Breaking Porn Addiction

QUESTION: Is breaking porn addiction possible?

ANSWER:

Yes, breaking porn addiction is possible. After an 11-year porn addiction, I’ve been clean going on 12 years now. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to break this addiction?

Is breaking porn addiction easy? No, as a connoisseur of porn, I was so addicted to the chemicals that are released by the brain when viewing porn. Here are some tips to consider:

First, see the big picture:

• Realize that porn is destroying you and your ability to have healthy relationships with the opposite gender.
  
  
• Understand that stimulation requires more and more perverse porn which, if continued, eventually takes you to child porn where the child is killed during sex. Few people dabbling in porn ever think of this scenario.
  
  
• Know that porn is about selfishness. A lifelong mutually beneficial relationship can’t be built or sustained by focusing only on you. Such a relationship requires serving your spouse.
  
  
• Understand that porn lies to you because of the sexual satisfaction it promises. It can’t deliver.
  
  
• Remember that porn can only provide temporary pleasure.
  
  
• Know that porn impacts your sex life with your wife. Some men who masturbate have a difficulty with premature ejaculation. Porn may cost you your marriage.

So as you look at this “Big Picture” of porn, it isn’t worth continuing this addiction.

Breaking porn addiction is a mental attitude since the brain is the biggest sex organ in our bodies. Your brain is also a key in breaking porn addiction. Your mindset must be committed to doing whatever it takes. Recently, after teaching men about discovering their purpose in life, an attendee approached me confessed his porn addiction. He said, “I can’t help but buy porn magazines when I go to the store.” My advice, “Don’t go to the store by yourself or get someone to shop for you.”

Breaking porn addiction requires replacing the time spent with porn with something productive. Without this substitution, it becomes extremely difficult to break this addiction and/or avoid relapsing.

Is breaking porn addiction possible even if I’ve had a relapse? Yes, relapses are common when attempting to break any addiction. These relapses should be further apart each time, until you eventually stop relapsing. Having an accountability partner is so invaluable in helping to prevent relapses. Why don’t I relapse anymore? It’s not worth it. I see the “Big Picture.” I might always be a recovering connoisseur of porn -- the consequence of my addiction -- so, I have imposed boundaries for myself. For example, I seldom (if ever) go to video stores because so many DVD covers are tempting to me.

But the primary reason I don’t relapse now is not my strong will, but my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He empowers me to say, “No” to porn. He has shown me such a better life and that returning to porn is a step backwards. Christ can and will help you too!