Pornography Addiction Treatment

Porn addicts typically engage with pornography to such an extent that it can impact on their quality of life very seriously. They often spend more and more time watching pornography as their addiction becomes increasingly entrenched. This can mean that they have less time to spend at work, with their families and loved ones, or for engaging in other activities. Moreover, many porn addicts are deeply ashamed of their addiction and try to hide it from their friends and family. The resulting secrecy, shame, and self-recrimination lead to even deeper feelings of negativity, and can further reinforce their habit.

Another problem with Pornography Addiction is the fact that it tends to escalate. People tend to start engaging with relatively mild pornography and, as they become used to this material, to move on to progressively more extreme material. As they gradually become desensitised to even very violent or extreme pornography, they may feel the need to access increasingly damaging material in order to obtain the sense of release they seek, while becoming desensitised to behaviours that would be very dangerous if they transitioned to real life.

In addition, a pornography addiction can quickly become very expensive. In my clinical practice, I have often met people who tell me that their addiction has led, over time, to their spending vast sums of money on access to pornography. In some cases, they have been spending so much that there is not enough money left for their living expenses. In the worst cases, they literally feel as though they simply cannot control how much they are spending on their habit.

Not only can Pornography Addiction be treated, but it must. Like any addiction, it has the potential to seriously damage your quality of life and capacity to form positive relationships, while also masking underlying emotional issues that need to be addressed.

Overcoming a Pornography Addiction starts with becoming keenly aware of your feelings. Note what you are feeling every time you experience the urge to use pornography. If you are addicted, reaching for porn has probably become a default behaviour in a range of circumstances. Start by delaying this instinctive reaction to stress at least for a few minutes, and examine how this makes you feel. Try to identify and name your emotions, and explore how they are impacting on you physically. Does the emotion have physical consequences for your stomach, chest or solar plexus, for example? Deep breathing exercises for at least 2 minutes at a time may help you to process what you are feeling. Try to use these exercises as you experience the trigger emotion, allow yourself to feel it, and let it pass. Every time you overcome the urge to use pornography as a crutch, you are becoming more skilled at dealing with your difficult emotions rather than pushing them aside.

As with any addiction, people who are addicted to pornography need support and human contact. My advice is that, if you have this problem, you seek out support people with whom you can discuss your addiction openly, in a way that will help you to acknowledge that you have a problem, and to focus on your recovery. A support group or group therapy can be a wonderful outlet and source of support for many, while one to one therapy can provide guidance and support as you move beyond addiction and towards a situation in which you are better able to manage difficult emotions and your reactions to them.

If you would like to talk to someone confidentially about pornography addiction treatment, or about seeing a psychologist or psychological therapist, please get in touch with the Private Therapy Clinic on Whatsapp message at: +447511116565 email, chat bot or book online to arrange an appointment.