatively impact your life, mental health, and self-image, it’s probably time to get professional help. It’s especially important to seek help if you’ve tried unsuccessfully to stop watching porn or you experience withdrawal symptoms when you try to quit.

Options for treating porn addiction include:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. CBT involves challenging and changing behavior and thought patterns. It ultimately helps people recognize and deal with the connections between their thoughts and feelings and the subsequent behaviors.
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. EMDR unlinks positive feelings associated with porn addiction, which allows you to make new associations with those memories and, ultimately, process trauma.
• Medication. Some medications increase the body’s level of serotonin, which can lead to a decrease in sexual behaviors.

Originally Published at Boulder Recovery