Is there hope for those addicted to porn? At first I did not believe that a porn addiction was possible, but I now know that some people use porn to escape stress.

addiction is a commonly misused if not a bit ambiguous term, it usually suggests: Can't Stop (compulsive) and/or interferes with daily living necessities like eating, sleep, work, or relationships.


Mormons spin this as to meaning anything 'against' the gospel.


true addictions need professional intervention.

If I use orange juice to escape stress, does that mean I'm "addicted" to it?

Most of the "addictions" we talk about are chemical addictions -- tied to brain chemistry. That's the case with tobacco, alcohol, a number of other drugs, etc. It *could* be the case with masturbation (since orgasm involves the release of a number of "pleasure" chemicals), which often accompanies porn viewing. If so, the addiction is to the "pleasure" chemicals, and masturbation accompanied by porn viewing is the "delivery mechanism" for the chemicals -- not the addiction itself.

It's an interesting question concerning "addiction," and how much of it is chemical versus psychological. But as far as I know, it's not one with a definitive answer yet.

I do use orange juice to escape stress. I sip it deeply and it washes away my pains with its citrusy goodness.

Do you slip some vodka into that orange juice?

And some people pray to relieve stress. Heaven help those poor addicted souls.

First at all is there a wide misuse of the word addiction when it comes to porn. Especially in the terminology of moronism porn addition means: You dare to watch one and wanked off to escape from stress, relax, enjoy yoursrlf whatever... that has nothing to do with an addictive behavior. Not even close to it. Llok up for the definition of addiction or addictive behavior. If the pornconsumer fits in that scheme go and seek professional help but otherwise there's nothing wrong with it.

The best way to "cure" yourself from watching porn, if you want to, get a compatible spouse and enjoy your own sexuality with her/him. No made up fakeboob and 20inch dong porn can beat that.You still can watch it - even together - but all that I can say is it will loose its attraction.

I have recovered.

I was diagnosed as a porn addict, sex addict by a sex addiction specialist.

He sent me to sex addicts anonymous, etc.

Told me if I didn't get treatment I was going to head down a road of destruction. Including strip joints, prostitutes, and all manner of sexual problems. Never have a meaningful relationship with a woman, unable to keep a good job, etc, etc

My bishop at the time completely agreed with him.

They were both full of shit. I knew it at the time, but in my brainwashed state I played along for a while.

Have a great job, a great wife, and life is wonderful outside the church. I still look at porn, no more, no less, just occasionally for fun.

I'm apparently a very poor addict.

While it may be overused, let's not underestimate the power of sex addiction, which is very real, especially if it interferes with true intimacy and gets in the way of your every day life.

And OF COURSE addiction can apply to things other than alcohol or other substances...it can apply to shopping/spending, eating, gambling, Internet use, relationship drama...all of which have accompanying 12 step programs available. It's not either/or--porn isn't either 'all good/OK' or 'all bad/addiction-causing/soul-sucking.' It can be used in moderation in a healthy way or it can be damaging, for a variety of reasons in a variety of contexts. Like retail therapy, eating sweets, or the Internet.

anonforthisexmorm Wrote:
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> And OF COURSE addiction can apply to things other
> than alcohol or other substances...it can apply to
> shopping/spending, eating, gambling, Internet use,
> relationship drama...all of which have
> accompanying 12 step programs available.

The existence of a "12-step program" for something is evidence that somebody either *believes* it's an "addiction," or that somebody is trying to make money off the belief that it's an addiction. It's not evidence it IS an addiction :)

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/inside-the-criminal-mind/201102/the-overuse-and-misuse-the-word-addiction

http://www.utexas.edu/research/asrec/myths.html



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/2015 07:19PM by ificouldhietokolob.

I'm aware. I'm saying that there is help available, as that was the OP's question. I agree that the existence of treatments is not the same, though most psychologists, and the DSM-V, agree that psychological as well as physical/chemical addictions are very real (and very painful). I also don't want to minimize the pain of those suffering from them. My father is a gambling addict in recovery and it was very real for him, and very much an addiction.

Porn addiction (if you want to call it a 'compulsive/OCD behavior' that's fine too, but the effects are the same) is especially painful because it often stops the person suffering from such an issue from developing true intimacy with a sex partner. This is not the same thing as 'heavy porn use,' just as you could drink heavily (look at most college students) on a regular basis and not actually be an addict or a compulsive drinker. Mental health problems are as real as physical ones.

I get tired of this subject; some people are as misinformed about it as they are about addictions in general, but they all manage to impersonate authorities with regularity.

Per Patrick Carnes: "Addictions are things we need to lie about."

Mormons--and ex-Mormons by extension--generally over-react horribly to anything with sexual overtones, and that's actually diagnostic of the "shame-based environment" that gives rise to addictions (Utah is way up there on a per-capita basis of porn usage).

My regular consultant on this subject--who's one of the country's leading PhD's in the addiction field--is very LDS, but he's fully aware of the middle ground. During one of our first "discussions" to me he said to me, "so you've got all that LDS $#!% in your background, too?"

BTW, the "flip side of addictions," i.e. "codependency"and the pathological "need to control someone else" has the exact same psychodynamic roots as other addictions. In sexual addictions, the "brain carries it's own drug supply," that's all. With codependency, the "black-and-white" extremes move over in the other direction, and anything involving sexuality is taboo.

(see Swaggart, Jimmy; also Aimee Semple McPherson)

SLC
Trying hard to drive in the middles lanes on this stuff

Yes. It's not only "homeless alcoholic sleeping in his own vomit" or "not an addict." It's not only "never looked at porn or masturbated" or "porn addict." There are a range of healthy, unhealthy, addictive and non-addictive behaviors within those extremes. Saying that porn addiction isn't as prevalent as the church makes it out to be doesn't require you to say it doesn't exist at all. Addiction to something can exist even though the church exaggerates. But ex Mormons often resort to extremes to deal with our trauma.

Well if you can't roll it up and smoke it or chugalug it down, how can it be an addiction?

A habit maybe but so is air.

Lots and lots and lots of people recover from porn addiction, usually in later life. They get old, they become infirmed, and then they completely lose their sex drive. Then they die, a point at which everybody recovers from all of their addictions.

I was just listening to a Mormon Stories Podcast,
"Overcoming Pornography Addiction" Maybe you might find it beneficial. John Dehlin's guest, Tony, also speaks about brain chemistry in regards to porn viewing.


http://mormonstories.org/pornography-addiction/

I don't know about porn, but many are dependent on corn pone. And opinionated about it.

I eat lunch to escape stress. I do it every day. I get cranky and tired if I miss lunch.

Does that make me a lunch addict? And what's the cure? Besides eating lunch, that is.

I have read stories about Mormons who overcame their "porn addictions" by leaving the church. Once they realized that porn was not wicked and that it would not send them to hell, they stopped feeling guilty, and stopped "self medicating" their guilt by viewing porn to relieve stress, forget about their worries, and wrest a bit of enjoyment from their unhappy lives.

So after they left the church, their porn consumption dropped greatly.

byebye Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is there hope for those addicted to porn? At first
> I did not believe that a porn addiction was
> possible, but I now know that some people use porn
> to escape stress.
That's the whole purpose of porn: "to escape stress."

How are you addicted to porn? Addicted to drugs interferes with your life where you can't think straight or make rational decisions.

Does porn addiction mean you can't hold a job or go on porn binges?

Yes. Many people do just that. It is far more common than people think.

This guy.

http://mothersofthesonsofhelaman.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_9885.html

byebye Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is there hope for those addicted to porn? At first
> I did not believe that a porn addiction was
> possible, but I now know that some people use porn
> to escape stress.

So, if they use porn to escape stress, how would that be an addiction?

It wouldn't be, would it?

Or perhaps you think they should just suffer the stress in abject misery until they die of a haemorrhagic stroke?

Yes, there are definitely porn addicts. "Addiction" is usually defined in such a way that it's not an addiction unless it impairs your ability to function in society. Usually, it presents in one of two ways:

-- Work context. There are people that wank at the office, and Jesus, this was one of the most unpleasant facets when I did IT management. I think the worst I saw was a guy that spent an average of 2-4 hours a day at the office on a particular URl that RfM won't let me post.

So, are you wanking at the office frequently? If yes, you have an addiction.

-- Marriage. If you're neglecting your (most often) wife and finding more pleasure in porn, then your relationship is in trouble. In some cases this can escalate to the level of addiction.

Does looking at porn once, or even often, in the comforts of one's home meet the requirements of addiction? Of course not. But if you can't do your job or be a good spouse as a result of watching porn -- yes, you have a problem. While it's overblown by the LDS church, it is real.

Except a man is porn again he cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven.

No, because to know someone who recovered from it, I'd first have to know someone addicted to it.

The control freaks among us sure like beating up the other guy over his addictions, while enjoying their own.

As for porn keeping you from enjoying intimacy, who wrote the rule saying that is required? Do we all have to get married and have kids, etc, etc? I thought we were against the programming. If a guy likes porn better than the real thing, what's wrong with that?

Often mentioned that guys forget intimacy with their wife because of porn. Of course, the opposite can be true, that guys look at porn because their wife doesn't want intimacy, but that is rarely mentioned. Always has to be the guy's fault.

The church knows to get members it has to suppress sex. Women use the church to control their man's sexual urges, and gain monopoly control over him, so they can get his money. The thing men want most is sex, so they have to play along.

This is why the church is so popular with women. It gives them control over men. If their guy gets out of line, they can run to the bishop to discipline him. And the bishop knows if he wants sex from his wife, he has to promote the anti-sex message, modesty, and anti-porn campaign. Everything to give women the advantage, and monopoly control. Can't have her guy looking at the bare shoulders of another female!

Can't believe so many men let this happen, but anything to please the lady in hopes of getting a little sex.

Weird.

With all the loss of freedom and suppression, no wonder porn is so attractive. I wonder how women would react if the same tactics were used to get them to stop spending money, or stop eating junk food.

Dude. Again, who mentioned men? Plenty of women watch porn. You've got some weird warped sexist view and have gendered everything when it was never gendered to begin with.

Was just thinking that my wife watches 5 hours of TV every night after work, and she never has time for intimacy. Wonder why there is so little concern over that?

Not to mention all the time on the internet and smartphones. Surely that doesn't take away from intimacy, yeah right.

So we really don't care, as long as we have control over the guy's sexuality.

No...media usage can be an addiction too. And only men watch porn now?! Where do you get that idea?

A porn addiction is better than a religion addiction.