Porn Addiction Withdrawals
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Nowadays, porn is very easy to come across, especially with the Internet availability. A total of 71.8% of people have admitted to watching porn, with at least 18% admitting that they are addicted.
Porn addiction can wreak a fair amount of havoc in a person’s life, especially when that person starts going through withdrawal. With the correct therapy, porn addiction recovery can be undergone in a much more comfortable manner.
What is Porn Addiction?
Porn addiction is an inability to stop watching porn, even with your best efforts. Many people, including the American Psychological Association, do not consider porn addiction to be an actual addiction. However, its abuse impacts the brain in almost the same way as substance abuse does, creating chemical imbalances and affecting its neurotransmitters.
Porn addiction occurs when your brain becomes addicted to pornography in order to experience a dopamine rush. This means that the addict will lose control over their own sexual behavior, using porn as the main way to stimulate their brain.
Porn addiction begins often during the teenage years, usually among men. Someone who is addicted to porn will try to stop but will be unable to and will have compulsive behavior that can lead to a lack of control. Someone with a porn addiction may ignore their responsibilities, putting everything aside just so that they can watch porn.
Why Does Porn Addiction Cause Withdrawals?
Excessive porn use will usually make its effects known throughout time. That being said, like any other addiction, such as the kind brought on by substance abuse, it can lead to a series of effects on the body.
While you may not be putting any substances in your body, watching porn will still affect your brain. When watching porn, your brain begins to secrete dopamine, triggering its reward system and giving you that “feel good” mood.
Over time, the amount of porn you are watching will no longer be enough to give you that rush. As a result, you will need to watch more and more porn in order to get the same result. As your brain gets used to the dopamine rush given by porn, your body will stop providing you with dopamine, which can affect your mental health.
Symptoms of Withdrawals
Like any other addiction, porn can also leave the addict going through a series of withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms can be either physical or psychological, with the person in question exhibiting the following signs:
- Sudden mood swings, irritability, and depression
- An intense feeling of loneliness and depression
- An inability to sleep properly at night
- Looking to dive into other addictions to replace the porn one
- Libido loss and an inability to be physically intimate with your partner
- Social anxiety as you replaced watching porn with other activities
- Headaches in response to depriving your brain of the chemical rush
- Fatigue as a result of insomnia and inability to channel stress
- The urge to keep watching porn or replay porn in your mind
Porn addiction can be very uncomfortable for the addict, especially in the first few weeks. Cravings to watch porn will still occur, especially in the hours when you find yourself alone. This is why you may want to get treatment as soon as possible.
Porn Addiction Withdrawals in the Long Term
Porn addiction, along with its withdrawal, can impact the addicts in the long term. Both the addiction and its withdrawal can significantly impact their relationships, as they may no longer feel inclined to become sexually involved with their partners. As they excessively masturbate to porn, they may no longer have a desire to get physical with actual partners.
When withdrawal starts setting in, decreased libido will also start making itself noticeable. The addict will no longer have any sexual satisfaction by just being with their partner, as the sexual stimuli from porn will no longer be present. This will prevent the partners from getting physically closer to each other, creating a strain in the relationship.
Porn addiction withdrawal can also cause the addict to feel a fair amount of low self-esteem, which can be very hard on a relationship. This can lead to even lower sexual satisfaction, as both partners are expecting different things from one another.
How To Recovery From Porn Addiction
Porn addiction can be quite difficult to quit, as unlike opiates and other drugs, porn is easily available nowadays. Just a quick Internet search and you can fill your minutes alone with a couple of porn videos. This is why you should make sure that you remove temptation.
You may decide to quit “cold turkey,” or you may go for quitting gradually. For example, if your porn-viewing habits have brought you to a place where it’s causing you distress, you might want to cut down on viewing that specific genre.
Limiting your Internet consumption can help you get over your porn addiction and get easier through withdrawal. Finding other hobbies and activities to indulge in can make it easier for you to recover from the addiction. Therapy might also prove useful in helping you get over your long-term withdrawal symptoms.
If the addiction is strong and you cannot resist the temptation on your own, then you might want to consider inpatient therapy. This way, you will get constant supervision, and you’ll have your porn consumption limited or completely cut down. The professionals will also be able to get you through any potential physical symptoms you may have.
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How We Can Help
At Real Deal, we have all the options necessary to help you through a variety of withdrawal processes, including the one caused by porn addiction. We can offer inpatient, along with outpatient therapy, depending on the addiction level that you currently have for porn.
Depending on the case, medical detox may also be associated with your withdrawal process. This can include medication to alleviate pain, but also anti-depressive or anti-anxiety medicine. Mostly, the course of treatment will depend on your symptoms.
Do not allow your porn addiction to affect your relationships! Contact Real Deal and get the help that you need.