Pornography
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The first thing you need to do to combat pornography is to empower yourself with information. Fight The New Drug is one of the best online resources available for educational information about pornography and it’s effects on us as individuals and society as a whole. We highly recommend the video series Brain, Heart,World below as a great place to start your own journey to recovery or to help others who may be struggling with pornography.
What Are The Signs Of Porn Addiction?
Pornography addiction can cause serious harm to yourself and those around you. Over time it can have adverse affects on a person’s health, relationships with others, and even jeapordize their employment. Below are a few symptoms a person with a pornography addiction may exhibit.
symptoms provided by verywellmind.com
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Being consumed with thoughts of porn even when you are not actively viewing it
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Viewing porn on your cell phone during work or in social situations where you might be seen
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Feeling ashamed, guilty, or depressed about your porn viewing
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Continuing to watch porn despite any harm it has had, is having, or may have on your relationship, work, or home life
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Experiencing reduced sexual satisfaction with a partner when pornography is not involved
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Keeping your porn secret from your spouse or domestic partner
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Getting upset when asked to cut back or stop using porn
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Losing track of time when viewing porn
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Trying and failing to quit
Addiction Recovery & Support
Taking The First Step
One of the most important things to know about pornography use and addiction is that you are not alone. One out of three Americans seek out pornography at least once a month so even if you feel like you are the only one who has “a problem” with porn, statistically speaking that just isn’t the case.
If you’re struggling the best thing you can do first is open up and talk to someone you know, love, and trust about it. Don’t let guilt, shame, or embarrassment stop you from taking this critical step to recovery. Once you recognize and talk openly about it, your ability to overcome pornography will increase dramatically.
“The thing that I found [is] by not telling people, it becomes more powerful. But when you tell, and when you put it out there in the open… it loses it’s power.” – Terry Crews
Getting Support
Getting over an addiction can be very difficult, especially if you try to go it alone. Having a friend, spouse, or close family member involved and actively engaged in your recovery will keep you motivated and accountable which increases the likelyhood of a successful outcome as well.
For added support you can also incorporate one of many online programs like Fortify, that can provide you with additional resources by tracking your progress and connecting you to a community of other people who are experiencing the same challenges as you.
Talking To A Professional
Whenever you are dealing with an addiction, of any kind, you should always seek out and work with a licensed mental health professional. These individuals will not only provide detailed and specific direction on how you can overcome pornography, they are also trained to identify the things in your life that may have contributed to it. With their counsel, combined with the support of friends and family, you will beat pornography and truly enjoy being free and able to enjoy healthy and meaningful relationships with those around you.
I have had a long-standing unhealthy preoccupation with pornography. I have tried for years to break myself of this addiction. I’m married, and this inability to completely separate myself from online porn has strained my marriage and given me great personal grief. Recently though, things have been better; a big part of my increasing success has been The CleanerNet. I have sought help from eclesiastical leaders and counselors and family members, which has been very helpful, but adding The CleanerNet to this equation has given me extra help to avoid pornographic influences. It would be naive to think that any internet filter is enough to entirely keep a grown man away from porn, but The CleanerNet does a great job of putting a road block – a nice buffer that makes me think again – in the way of making that same bad decision again and again. My wife and one of my siblings has access to The CleanerNet account, and I do not, so even if questionable websites are not blocked, I do not want to access even borderline material, knowing that they can track everything I am viewing. The Cleaner Net makes me feel more safe from my own destructive tendencies than I have felt in a long time. My house is no longer a place where I feel tortured by constant temptation, but rather the place where I can enjoy being with my wife and kids, sharing moments of joy rather that constant conflict. As my kids get older, I believe The CleanerNet will help my wife and I to teach our kids to make better choices on the Internet. The CleanerNet has been an amazing addition to our home!
Living A Balanced Life In A High-Tech World
Technology continues to change nearly aspect of our lives and internet based addictions, though relatively new, are becoming an ever increasing problem throughout the world. The CleanerNet is a great tool that can be used to help curb an online habit and help develop a healthy and balanced relationship with the technology that you use every day. Visit our tips and tricks page to learn more.
