For me, it was all about trying to find something new. After a couple of days of not watching porn, I would start to crave it. Not just to have something to masturbate to, but it was about seeking a new porn video that may arouse my interest. That cycle just keeps on repeating itself for me and I want to stop it.
For me i started watching porn at an early age and it became a part of me in my twenties. Eventually I was in a new relationship that is stronger emotionally than sexually (in the beginning) it made me turn to porn to feed that urge that I was not getting in my relationship at first. Now it seems that I have ruined my perception especially in the bedroom with my partner- noticing it takes me longer to ejaculate.
I’ve watched porn since I was a kid however the way in which I viewed it then is different to now. It was just a thing of curiosity and addressing horny feelings but as I’ve grown up it’s become more a coping mechanism with stress or loneliness. I’ve tried on and off to quit for a while as an adult but I’ve continually fallen back into the same cycle, I guess as there was a lack of quick easy dopamine fixes to replace it. I’ve recently come out of a relationship where porn was a key factor for it ending and I’m now determined to remove it from my life.
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Ease of access has made porn a habit that has almost become an automatic action. I will often be on my find mindlessly scrolling and sooner or later I find myself on a porn site. That habit has changed too in recent years. I don’t just look for generic porn sites but I’m now routinely checking out webcams and spending money on content creator sites. Meaning my prob watching is now having a financial impact
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Same thing is happening to me
Eventually my mind just wonders to porn if I am horny or if I am board. I don’t really have a problem with watching porn if I’m horny but I want to quite watching it when I am bored I think that kills my sex drive.
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Watching porn is a big way of feeling comfort and feeling loved.
I was exposed to porn at a very young age and I have used it to relive stress, help with sleep and feel loved for what feels like all my life.
Now as an adult with a relationship it feels like im basically using it to get as close as possible to cheating without cheating in a traditional sense.
You get to pretend you have sex with whoever you want and feel wanted but now I want to feel wanted by my partner but I just cant feel it.
They express love differently and are not as sexual as me making me keep going back to porn to feel loved. Its a vicious cycle
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I tried going cold turkey but there was no release since I wasn’t have any sex, and it would occupy my mind even more especially with certain content coming up on my social media.
My urges control me I lose my mindfulness
I have tried to shake my addiction for over 10 years. My partner has been extremely supportive and understanding, but I can no longer justify my addiction after all this time of trying to quit. I need to take more accountability, and find better, more sustainable ways to quit porn.
In previous efforts, I usually end up relapsing after a stressful day, and used it as a emotional regulation tool. But now, I feel I have lost control and confidence, especially when trying to find new partners, and I want to embrace it and overcome this.
I’ve never really been off it for more than 2 months. I need to take more accountability and responsibility. I just want to live a better life and have authentic romantic relationships. It feels like I’m longing for love but I’m going the wrong path.
I’ve tried going cold but never been able to last longer than two/three weeks. My mind tells me that it won’t hurt if I do watch but then straight after I feel intense guilt and shame
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in christian dating, i was given an ultimatum from my crush that I needed to get 6 months free before we went on another date, and I tried to commit to that and wanted freedom, but quickly got overwhelmed after a few days, and it felt defeating that it was going to be so hard to get there. I didnt have support, recovery groups were always filled with guys 20-30 years older than me. I felt alone, and when the next rejection or heartbreak happened, it quickly caused relapse. I wanted to feel worthy of love to someone I was physically, emotionally, and spiritually attracted to. So I feel setback from an addiction i’m not free from yet, and my adapting to get to financial stability and changing my genetics to be more attractive to my crush, since we all have high and sometimes unrealistic standards.
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I slowly forget about them and start watching whenever i want
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I felt like a wanted to explode one month in, then I started again because I needed an outlet and don’t have consistent enough sex
I’ve always known that life just feels better when I’m not consistently watching porn and where I am. When I’m not, I feel more in the world genuinely more curious and happy as a baseline. When I’m in a phase when I’m watching porn, Dailly tend to be less presence or frustrated or reactive or stressed not able to contribute as much.
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I understand compulsive behaviours as thick, underground cables wired in the brain. It is a neurological thing, and cannot be broken or repaired by will power alone. It’s about re-wiring the brain. But that times time and effort. And action.
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This is such a good analogy. Wow. Thank you very much
I’ve relapsed and gone back to watching it which gets me hooked and it again and makes it harder to get on a streak of not doing it.
My brain turns to it for different reasons and instead of addressing those reason or trying to do something else I turn back to porn.