Can You Undo Years of a Porn Addiction?

Addiction can feel hopeless at times. Sometimes it gets so hopeless that many people are content to remain in a cycle of addiction rather than deal with the pain of trying, and failing, to escape the hold that addiction has on them. This is especially true with porn addiction.

But you don’t have to feel the hopelessness that your behavior and mindset will always be this way. Repeat after us: this can be fixed.

Don’t get us wrong; it’s not going to be easy to undo the damage years of pornography addiction have dealt to your mind, body, and soul, but we can promise one thing: it will definitely be worth it.

How Does Pornography Affect Your Brain?

The first thing to examine is how pornography actually impacts your brain and what you can do about it. Watching porn alters how you look at the world around you, especially in matters of a sexual nature.

There are many reasons why watching too much porn is not a good thing, but arguably the worst is that it rewires your brain, and the effects can take a while to reset. Essentially, pornography tricks your brain.

We have all heard of that glorious brain chemical that makes us feel oh-so-happy: dopamine. Dopamine is widely regarded as a pleasure chemical since it links specific behaviors to rewards. Exercise, eating, and sexual activity set off signals in this brain region.

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However, your brain reacts differently to porn than to routine stimuli, such as eating a sweet snack, playing a trivia game, or even having sex. For most activities you would do on a daily basis, the brain has a sort of “off switch” that stops the release of dopamine once a craving has been sated.

Pornography, on the other hand, causes the brain to release ever-increasing dopamine levels, which has a devastatingly addictive effect on the brain. The brain develops a tolerance to the excess dopamine. It needs either more access or more extreme pornography content (and sometimes both) to maintain the same amount of perceived pleasure over time.

How Can I Stop Watching Porn?

This is easier said than done, but in almost all cases, the best way is to stop cold turkey. Because of pornography’s effect on the brain, it isn’t possible for those with problematic porn-viewing behaviors to watch “just a little” porn.

Some tips that may help if you find yourself wanting to stop watching pornography, you may want to try some of these tips:

• Join a support group: There are support groups, both in person and online, full of people who know exactly what you’re going through.

• Find yourself an accountability partner: Yeah, we know that the last thing you want to do is air your dirty laundry, but if you find someone you trust, preferably someone who’s going through the same thing, it can be helpful for accountability purposes.

• Focus on your “why”: Odds are if you’ve gotten to this point, there are clear reasons why your life would be better if you quit porn for good. Focus on the reason(s) why you need to quit now.

• Block porn sites altogether: The first step is to delete any porn you have saved on your phone or computer. Block porn websites completely. There is software that can help you do just that. Basically, make it difficult to access pornography.

• Keep tech out of reach: Along the same lines as blocking porn sites, you might consider keeping your phone and home computer out of your bedroom. Invest in an old-school alarm clock, and charge that cell phone in the other room.

• Find a hobby: Research has shown that it’s not usually helpful to stop your habit; rather, replace it with something else. Join a softball league, learn how to knit, or take a cooking class. Find other areas of life to experience increased joy and fulfillment!

• Talk with a therapist: There is no overstating how helpful a professional can be with addiction. You may feel embarrassed, but there are people trained to handle addiction of all kinds, including sex and porn.

How Can I Find Professional Help For My Porn Addiction?

Talking to a trained professional is a great first step in undoing the negative effects of your porn addiction. There are some challenges in finding someone to work with you on your pornography addiction, one being that there are no official diagnosis criteria for porn addiction disorder.

Though it is common sense that pornography has addictive properties, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5) does not offer it as an official diagnosis. There is not yet enough scientific literature to support a diagnosis, despite the widespread overuse of porn.

However, many professional therapists in the field do recognize that porn and sex addiction are very real. When looking for a therapist, see if you can find a Certified Sex Addiction Therapist, also known as a CSAT, or a therapist with an AASECT certification.

CSATs specialize in sex addiction but are also well-versed in pornography addiction and other hypersexual disorders. If anyone can help you undo your porn addiction, it is a qualified CSAT.

What Can I Do To Turn My Porn Addiction Around?

You may feel discouraged now, but remember that you can find your way out of the darkness. The key is that you just have to start.

Therapy Work

As you will likely learn from your therapist (seriously, talk to a therapist. Go now.), one of the most useful tools is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, otherwise known as CBT. CBT is a type of therapy that works to identify your triggers and change unwanted behaviors.

Once you figure out the things triggering your bad habits and behaviors, you can try to avoid those triggers. Because porn addiction is a behavioral addiction, much of the work you will do with a therapist will involve recognizing when you are in an at-risk situation and trying to mitigate the risk.

Medication

There is some evidence that medication may help change behaviors. For one, pornography addiction is often coupled with anxiety, depression, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Sometimes, all three are present.

Treating underlying psychological conditions that may be worsening compulsive behaviors can help. After all, many people look to porn as a coping mechanism to handle anxiety or stress.

In addition to being treated for co-occurring conditions, many psychologists are now considering the potential impact of pharmaceuticals that regulate dopamine and GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid. One study found that an anti-epilepsy drug served to block GABA and increase dopamine, which could have huge implications for addiction treatment.

Implementing Screen Fasts

This might sound a little extreme, but if you can work it into your lifestyle, take a complete break from screens every once in a while. And yes, we are talking about all screens.

Obviously, if you work at a computer all day, the concept might not work completely, but even in this case, you could try using your computer screen only for work, and as soon as you leave the office (home office or in-person workplace), shut it all down.

We often don’t realize how much time we spend watching TV, scrolling our phones, and playing video games. And the problem with porn is that it is not limited to the porn itself. Society is constantly sending us implicit and explicit messages about sexuality and its importance. Just take a break and go for a walk.

Just Stop

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s easier said than done. But the truth is, you just need to stop the bleeding. It will be incredibly difficult at first, but once you stop, you will realize that you don’t need it.

Will it take time? Absolutely. Will you relapse along the way? Potentially. But you will probably realize that porn isn’t providing what you need.

Conclusion

Discontinuing a porn addiction habit can feel impossible, but you can do it! Any neurological damage done can be reversed; it’ll just take time.

Your best bet is to connect with a therapist, figure out your triggers, find a support group, and find ways to replace porn with healthier habits. You’ve got this!

Sources:

The Pornography “Rebooting” Experience: A Qualitative Analysis of Abstinence Journals on an Online Pornography Abstinence Forum | SpringerLink

Porn Addiction Recovery: Treatment Plans and Relapse Prevention | Psych Central

Porn Addiction: Definition, Signs, Causes, Effects, and Treatments | Very Well Mind

The Science of Addiction | Beyond Blue