Contending with Porn Addiction
Last year was a remarkably controversial and loaded year as we talk about porn addiction. The topic of porn addiction is already a loaded and heated topic. Extreme opinions argue whether this problem exists or not. However, in the last year, we saw more people than ever before who identified having a compulsive issue with porn usage that was taking time away from their work and families, and they also didn’t feel like they could control it.
Last year, there was also a person who claimed he was a sex/porn addict who murdered several women in Georgia. This intensified the debate about sex and porn addictions, but it also led to oversimplifying the problem and dumbing it down to simple talking points rather than focusing on how complex the issue actually is.
If you’re someone who is actually dealing with this problem, it can leave you very confused. If you’re in a relationship where your partner is struggling with this, you might even be more confused than that.
Let’s get this first part out of the way. Yes, some people compulsively use porn… period. However, it’s critical that you identify what the issue is. For example, is this simply a relationship disagreement about porn use and boundaries around porn, or are you in a situation where you can’t seem to change your pattern of behavior?
This is going to require you to be honest with yourself. If it’s a problem in your relationship, you’ll want to see out the help of a couples therapist who can help you discuss boundaries in your relationship. If you really are compulsively viewing porn, you’ll want more comprehensive help to deal with the issues.
Compulsive porn use usually involves a combination of relationship repair, emotional identification and stress management, mind body awareness, sex education, and attachment based work. So you can see, that’s quite a comprehensive list of stuff.
If you’re wondering whether or not this is a problem for you, I recommend you reach out to a trained professional to help assess whether or not this is an issue.
