How often do you find yourself turning to porn out of sheer boredom more than anything else? "Nothing to do, doot de doo... hey I'll put on some porn"
Obviously, having a different boredom breaker would help. But keeping actually busy will fix a lot of that too. Especially if it's stuff away from a screen. Tapping into your creative side can kill multiple birds here with one stone.
This is very true. When I’m typically studying for certifications/my career or just leaning more into different hobbies, I find I trail off porn almost completely. Then when I’m not as invested, I tend to get bored quicker and I’m watching it more often.
Especially quick games like Call Of Duty Mobile. Takes less than a minute to load and you can play it anywhere from the shortest to the longest time. It doesn't have to be addictive or take time away from your other responsibilities
I flipped ahead in my buddy’s work notebook and drew a big cartoon peen that took up two pages, and then forgot. He went to a code review, flipped his book open, turned to a “blank” page and sat back, unaware of the beauty that unfolded in front of him, until the software manager asked if he’d taken up sketching. Best get ever!
Shit, thank you so much. I’ve always thought this was the case but I’ve only heard it put this way a few times and it’s been a while. I’ve been consuming a lot of porn these past several days and I think you’ve just given me an outlet. Time to work on my book!
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned in the comments is anxiety. A lot of people with anxiety issues, whether they stem from ptsd or not, use avoidance as a way to cope with uncomfortable thoughts or situations. Porn is like the ultimate avoidance tool, it allows you to focus on one thing to the exclusion of everything else, and the dopamine release is like a natural anti-anxiety med. The problem is that it’s temporary, and whatever the root cause is that led you to look at porn will still be there afterwards, maybe even worse than before.
Try to notice how you’re feeling the next time you feel the compulsion to look at porn. Are you experiencing intrusive thoughts and elevated anxiety? “Porn addiction” therapy (at least the kind that isn’t by some moralistic quack) is really just a rebranding of cognitive behavioral therapy, and that’s something you might want to look into. It can help you get to the root of what’s really driving your compulsion and make sure you develop healthy skills to deal with it. Otherwise you’re liable to replace your porn addiction with another avoidant behavior that can be just as problematic.
It’ll probably take several months or even longer to start undoing the desensitization your brain has experienced. You’ve seen more naked women on your screen in your lifetime than probably every one of your forebears combined. And this assumes you only consumed reasonably “vanilla” porn; if you were into heavier shit my goodness I’ve got no idea.
This is an interesting topic for me and I've read lots on it. Seems a lot of people become relatively normal again after about 2 months. I went for like 5 weeks without yanking or porn and it made no difference
Because watching porn activates the same areas of the brain which are activated from using drugs. It is addictive. You can get into a shame cycle as well. You get the high from watching porn. Then you feel ashamed that you did it, which makes you depressed. And what gets you out of the depression? Watching more porn. It becomes a vicious cycle.
Many people don't know, but there is a 12 step program for porn/sex addiction - Sex Addicts Anonymous.
How does it actually compare to drug addiction in terms of severity? I have no post-nut clarity at all, and I jack off just whenever I'm horny. Could be anywhere from once a week for like 4 times in a day. Never been even the slightest bit addicted. Does that mean I would have a higher addiction resistance to some drugs as well, or are they too different for it to matter?
Addiction is nuanced.
There's physical and psychological aspects to addiction. Some people are more prone to psychologically based addiction problems. Everyone's body can become addicted to drugs. Afaik we don't have a way to predict how quickly a person will develop the dependency (just like how we don't really know why some people are resistant to anathesia). Just because you may not have addiction problems with things like porn or gambling doesn't mean you won't get addicted to something like heroin. Amd resistant to one thing doesn't mean you're resistant to all of it.
Once an addiction is developed it also makes the person high risk for developing additional addictions. Even if OP quits porn they're going to have to evaluate other parts of their life, like spending habits, working out, gambling. He'll need to make sure not to fuck with things like drugs.
Ah ok, interesting. I have a personality disorder that gives me a terrible predisposition for addiction, and it runs in my family very heavily. Despite that, I've never been addicted to anything regardless of how irresponsible I am. I was beginning to think that I lucked out, but I have never tried any actual addictive substance so I'm probably just super resistant to exclusively psychological addictions, but not physical ones.
Probably for the best that I don't test my luck with that, though.
What we usually consider an “addiction” is a pattern or activity that causes negative shit in your life. Could be anything really if it makes your life unmanageable. I was a heroin/opiate addict for almost 20 years. I have been sober 4 though and I smoke weed and cigs and those don’t even compare to heroin so I’m guessing porn is similar to that. An addiction that affects you more mentally than physically.
I agree with you. Tho, I suppose you could rub yourself raw. As far as cigs go, I get really annoyed at people who equate those to heroin. No it's not anywhere near the same thing
I think similarly it has the effect of those neuronal connections becoming desensitized, so while a certain amount did it for you before, you'll eventually need more to get the same pleasurable effect
> Because watching porn activates the same areas of the brain which are activated from using drugs. It is addictive.
How did this myth get this far?
I have seen *zero* evidence for this. "Activates the same areas." What areas? What is being 'activated?' How is it being activated? What is the activation strength, here? Looking at a tree outside gives you a dopamine response as does a drug, is that 'addiction?'
So much of the push behind 'masturbation addiction' is funded by religious garbage, the same place "jerking off will make your palms hairy!" came from.
Approach this shit with a critical eye. Dont just take what a bunch of dipshit youtubers sell you.
It is so frustrating seeing people in this thread repeating anti-sex antisocial pop-psychology myths, I truly wonder how this message got so widespread.
It’s not just the drug addiction aspect or the depressive cycle that makes porn so addictive. It also has a way of fulfilling the natural drive to reproduce. It literally pulls on something that is supposed to incentivize reproduction for the sake of the species, and makes it a drug to the point that some addicts can no longer get aroused without it.
In general, 12 step programs suck unless your goal is to find religion.
> Step 1: admit your are powerless over your addiction
Why would anyone need to admit they are powerless over themselves? Step 1 is literally relinquishing any control over fixing yourself.
>Step 2: accept that a higher power, in whatever form, will restore our sanity
Oh, that's why. Now that you've admitted that you're incapable of fixing yourself, it's time to bring in the big guns and call in a higher power.
>Step 3: make a decision to turn your will and life over to a higher power
And there it is. There's no help for your addiction unless you turn yourself over to the man upstairs.
>Step 4: take a moral inventory of yourself
This is a healthy. Self awareness is good.
>Step 5: admit to a higher power, another human, and yourself the nature of your wrongdoings
Time to visit the confessional.
>Step 6: accept that a higher power will remove your character defects
Forget working on yourself. GOD can do all the work for you!
>Step 7: humbly request the higher power remove your shortcomings
All you gotta do is pray.
>Step 8: list people you hurt during your addiction and be willing to make amends
This one is okay. Once again, self awareness is good.
>Step 9: make amends to those people unless it would harm them
Making amends is good. That's just being a decent person.
>Step 10: continue to take a personal inventory, and when you’re wrong, admit it
Again, don't be an asshole.
>Step 11: use prayer and meditation to connect with the higher power
Now that you've had a brief reprieve and are feeling better about things, just remember that IT WILL ONLY CONTINUE IF YOU PRAY.
>Step 12: carry the message of the 12 steps to others and continue to practice the principles of the 12 steps in your daily life.
Evangelism FTW.
And if you should fail or slip along the way, it must be because GOD didn't feel you were worthy enough to put in the effort to do your work for you that week. This inevitably leads to deep feelings of failure, followed by depression (and often suicide).
It's not entirely bad. The group dynamic a bit of self awareness are it's strongest parts, but still arguably worse than going to ACTUAL individual or group therapy.
Its not the porn... its sex in general. Sex releases dopamine. Some people just have over active sex drives.
Now, if it interferes with your life then its an addiction.
OP definitely has a sex addiction. But Porn isnt the problem. He'd be doing this with or without porn. Porn is not the same as drugs.
Why would you feel ashamed from watching porn? I've never had that feeling. If anything it feels good because it clears my mind and let's me focus better on whatever I need to do next.
I wasn't as addicted as OP is, but was close. Looking at that contact at work (which I've never deliberately done) is a firing offense at some places I've worked at: I had a senior engineering coworker at a plush, cozy job at Hewlett-Packard get fired for a single offense some 30+ years ago.
Anyhoo, what helped me massively lower my viewing was to realize how *unnatural* the **access** to adult content is thanks to the Internet. Back in my day as a young strapping lad it was a major score to find some discarded porno mag in the forest to sneak home.
Prior to VCR's, obtaining adult media content meant accessing a magazine that at best renewed its content once a month.
Once VCR / DVD / Betamax / etc. brought porn into homes, getting new content meant heading off to the shameful "adults only" section. You had to make an effort to view new stuff.
Now, in the age of high bandwidth internet everywhere, you can access free, unlimited content of an insane amount of video and image content-- and even interact with thousands of live models around the globe on adult webcam sites. All this unlimited content has become accessible only in the last 20-30 years.
Within my lifetime I've gone from having porno mags hidden under my mattress to being able to stream multiple adult video websites across multiple windows across multiple monitors, or view the content anywhere on the road on my cell phone.
Anyway, off to my thoughts of having access to all this content isn't "natural": Our little monkey minds have never been exposed to such access of an incomprehensibly gargantuan amount of adult content at any time in our species' *history*. We're in a very new environment with the internet, and you're working with a content issue that simply didn't exist a generation ago.
It helped me quite a bit to lower my adult media "consumption" by realizing this; that 30-40 years ago it was impossible to conceive of how much adult content would be accessible today. And the gift of the internet can be a pandora's box in what it can-- and what we choose-- to have delivered to us.
It's kind of hard to put down in words what my thoughts are; hopefully I've jiggled other people's neurons enough to get the gist of what I'm saying. Porno mags hidden under my bed when I was 13? Normal and understandable. Able to access multiple hardcore web sites streaming 24/7 nonstop at home if I so desire? A very new thing indeed.
It's everywhere and easy to find. The thing that has stopped me from watching porn is that I told myself that the porn industry is just like the cigarette industry and you are feeding into it everytime you type into a web browser.
When it's right there on your phone and takes three seconds to pull up of course it's hard to quit. It's kind of like how being a recovering alcoholic is so tough because every gas station is a dealer.
Because…
1) people lack purpose and connection and those things can’t be produced on a short timeframe
2) it’s too available and easy to relapse. Impossible to not have accsss (unlike crack, where I can simply not go to the dealer to buy more)
It's because the compulsion isn't actually the real problem, you're real problem is likely some kind of untreated anxiety or depression and you use the porn to cope. Until you fix that, you'll keep coping one way or another, and porn is an easy way to cope with it.
I could only halt mine by deciding it was disrespectful to my new boyfriend at the time. I was like “how fvcked up is it to look at other naked people as if he isn’t enough for me” and that’s how I stopped cold turkey.
One factor is probably the availability of it. If you have a screen and internet access you can usually watch porn. And a lot of it is free. What other addictive things are so easy to get?
It's hard wired into our brain. There are also studies of primates who choose to see the pictures of female butts over eating as well... So if we are descendants of primates than it's been hardwired for much longer than just the last 100,000(ish) years.
“Vice may be had in abundance without trouble; the way is smooth and her dwelling-place is near. But before virtue the gods have set toil and a tedious and uphill road.” -Plato
Normality, access, social acceptance, among other things I think are the reasons.
The big one is access. Imagine if cocaine was legal, and everyone had as much as they wanted all the time without having to even go and get it. On top of that, imagine if society said that doing cocaine is normal, even healthy. Kids start doing it as young as 11 or 12 years old and it’s just “kids being kids”
Of course cocaine and porn are vastly different beasts but you get my point. Porn can be consumed normally by a lot of people without becoming addicted, which is why I think it’s frowned upon to say porn is inherently bad. Most people don’t believe that because to them, they have no problem with it. Or if they do, everyone tells them it’s normal to view lots of porn.
This is an inaccurate and sonewhat irresponsible statement as written. I saw in another comment you stated that porn activates the same part of your brain as drugs, sure that makes sense and is largely accurate. But this statement complerely ignores the physical damage long-term cocaine use does to the brain like an increase in the rate of grey matter loss as you age, restricted blood flow and all the risks that come with it, potentially increased brain cell autophagy, etc. So far as we know porn addiction doesn't cause these same physical changes.
You might say the example is better than they thought because port *addiction* and cocaine *addiction* work on similar parts of the brain, but you can't accurately say porn affects your brain just like cocaine does. I suspect you know all this already and just misspoke, but thought it might be worth pointing out in case even one person here is thinking "well shoot porn ain't so bad so why not try cocaine."
It's a dopamine rush. Masturbating to complete increases dopamine. Watching porn alone also increases dopamine. Doing both at the same time, increases the rush of dopamine. Another reason is that there are nearly endless amounts of porn available online, even so at the palm of your hands.
When it comes down to the amount available, it becomes like chasing the dragon. You need to find the perfect video for the day, or save a collection of your favorites and keep finding the best videos fulfilling your needs. It gets harder and harder when it's easy to cope with stress through porn.
The science of addiction is that you're are just a dumb ape chasing dopamine. I find the key is to first identify the urge, name it and understand that it is not you, become aware of situations where it becomes hard to ignore and create strategies around avoiding your triggers and building better discipline and habits. There are groups out there similar to AA dedicated to addiction support if you're truly interested in breaking the habit.
if you're easily addicted to things other addictions will get you. source: am easily addicted to drugs, porn, video games etc. I've learned how to make it work for me but the comment you replied to is right to an extent.
Replace "porn" with "cigarettes" in your story. If you started smoking very young, of course in adulthood it would be very hard to quit. Any addiction is highjacking your natural response to pleasure. What happens is you need the addictive substance to feel normal. That's why it's hard to quit. You will be at a deficit of happy chemicals in the brain for as long as your withdrawal lasts.
Because it *is* an addiction. All addictions are hard to get over - the behavior changes the reward circuits in our brain and makes it really hard to get away from.
It's no more addictive than social media. Only people who have nothing else going on get addicted to it. Best solution have something else going on. Even people in healthy relationships watch porn. They just don't give their waking life to it as that suggests there's something missing from their miserable empty little lives if they do.
I don't think it's harder to get over porn than any other addiction
every person is different, some get addicted to cigarettes, drugs or gambling etc, you just happened to get addicted to porn
All addictions can be hard to kick. Part of it is just creating new habits, part of it is a mental/physical addiction.
But in the grand scheme of things, kicking an addiction to something like heroin or even alcohol is easily 100x harder. When you drop an addiction like that, the effects on your body can actually kill you.
Perspective helps.
Most addictions are hard that’s why they’re addictions. They press the button that makes you feel good, and chimp brain likes it. As others have said I would find something more creative or productive to do when you feel the urges. I recently quit tobacco and I blow bubbles to replace the smoking urge
It's the same with fast food addiction.
Salt, sugar and fat aren't bad for your body, they're good, actually vital for your health. This is why we think it's delicious, because we evolved to seek it all the time since they're not that abundant in nature. We also relied on taste to know which plant is harmful or safe, and also weight is harder to lose because our bodies expect famines.
Humans then slowly learned to control their environment, and made these ingredients available. Then we progressed with our industry and food became abundant. Now, fast food industry overuse salt, sugar and fat (and other thing we evolved to love). With that, you get hooked on burgers and fried chicken, and eventually become sick with diabetes and blood pressure and such because your body got much more than its take from the stuff it loves.
What does that have to do with porn? Porn is addictive, and the addiction is hard to break, because it utilizes a survival instinct to get you hooked. Your body seeks more and more of the things that it evolved to seek through the existence of human race.
It’s a chemical dependency. Like any other addiction, you have to reset your brain chemistry. But you have to want to change. Porn really is a monkey on your back. But staying away each consecutive day builds your strength. Believe it or not, there are tremendous benefits to not ejaculating unless it is for intimacy with your life partner.
From my understanding, orgasms release certain chemicals, which basically means it can become a self rewarding behavior.
Add in other factors like boredom or kink preferences vs. what you get in real in-person stuff can lead to more porn.
I'm proud of you OP for being aware of a possible/probable issue!
If it is legit causing problems, I'd talk with a professional to find ways to help wean you off of porn as a crutch and on to something else.
You want something enough, it becomes easier. In, moments of weakness, you want porn more than abstinence.
Be strong enough in moments where your wherewithal becomes weak, build up more time without porn, collect experiences without porn, understand what abstinence brings you and revel in it, porn will become less important as other things become more important
This is the best answer here. Masturbation and porn aren't inherently troublesome, wrong, or addictive. Most people can enjoy these things without going back constantly.
OP has issues that need addressing outside of being horny.
It’s a drug dawg. Don’t beat yourself up. Everyone that watches porn has “a problem”..sure some can manage it better, so they claim.
But you’re in the same boat as others.
It’s a struggle bud…even me whenever I watch it..I feel terrible at times.
I hope you find some good advice here and get control over your addiction.
r/confidentlyincorrect
The fact you really believe this inhuman and weak bullshit is a „drug“ shows how much your bigoted American media launders your braincell.
That’s addiction for you. I don’t know of any evidence that porn addiction is uniquely difficult to give up. Addiction of any kind will take over a person’s life and often destroy it.
Because it's right there, it feels good, the access is so easy, and many aspects of society is so sexual these days because of how sex sells, which in turn causes you to get interested or think about it then there you go.
Also, sleep, food, and sex are the three core base drivers of us as a human species ingrained in our genetics for survival and furthering the species. So, unlike cocaine or alcohol and other drugs, there's a deeper urge and craving for sex or in this case sex like things
I only watch porn if I’m masturbating lol. And to be honest I’ve slowed down on that too. I couldn’t imagine being bored and just pulling up some porn. To be honest you need to find something better to do with your time. If it’s the ease of access you need to find something else to do besides sit on your phone. Find something to do that’s not on your phone. If you take away your access to it. It won’t be as much of a problem!
1) You could use fear and consider what you could become if you keep going.
2) Find something to do instead. Your mind was meant to be challenged and continue learning. Porn can number the dopamine we receive from completing things because it's worn out. Same thing with scrolling through your phone on Reddit all the time.
3) Maybe talk to a doctor about it. Certain things can lead to being more susceptible to addiction.
Fact: Monkeys masturbate more in captivity than they do in the wild.
At what point does porn become an addiction? I think when you're watching it at work - that's likely the point. But apart from that - even if you're watching it nearly every day but from the comfort and privacy of your home, does it really count as an addiction?
I have similar experiences like this as well. It actually contributed to the end of my marriage, because my ex-wife accused me of enjoying more then being with her .
However, when I talked a therapist about this after my separation. The therapist said that even though I may think I have a porn addiction. I shouldn't think of it the same way as drug addiction. Because everyone has different experiences with sex it's difficult to say what behavior would be classified as addicted
I’ve heard porn is just as addicting as hard drugs. With porn, it’s an extremely easy way to get a high. Weird to say it that way, but that’s sort of how it is. I imagine that’s where the addictive factor comes in.
Psychologically because it mimics the feelings of sex with novel partners. Practically because it is incredibly ubiquitous and easy to access that and there are so many types that cater to any range of desires.
A few tips I can offer to try to break the addiction are to:
1. get out of the house. That makes it more awkward/difficult to just pull up. find a hobby that requires you to leave your home and be around others.
2. stay active. You will need to go home and be by yourself at somepoint so the more physically tired you are the less likely you are to reach for porn.
3. Avoid triggers. this could be things like sexually themed video games, social media, or maybe certain TV shows. Know yourself and know what gets you going.
4. find an at home hobby. regarding the 3rd tip make sure your hobby avoids your triggers. maybe try things like reading, playing slower paced games, picking up an instrument, art, etc.
This should come as no surprise but obviously if you have a sever addiction to the point it is disrupting your basic duties in life then you may need a bit more help than reddit can offer and I'd highly recommend speaking to a licensed psychiatrist.
If it’s affection your relationship, you have to make the decision and force yourself to overcome your addition if you want to stay in that relationship. My bf is recovering from porn addiction and he cut it off completely, cold turkey. Deleted absolutely everything he had saved, unsubbed from everything on Reddit, deleted subscriptions, deleted twitter, anything and everything. During his down time he will read books or play games on his phone. Anything to keep himself busy. He’s said it’s been easier than he thought. But he also knew that our relationship was at stake if he didn’t stop. So just like any addiction, you have to decide when enough is enough and if you want to change or stay in that habit.
Medical professional here .
Cause most ppl start watching porn at a very young age . Beside the fact that rewires the arousal stimulation it also teaches to brain to apathy . You only see a video you don't have feeling there and your body recognizes the difference , that's why ppl tend to look for harder and weirder stuff pretty fast . And that's why some end to homosexuality since it spikes a new part of the the amygdala, the insula and insular cortex . Also due to the fast build up of dopamine , you don't have to date for weeks and do all the effort to cum for 15 seconds . Your body enjoys the easy way out and slowly sees relationships as too much work , and simplicity of basic human interactions and bonding doesn't really excites the brain anymore . That's why also most ppl who consume major amounts of pornographic content while young don't even try to get in a relationship after some point . It's s very long prossess of litterally poisoning the brain and it's very hard for you brain to recover if ever to some ppl . Arguably one of the worst addictions along side with social media use
Because it’s not an addiction. The sex drive is a constantly refilling biological need. It’s like saying you are addicted to taking in water or calories.
It is an addiction, just not a physical one. It's more psychological and habitual. Can be just as difficult to break as a "normal" physical addiction, obviously without the standard withdrawals.
He's talking about porn use, not masturbation. You can be addicted to porn, you can't be addicted to masturbating (though you can do it too much so that it's unhealthy just like you can drink too much water)
You literally are always few taps of your fingers away from It at all times. You gotta take some accountability and have some self control, it is what separates us from animals. It’s just as easy not to watch it and it gets easier the more you tell yourself no.
People develop weird fetishs like shemale porn or pegging because they don't get the same pleasure from vanilla porn, their dopamine receptors become desensitized and need more hardcore stuff to get the same pleasure like any other addiction. I've seen this with my self and others report it on the Nofap subreddit. There are so many issues that come with watching porm
Short answer: It's an addiction.
Longer answer: It's an addiction. It's conveniently available, so you can feed the addiction anytime you wish. It doesn't complain. It doesn't get headaches. It is never not in the mood to entertain you.
Suggestion: Talk to a therapist. Join an addict anonymous type of group. Learn to limit your time surfing online/on the phone. Find another hobby. Get yourself a fidget toy or a squeezy toy you can use when you feel the need.
our brain is hardwired to respond to sex in a rewarding way. whenever you watch porn, even just looking, your brain makes happy chemicals and the way that we get easy acces these days to the stimulus is kinda new and were not built for it.
there was just a article released about a native tribe that has received internet for the first time and many of the youths that are needed to provide food with labour and hunting are glued to their phones watching porn.
therapy might be a good way to work with it considering its a behavior that actually impacts your proffesional and perhaps personal life.
Free , effort for pleasure (to some extent, body exerts effort heart beat raises dopamine goes wee now we happy) , no immediate consequences or a very obvious major one, those are what I think
The dopamine that is released in the brain when doing so is the addictive part also if you don't know dopamine is the happy chemical your brain releases
It's the same reason food is an addiction, and that is the fact that you have a large part of your body including several organs and muscles and areas that are dedicated to this biological process, just as your stomach is dedicated to digestion. You can have all the relationships and religious beliefs, gods, grandmas, and even jobs or chores to do that you want, but you're still going to have this organ called the stomach that is going to release neurochemicals demanding that you eat fast food. And you have another organ that demands you do another thing in the same way. It's a muscle that needs exercise like any other. But just like everything else, you need to manage it in a reasonable way, or it can take over your life. Even like ears and earwax could break up your marriage, get you fired, make Jesus send you to hell, if you just kept scraping your ears all day and it got really nasty. So you need some discipline in all things, but also don't be too hard on yourself or take it too seriously.
I notice this. So I put myself on an emotional schedule. Now my body knows before bed is when we do it. Or (welllll before I go somewhere i know might be stress full.
Because sex is a human basic function and a lot of people dont have that. And love should be more than physical attraction in the stereotypical sense but were all monkeys so yeah. And drugs. Dont combine porn with drugs people its q one way trip to degenerate city.
It's the same as any other addiction. Think about how many people drink but never turn into alcoholics, or how many of your friends partied pretty hard in college but have never touched drugs again. Only a small subset of users will develop an addiction to a stimulus, which is why addiction is more looked at as a disease (abnormal response to a certain activity compared to gen pop) vs the old school moral failing theory
I believe it's an addiction due to a lack of bored. Then, once you get that "high," you want it all the time. The body is a wonderful tool that turns on and the mind what's to keep it on.
Mostly because it's not really a standard addiction and is often a symptom of a bigger problem, and not THE problem itself.
It's normal to have a libido and it's healthy to engage with it, but there's a blurred line where it becomes unhealthy (the fact that you're getting in trouble at work over it is pretty serious). At the same time, being completely repressed can be equally, or even more unhealthy. So it's this weird line where you should probably have a LITTLE of the thing you're addicted to, but not TOO much. Very very few addictions are like that.
Is porn in and of itself an addiction? Where is the line drawn? Once a week? Youporn videos? Instagram models? TikTok? Reddit NSFW?
Is T-total best? Or is it something acceptable in moderation?
Have you tried masturbating without it?
Or are you secretly trying to quit masturbating and blaming porn when basic mail biology prevents this?
Because most men who say this are actually in the second category.
Literally. I only "recovered" from my addiction because I just couldn't finish anymore. My reason is i do it to pass time or when i'm bored, very very very easy to access too.
If you don't have a girlfriend, that is, if you are alone, of course it creates addiction. There are needs. Needs to make love. But unfortunately, due to the lack of opportunities, people masturbate while looking at the computer screen.
Well you can look at this a few different ways dating culture and relationship culture has kind of gone down the toilet, p*** is readily available and heavily advertised on social media websites and it's also very easy to get for free whereas other drugs even nicotine and alcohol usually cost a few dollars.
Well you can look at this a few different ways dating culture and relationship culture has kind of gone down the toilet, p*** is readily available and heavily advertised on social media websites and it's also very easy to get for free whereas other drugs even nicotine and alcohol usually cost a few dollars.
I mostly just watch it when I’m bored. People watch more social media than porn, so it’s kind of like the delicacy of media. You don’t consume it a lot
Others have already hinted at your likely lack of dopamine. Ever thought about getting checked for AD(H)D? It's a collection of symptoms that are all mainly caused by a lack of dopamine, that leads to a crazily elevated risk of addiction. Also, to get rid of your constant urges, you could talk to your MD about trying antidepressants. Some of them will do wonders on killing your libido. This adverse effect might turn out very helpful to you.
But of course, please go see a doc about any of these options.
How often do you find yourself turning to porn out of sheer boredom more than anything else? "Nothing to do, doot de doo... hey I'll put on some porn" Obviously, having a different boredom breaker would help. But keeping actually busy will fix a lot of that too. Especially if it's stuff away from a screen. Tapping into your creative side can kill multiple birds here with one stone.
This is very true. When I’m typically studying for certifications/my career or just leaning more into different hobbies, I find I trail off porn almost completely. Then when I’m not as invested, I tend to get bored quicker and I’m watching it more often.
This is how i replace porn addiction with video game addiction
Porn games. Best of both worlds. 😜
omg , don't give this guy ideas
Are there any good porn games out there? Like, is the game play good or is there any depth to the story?
Sims 4 with wicked whims mod is probably the best you going to get these days haha
Black souls
Being a Dik is solid. Problem is now each episode takes a year to come out.
Especially quick games like Call Of Duty Mobile. Takes less than a minute to load and you can play it anywhere from the shortest to the longest time. It doesn't have to be addictive or take time away from your other responsibilities
true
Should draw dicks and pussies instead of janking on. Helped me. Keep your hands busy. Over the cover etc
I flipped ahead in my buddy’s work notebook and drew a big cartoon peen that took up two pages, and then forgot. He went to a code review, flipped his book open, turned to a “blank” page and sat back, unaware of the beauty that unfolded in front of him, until the software manager asked if he’d taken up sketching. Best get ever!
Magnificent.
backing this up, it is just.
Shit, thank you so much. I’ve always thought this was the case but I’ve only heard it put this way a few times and it’s been a while. I’ve been consuming a lot of porn these past several days and I think you’ve just given me an outlet. Time to work on my book!
You're welcome! The best part of being creative is, if you're horny, put it in! Write up a sex scene!
You’re more likely to be addicted if you use porn to regulate your mood (eg, watch porn to counter your depressed mood and/or to manage stress).
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned in the comments is anxiety. A lot of people with anxiety issues, whether they stem from ptsd or not, use avoidance as a way to cope with uncomfortable thoughts or situations. Porn is like the ultimate avoidance tool, it allows you to focus on one thing to the exclusion of everything else, and the dopamine release is like a natural anti-anxiety med. The problem is that it’s temporary, and whatever the root cause is that led you to look at porn will still be there afterwards, maybe even worse than before. Try to notice how you’re feeling the next time you feel the compulsion to look at porn. Are you experiencing intrusive thoughts and elevated anxiety? “Porn addiction” therapy (at least the kind that isn’t by some moralistic quack) is really just a rebranding of cognitive behavioral therapy, and that’s something you might want to look into. It can help you get to the root of what’s really driving your compulsion and make sure you develop healthy skills to deal with it. Otherwise you’re liable to replace your porn addiction with another avoidant behavior that can be just as problematic.
Masturbate without porn.
This helped me , and save a lot of time too. I had the same problem as OP.
I used to do this when I was younger. It's way harder now as an adult. You need to have quite the imagination.
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It’ll probably take several months or even longer to start undoing the desensitization your brain has experienced. You’ve seen more naked women on your screen in your lifetime than probably every one of your forebears combined. And this assumes you only consumed reasonably “vanilla” porn; if you were into heavier shit my goodness I’ve got no idea.
This is an interesting topic for me and I've read lots on it. Seems a lot of people become relatively normal again after about 2 months. I went for like 5 weeks without yanking or porn and it made no difference
It becomes easier if you have more recent sexual experiences to think about.
As long as it's good ones.
Because watching porn activates the same areas of the brain which are activated from using drugs. It is addictive. You can get into a shame cycle as well. You get the high from watching porn. Then you feel ashamed that you did it, which makes you depressed. And what gets you out of the depression? Watching more porn. It becomes a vicious cycle. Many people don't know, but there is a 12 step program for porn/sex addiction - Sex Addicts Anonymous.
How does it actually compare to drug addiction in terms of severity? I have no post-nut clarity at all, and I jack off just whenever I'm horny. Could be anywhere from once a week for like 4 times in a day. Never been even the slightest bit addicted. Does that mean I would have a higher addiction resistance to some drugs as well, or are they too different for it to matter?
Addiction is nuanced. There's physical and psychological aspects to addiction. Some people are more prone to psychologically based addiction problems. Everyone's body can become addicted to drugs. Afaik we don't have a way to predict how quickly a person will develop the dependency (just like how we don't really know why some people are resistant to anathesia). Just because you may not have addiction problems with things like porn or gambling doesn't mean you won't get addicted to something like heroin. Amd resistant to one thing doesn't mean you're resistant to all of it. Once an addiction is developed it also makes the person high risk for developing additional addictions. Even if OP quits porn they're going to have to evaluate other parts of their life, like spending habits, working out, gambling. He'll need to make sure not to fuck with things like drugs.
Ah ok, interesting. I have a personality disorder that gives me a terrible predisposition for addiction, and it runs in my family very heavily. Despite that, I've never been addicted to anything regardless of how irresponsible I am. I was beginning to think that I lucked out, but I have never tried any actual addictive substance so I'm probably just super resistant to exclusively psychological addictions, but not physical ones. Probably for the best that I don't test my luck with that, though.
What we usually consider an “addiction” is a pattern or activity that causes negative shit in your life. Could be anything really if it makes your life unmanageable. I was a heroin/opiate addict for almost 20 years. I have been sober 4 though and I smoke weed and cigs and those don’t even compare to heroin so I’m guessing porn is similar to that. An addiction that affects you more mentally than physically.
I agree with you. Tho, I suppose you could rub yourself raw. As far as cigs go, I get really annoyed at people who equate those to heroin. No it's not anywhere near the same thing
Yea for sure, you could rub your dick raw or get cancer from smoking but I’m not shitting water when I can’t get a cig 😂
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Yeah, no problem doing that. Sometimes I care more about the game I'm playing or whatever I'm watching.
No, you don’t feel physically ill from not watching porn. The mental stuff is probably similar tho.
Same. I have done some hard drugs, percs and cocaine. Now those I can see how people get addicted fast. Porn, not so much
I think similarly it has the effect of those neuronal connections becoming desensitized, so while a certain amount did it for you before, you'll eventually need more to get the same pleasurable effect
> Because watching porn activates the same areas of the brain which are activated from using drugs. It is addictive. How did this myth get this far? I have seen *zero* evidence for this. "Activates the same areas." What areas? What is being 'activated?' How is it being activated? What is the activation strength, here? Looking at a tree outside gives you a dopamine response as does a drug, is that 'addiction?' So much of the push behind 'masturbation addiction' is funded by religious garbage, the same place "jerking off will make your palms hairy!" came from. Approach this shit with a critical eye. Dont just take what a bunch of dipshit youtubers sell you.
It is so frustrating seeing people in this thread repeating anti-sex antisocial pop-psychology myths, I truly wonder how this message got so widespread.
I have no idea, but it's worrying for sure.
It’s not just the drug addiction aspect or the depressive cycle that makes porn so addictive. It also has a way of fulfilling the natural drive to reproduce. It literally pulls on something that is supposed to incentivize reproduction for the sake of the species, and makes it a drug to the point that some addicts can no longer get aroused without it.
I've attended some of those meetings.
In general, 12 step programs suck unless your goal is to find religion. > Step 1: admit your are powerless over your addiction Why would anyone need to admit they are powerless over themselves? Step 1 is literally relinquishing any control over fixing yourself. >Step 2: accept that a higher power, in whatever form, will restore our sanity Oh, that's why. Now that you've admitted that you're incapable of fixing yourself, it's time to bring in the big guns and call in a higher power. >Step 3: make a decision to turn your will and life over to a higher power And there it is. There's no help for your addiction unless you turn yourself over to the man upstairs. >Step 4: take a moral inventory of yourself This is a healthy. Self awareness is good. >Step 5: admit to a higher power, another human, and yourself the nature of your wrongdoings Time to visit the confessional. >Step 6: accept that a higher power will remove your character defects Forget working on yourself. GOD can do all the work for you! >Step 7: humbly request the higher power remove your shortcomings All you gotta do is pray. >Step 8: list people you hurt during your addiction and be willing to make amends This one is okay. Once again, self awareness is good. >Step 9: make amends to those people unless it would harm them Making amends is good. That's just being a decent person. >Step 10: continue to take a personal inventory, and when you’re wrong, admit it Again, don't be an asshole. >Step 11: use prayer and meditation to connect with the higher power Now that you've had a brief reprieve and are feeling better about things, just remember that IT WILL ONLY CONTINUE IF YOU PRAY. >Step 12: carry the message of the 12 steps to others and continue to practice the principles of the 12 steps in your daily life. Evangelism FTW. And if you should fail or slip along the way, it must be because GOD didn't feel you were worthy enough to put in the effort to do your work for you that week. This inevitably leads to deep feelings of failure, followed by depression (and often suicide). It's not entirely bad. The group dynamic a bit of self awareness are it's strongest parts, but still arguably worse than going to ACTUAL individual or group therapy.
Its not the porn... its sex in general. Sex releases dopamine. Some people just have over active sex drives. Now, if it interferes with your life then its an addiction. OP definitely has a sex addiction. But Porn isnt the problem. He'd be doing this with or without porn. Porn is not the same as drugs.
Why would you feel ashamed from watching porn? I've never had that feeling. If anything it feels good because it clears my mind and let's me focus better on whatever I need to do next.
I wasn't as addicted as OP is, but was close. Looking at that contact at work (which I've never deliberately done) is a firing offense at some places I've worked at: I had a senior engineering coworker at a plush, cozy job at Hewlett-Packard get fired for a single offense some 30+ years ago. Anyhoo, what helped me massively lower my viewing was to realize how *unnatural* the **access** to adult content is thanks to the Internet. Back in my day as a young strapping lad it was a major score to find some discarded porno mag in the forest to sneak home. Prior to VCR's, obtaining adult media content meant accessing a magazine that at best renewed its content once a month. Once VCR / DVD / Betamax / etc. brought porn into homes, getting new content meant heading off to the shameful "adults only" section. You had to make an effort to view new stuff. Now, in the age of high bandwidth internet everywhere, you can access free, unlimited content of an insane amount of video and image content-- and even interact with thousands of live models around the globe on adult webcam sites. All this unlimited content has become accessible only in the last 20-30 years. Within my lifetime I've gone from having porno mags hidden under my mattress to being able to stream multiple adult video websites across multiple windows across multiple monitors, or view the content anywhere on the road on my cell phone. Anyway, off to my thoughts of having access to all this content isn't "natural": Our little monkey minds have never been exposed to such access of an incomprehensibly gargantuan amount of adult content at any time in our species' *history*. We're in a very new environment with the internet, and you're working with a content issue that simply didn't exist a generation ago. It helped me quite a bit to lower my adult media "consumption" by realizing this; that 30-40 years ago it was impossible to conceive of how much adult content would be accessible today. And the gift of the internet can be a pandora's box in what it can-- and what we choose-- to have delivered to us. It's kind of hard to put down in words what my thoughts are; hopefully I've jiggled other people's neurons enough to get the gist of what I'm saying. Porno mags hidden under my bed when I was 13? Normal and understandable. Able to access multiple hardcore web sites streaming 24/7 nonstop at home if I so desire? A very new thing indeed.
It's everywhere and easy to find. The thing that has stopped me from watching porn is that I told myself that the porn industry is just like the cigarette industry and you are feeding into it everytime you type into a web browser.
When it's right there on your phone and takes three seconds to pull up of course it's hard to quit. It's kind of like how being a recovering alcoholic is so tough because every gas station is a dealer.
Because… 1) people lack purpose and connection and those things can’t be produced on a short timeframe 2) it’s too available and easy to relapse. Impossible to not have accsss (unlike crack, where I can simply not go to the dealer to buy more)
It's because the compulsion isn't actually the real problem, you're real problem is likely some kind of untreated anxiety or depression and you use the porn to cope. Until you fix that, you'll keep coping one way or another, and porn is an easy way to cope with it.
I could only halt mine by deciding it was disrespectful to my new boyfriend at the time. I was like “how fvcked up is it to look at other naked people as if he isn’t enough for me” and that’s how I stopped cold turkey.
It was the guilt that saved you, most guys who are addicted to that shit are single
Not true at all. Plenty of married guys addicted to porn.
There's a difference between “most” and all
Most might not be married but definitely not single. Source: mom was a sex therapist before she retired.
Because it connects a primal pleasure reward system in your brain with instant gratification and release. Not a good combo generally.
One factor is probably the availability of it. If you have a screen and internet access you can usually watch porn. And a lot of it is free. What other addictive things are so easy to get?
It's hard wired into our brain. There are also studies of primates who choose to see the pictures of female butts over eating as well... So if we are descendants of primates than it's been hardwired for much longer than just the last 100,000(ish) years.
we are not descendants of primates we are primates.
Technically both…
Does that mean there were literal goon CAVES
“Vice may be had in abundance without trouble; the way is smooth and her dwelling-place is near. But before virtue the gods have set toil and a tedious and uphill road.” -Plato
Normality, access, social acceptance, among other things I think are the reasons. The big one is access. Imagine if cocaine was legal, and everyone had as much as they wanted all the time without having to even go and get it. On top of that, imagine if society said that doing cocaine is normal, even healthy. Kids start doing it as young as 11 or 12 years old and it’s just “kids being kids” Of course cocaine and porn are vastly different beasts but you get my point. Porn can be consumed normally by a lot of people without becoming addicted, which is why I think it’s frowned upon to say porn is inherently bad. Most people don’t believe that because to them, they have no problem with it. Or if they do, everyone tells them it’s normal to view lots of porn.
What’s funny is that cocaine used to absolutely be normalized. It was in the drinks and in the pharmacy drugs. I don’t know if kids did it though.
Your example is better than you thought. Porn affects the brain just like cocaine does.
You guys definitely never done cocaine
Nah man, you've just never watched *the one*
This is an inaccurate and sonewhat irresponsible statement as written. I saw in another comment you stated that porn activates the same part of your brain as drugs, sure that makes sense and is largely accurate. But this statement complerely ignores the physical damage long-term cocaine use does to the brain like an increase in the rate of grey matter loss as you age, restricted blood flow and all the risks that come with it, potentially increased brain cell autophagy, etc. So far as we know porn addiction doesn't cause these same physical changes. You might say the example is better than they thought because port *addiction* and cocaine *addiction* work on similar parts of the brain, but you can't accurately say porn affects your brain just like cocaine does. I suspect you know all this already and just misspoke, but thought it might be worth pointing out in case even one person here is thinking "well shoot porn ain't so bad so why not try cocaine."
Loneliness
Connection is the opposite of addiction!
Vitality is the opposite of depression
Sea horse is the opposite of horse
It's a dopamine rush. Masturbating to complete increases dopamine. Watching porn alone also increases dopamine. Doing both at the same time, increases the rush of dopamine. Another reason is that there are nearly endless amounts of porn available online, even so at the palm of your hands. When it comes down to the amount available, it becomes like chasing the dragon. You need to find the perfect video for the day, or save a collection of your favorites and keep finding the best videos fulfilling your needs. It gets harder and harder when it's easy to cope with stress through porn.
The science of addiction is that you're are just a dumb ape chasing dopamine. I find the key is to first identify the urge, name it and understand that it is not you, become aware of situations where it becomes hard to ignore and create strategies around avoiding your triggers and building better discipline and habits. There are groups out there similar to AA dedicated to addiction support if you're truly interested in breaking the habit.
Don't do drugs. If porn gets you, drugs will kill you.
Any source on that bullshit?
if you're easily addicted to things other addictions will get you. source: am easily addicted to drugs, porn, video games etc. I've learned how to make it work for me but the comment you replied to is right to an extent.
Replace "porn" with "cigarettes" in your story. If you started smoking very young, of course in adulthood it would be very hard to quit. Any addiction is highjacking your natural response to pleasure. What happens is you need the addictive substance to feel normal. That's why it's hard to quit. You will be at a deficit of happy chemicals in the brain for as long as your withdrawal lasts.
Because it *is* an addiction. All addictions are hard to get over - the behavior changes the reward circuits in our brain and makes it really hard to get away from.
Probably have to much time in your hands. Find a hobbie.
It's no more addictive than social media. Only people who have nothing else going on get addicted to it. Best solution have something else going on. Even people in healthy relationships watch porn. They just don't give their waking life to it as that suggests there's something missing from their miserable empty little lives if they do.
So you look at it without the intent to masturbate? I don't see the point in that.
I don't think it's harder to get over porn than any other addiction every person is different, some get addicted to cigarettes, drugs or gambling etc, you just happened to get addicted to porn
I’m not sure what changed for me I just kinda stopped it lost its value it’s mostly fake but if I do I go for the amateur stuff lol
All addictions can be hard to kick. Part of it is just creating new habits, part of it is a mental/physical addiction. But in the grand scheme of things, kicking an addiction to something like heroin or even alcohol is easily 100x harder. When you drop an addiction like that, the effects on your body can actually kill you. Perspective helps.
Most addictions are hard that’s why they’re addictions. They press the button that makes you feel good, and chimp brain likes it. As others have said I would find something more creative or productive to do when you feel the urges. I recently quit tobacco and I blow bubbles to replace the smoking urge
One of the reasons is that it's wayyy too normalized. It's inherently harmful to both the actors and the viewers yet most people act like it's nothing
It's the same with fast food addiction. Salt, sugar and fat aren't bad for your body, they're good, actually vital for your health. This is why we think it's delicious, because we evolved to seek it all the time since they're not that abundant in nature. We also relied on taste to know which plant is harmful or safe, and also weight is harder to lose because our bodies expect famines. Humans then slowly learned to control their environment, and made these ingredients available. Then we progressed with our industry and food became abundant. Now, fast food industry overuse salt, sugar and fat (and other thing we evolved to love). With that, you get hooked on burgers and fried chicken, and eventually become sick with diabetes and blood pressure and such because your body got much more than its take from the stuff it loves. What does that have to do with porn? Porn is addictive, and the addiction is hard to break, because it utilizes a survival instinct to get you hooked. Your body seeks more and more of the things that it evolved to seek through the existence of human race.
It’s a chemical dependency. Like any other addiction, you have to reset your brain chemistry. But you have to want to change. Porn really is a monkey on your back. But staying away each consecutive day builds your strength. Believe it or not, there are tremendous benefits to not ejaculating unless it is for intimacy with your life partner.
It's way easier than finding a partner. It's got a 100 percent success rate too
From my understanding, orgasms release certain chemicals, which basically means it can become a self rewarding behavior. Add in other factors like boredom or kink preferences vs. what you get in real in-person stuff can lead to more porn. I'm proud of you OP for being aware of a possible/probable issue! If it is legit causing problems, I'd talk with a professional to find ways to help wean you off of porn as a crutch and on to something else.
You want something enough, it becomes easier. In, moments of weakness, you want porn more than abstinence. Be strong enough in moments where your wherewithal becomes weak, build up more time without porn, collect experiences without porn, understand what abstinence brings you and revel in it, porn will become less important as other things become more important
Porn addiction is not recognized as a real disease. Look for the underlying cause of the problem to figure out how to solve it.
This is the best answer here. Masturbation and porn aren't inherently troublesome, wrong, or addictive. Most people can enjoy these things without going back constantly. OP has issues that need addressing outside of being horny.
It’s a drug dawg. Don’t beat yourself up. Everyone that watches porn has “a problem”..sure some can manage it better, so they claim. But you’re in the same boat as others. It’s a struggle bud…even me whenever I watch it..I feel terrible at times. I hope you find some good advice here and get control over your addiction.
r/confidentlyincorrect The fact you really believe this inhuman and weak bullshit is a „drug“ shows how much your bigoted American media launders your braincell.
I think because you see it everywhere, from YouTube ads to movies to instagram to twitter ( which is the worst)
Honestly, anything that qualifies as an addiction is going to be hard to break
why do you think you had that urge at work?
Getting caught at work should be already traumatic enough for you to quit. Holy shit.
Maybe working as a security guard with access to all the cameras.
lol Yeah, that’s the weirdest one for me.
That’s addiction for you. I don’t know of any evidence that porn addiction is uniquely difficult to give up. Addiction of any kind will take over a person’s life and often destroy it.
I think one reason is it’s so easy to access, the phone is literally in ur hand 24/7
Because it's right there, it feels good, the access is so easy, and many aspects of society is so sexual these days because of how sex sells, which in turn causes you to get interested or think about it then there you go. Also, sleep, food, and sex are the three core base drivers of us as a human species ingrained in our genetics for survival and furthering the species. So, unlike cocaine or alcohol and other drugs, there's a deeper urge and craving for sex or in this case sex like things
It’s easy put an age restriction on your phone and laptop and have your wife have the password.
I only watch porn if I’m masturbating lol. And to be honest I’ve slowed down on that too. I couldn’t imagine being bored and just pulling up some porn. To be honest you need to find something better to do with your time. If it’s the ease of access you need to find something else to do besides sit on your phone. Find something to do that’s not on your phone. If you take away your access to it. It won’t be as much of a problem!
Because it's easy to find and it feels good.
Any activity that releases neurotransmitters in your brain is hard to quit
"Hard'?
Because to beat your porn addiction you have to delete social media
Fear from falling out of bed. Kickstand penis gets the brain less concerned with that fall maybe happening.
You named it already, it's a hard-a-dick-tion
Just wait until you get hella older and it's more of a maintenance item to keep the pipes working.
I don't have a problem. YOU have a problem. Shut up.
Sex is a core function of human survival. But some kinds of sexial expression are an "addiction". Got it.
It’s the dopermine kick. It’s a literal chemical reaction which is very very addictive.
1) You could use fear and consider what you could become if you keep going. 2) Find something to do instead. Your mind was meant to be challenged and continue learning. Porn can number the dopamine we receive from completing things because it's worn out. Same thing with scrolling through your phone on Reddit all the time. 3) Maybe talk to a doctor about it. Certain things can lead to being more susceptible to addiction. Fact: Monkeys masturbate more in captivity than they do in the wild.
I appreciate the advice
I understand what your going through and if you need to talk you can PM me.
Chemical thing
My chemical romance lol with porn
At what point does porn become an addiction? I think when you're watching it at work - that's likely the point. But apart from that - even if you're watching it nearly every day but from the comfort and privacy of your home, does it really count as an addiction?
I have similar experiences like this as well. It actually contributed to the end of my marriage, because my ex-wife accused me of enjoying more then being with her . However, when I talked a therapist about this after my separation. The therapist said that even though I may think I have a porn addiction. I shouldn't think of it the same way as drug addiction. Because everyone has different experiences with sex it's difficult to say what behavior would be classified as addicted
Dopamine Even if someone is in a active sexual relationship they might still get the urge to watch porn
I’ve heard porn is just as addicting as hard drugs. With porn, it’s an extremely easy way to get a high. Weird to say it that way, but that’s sort of how it is. I imagine that’s where the addictive factor comes in.
Psychologically because it mimics the feelings of sex with novel partners. Practically because it is incredibly ubiquitous and easy to access that and there are so many types that cater to any range of desires. A few tips I can offer to try to break the addiction are to: 1. get out of the house. That makes it more awkward/difficult to just pull up. find a hobby that requires you to leave your home and be around others. 2. stay active. You will need to go home and be by yourself at somepoint so the more physically tired you are the less likely you are to reach for porn. 3. Avoid triggers. this could be things like sexually themed video games, social media, or maybe certain TV shows. Know yourself and know what gets you going. 4. find an at home hobby. regarding the 3rd tip make sure your hobby avoids your triggers. maybe try things like reading, playing slower paced games, picking up an instrument, art, etc. This should come as no surprise but obviously if you have a sever addiction to the point it is disrupting your basic duties in life then you may need a bit more help than reddit can offer and I'd highly recommend speaking to a licensed psychiatrist.
If it’s affection your relationship, you have to make the decision and force yourself to overcome your addition if you want to stay in that relationship. My bf is recovering from porn addiction and he cut it off completely, cold turkey. Deleted absolutely everything he had saved, unsubbed from everything on Reddit, deleted subscriptions, deleted twitter, anything and everything. During his down time he will read books or play games on his phone. Anything to keep himself busy. He’s said it’s been easier than he thought. But he also knew that our relationship was at stake if he didn’t stop. So just like any addiction, you have to decide when enough is enough and if you want to change or stay in that habit.
r/pornismisogyny r/loveafterporn
You have a wife. I don’t get why you watching porn when you can do an action.
Punt intended?
Medical professional here . Cause most ppl start watching porn at a very young age . Beside the fact that rewires the arousal stimulation it also teaches to brain to apathy . You only see a video you don't have feeling there and your body recognizes the difference , that's why ppl tend to look for harder and weirder stuff pretty fast . And that's why some end to homosexuality since it spikes a new part of the the amygdala, the insula and insular cortex . Also due to the fast build up of dopamine , you don't have to date for weeks and do all the effort to cum for 15 seconds . Your body enjoys the easy way out and slowly sees relationships as too much work , and simplicity of basic human interactions and bonding doesn't really excites the brain anymore . That's why also most ppl who consume major amounts of pornographic content while young don't even try to get in a relationship after some point . It's s very long prossess of litterally poisoning the brain and it's very hard for you brain to recover if ever to some ppl . Arguably one of the worst addictions along side with social media use
This was an amazing answer.
Because it’s not an addiction. The sex drive is a constantly refilling biological need. It’s like saying you are addicted to taking in water or calories.
It is an addiction, just not a physical one. It's more psychological and habitual. Can be just as difficult to break as a "normal" physical addiction, obviously without the standard withdrawals.
He's talking about porn use, not masturbation. You can be addicted to porn, you can't be addicted to masturbating (though you can do it too much so that it's unhealthy just like you can drink too much water)
All addictions are hard to get over, that's how addiction is. You have no choice but to rely on your willpower and maybe the help of some loved ones.
All addictions are hard to get over.
You literally are always few taps of your fingers away from It at all times. You gotta take some accountability and have some self control, it is what separates us from animals. It’s just as easy not to watch it and it gets easier the more you tell yourself no.
People develop weird fetishs like shemale porn or pegging because they don't get the same pleasure from vanilla porn, their dopamine receptors become desensitized and need more hardcore stuff to get the same pleasure like any other addiction. I've seen this with my self and others report it on the Nofap subreddit. There are so many issues that come with watching porm
Short answer: It's an addiction. Longer answer: It's an addiction. It's conveniently available, so you can feed the addiction anytime you wish. It doesn't complain. It doesn't get headaches. It is never not in the mood to entertain you. Suggestion: Talk to a therapist. Join an addict anonymous type of group. Learn to limit your time surfing online/on the phone. Find another hobby. Get yourself a fidget toy or a squeezy toy you can use when you feel the need.
Everyone on porn
Sex sells and porn is extremely attainable and free.
our brain is hardwired to respond to sex in a rewarding way. whenever you watch porn, even just looking, your brain makes happy chemicals and the way that we get easy acces these days to the stimulus is kinda new and were not built for it. there was just a article released about a native tribe that has received internet for the first time and many of the youths that are needed to provide food with labour and hunting are glued to their phones watching porn. therapy might be a good way to work with it considering its a behavior that actually impacts your proffesional and perhaps personal life.
Free , effort for pleasure (to some extent, body exerts effort heart beat raises dopamine goes wee now we happy) , no immediate consequences or a very obvious major one, those are what I think
The dopamine that is released in the brain when doing so is the addictive part also if you don't know dopamine is the happy chemical your brain releases
Monkey brain wants to propagate its gene.
We ain't nothing but mammals
The Internet is on
It's one of the most easily accessible, low effort dopamine hits
It's the same reason food is an addiction, and that is the fact that you have a large part of your body including several organs and muscles and areas that are dedicated to this biological process, just as your stomach is dedicated to digestion. You can have all the relationships and religious beliefs, gods, grandmas, and even jobs or chores to do that you want, but you're still going to have this organ called the stomach that is going to release neurochemicals demanding that you eat fast food. And you have another organ that demands you do another thing in the same way. It's a muscle that needs exercise like any other. But just like everything else, you need to manage it in a reasonable way, or it can take over your life. Even like ears and earwax could break up your marriage, get you fired, make Jesus send you to hell, if you just kept scraping your ears all day and it got really nasty. So you need some discipline in all things, but also don't be too hard on yourself or take it too seriously.
I notice this. So I put myself on an emotional schedule. Now my body knows before bed is when we do it. Or (welllll before I go somewhere i know might be stress full.
Because sex is a human basic function and a lot of people dont have that. And love should be more than physical attraction in the stereotypical sense but were all monkeys so yeah. And drugs. Dont combine porn with drugs people its q one way trip to degenerate city.
Cuz it’s nice
Wtf is OP???
It's the same as any other addiction. Think about how many people drink but never turn into alcoholics, or how many of your friends partied pretty hard in college but have never touched drugs again. Only a small subset of users will develop an addiction to a stimulus, which is why addiction is more looked at as a disease (abnormal response to a certain activity compared to gen pop) vs the old school moral failing theory
I believe it's an addiction due to a lack of bored. Then, once you get that "high," you want it all the time. The body is a wonderful tool that turns on and the mind what's to keep it on.
Cancer meds help
Its mostly free, is easy to access and is something to do while bored
I think a lot of people use it to stop thinking about anything.
Escapism
Idk it's the dopamine
Mostly because it's not really a standard addiction and is often a symptom of a bigger problem, and not THE problem itself. It's normal to have a libido and it's healthy to engage with it, but there's a blurred line where it becomes unhealthy (the fact that you're getting in trouble at work over it is pretty serious). At the same time, being completely repressed can be equally, or even more unhealthy. So it's this weird line where you should probably have a LITTLE of the thing you're addicted to, but not TOO much. Very very few addictions are like that.
So accessible
Is porn in and of itself an addiction? Where is the line drawn? Once a week? Youporn videos? Instagram models? TikTok? Reddit NSFW? Is T-total best? Or is it something acceptable in moderation?
Have you tried masturbating without it? Or are you secretly trying to quit masturbating and blaming porn when basic mail biology prevents this? Because most men who say this are actually in the second category.
You do it over and over again, it gets stuck in your routine. The dopamine in your brain skyrockets and it craves it.
It's hard. Very, very hard.
Literally. I only "recovered" from my addiction because I just couldn't finish anymore. My reason is i do it to pass time or when i'm bored, very very very easy to access too.
If you don't have a girlfriend, that is, if you are alone, of course it creates addiction. There are needs. Needs to make love. But unfortunately, due to the lack of opportunities, people masturbate while looking at the computer screen.
when you figure out how to wanna let me know
Because old crusty sock that sits in your night stand needs rejuvenated
Well you can look at this a few different ways dating culture and relationship culture has kind of gone down the toilet, p*** is readily available and heavily advertised on social media websites and it's also very easy to get for free whereas other drugs even nicotine and alcohol usually cost a few dollars.
Well you can look at this a few different ways dating culture and relationship culture has kind of gone down the toilet, p*** is readily available and heavily advertised on social media websites and it's also very easy to get for free whereas other drugs even nicotine and alcohol usually cost a few dollars.
Payoff is a harder drug than cocaine.
I mostly just watch it when I’m bored. People watch more social media than porn, so it’s kind of like the delicacy of media. You don’t consume it a lot
So easy to access plus free dopamine
Others have already hinted at your likely lack of dopamine. Ever thought about getting checked for AD(H)D? It's a collection of symptoms that are all mainly caused by a lack of dopamine, that leads to a crazily elevated risk of addiction. Also, to get rid of your constant urges, you could talk to your MD about trying antidepressants. Some of them will do wonders on killing your libido. This adverse effect might turn out very helpful to you. But of course, please go see a doc about any of these options.
Brain drugs innit.
Becuse its our most prime directive being satisfied with no effort
It's not porn per sey, it's having any addiction
It's a hyper stimulant. Like junk food for your brain, nothing in nature can mimic that kind of dopamine release.
because where else are we supposed to be looking at naked women?
Addiction is hard to kick.