By In today’s world of modernity and access to infinite information, porn searches have become the top trend in significant countries. According to a report published in 2021, the age group between 18-25 shows a major interest in porn website searches. A porn addictive person feels major setbacks in their life, including depression, lack of interest in activities, and no confidence. In this article, we will talk about what is porn addiction? the signs of porn addiction, and how to help someone with a porn addiction.
What is Porn Addiction, and How our brain reacts to it?
An excessive watch of porn refers to a porn addiction. A person may watch porn from a few months to years. Porn addiction serves the same as other addictions such as smoking, alcohol, and drugs. A porn-addicted person becomes more intense, vulgar, and nonconscious.
Porn addiction is also known as compulsive sexual behavior or problematic sexual behavior in the medical field. Porn addiction is quite common, and doctors refer to it as a hypersexual disorder, a term that indicates a behavior such as masturbation. Porn addiction can be a highly addictive act that a person can do unconsciously and multiple times a day. A person can spend the day without watching porn and become aggressive in the absence of porn.
Brain Reaction on Porn:
You may have heard about dopamine; dopamine is the chemical that transmits signals in the brain and other parts of the nervous system. When our brain and body are subjected to pain, fear, and leisure while dopamine levels either increase or decrease. Dopamine has a big impact on our moods and thoughts. If we get high dopamine from some activity, we tend to feel aggressive, unconscious, and less confident than usual.
When we watch porn, our brain releases a huge shot of dopamine, and we feel good about it. But sooner, this dopamine level will return to its original state, and thus, we experience a big shift in our mood. If a person develops a habit of watching porn, their dopamine level remains high from the normal stage. At the moment, they can feel pleasure, enjoyment, happiness, and all the positive emotions they can experience. But soon they turn off the content, they will feel immense stress, irritation, anger, and sleep disturbance.
Dopamine also serves as a reward center for our brain. Whenever we do work, either study, work, exercise, or even watch porn, the brain gives a reward in the form of dopamine. But things will become off path if we get too much reward for very low efforts. There are many tools and techniques available to help someone with a porn addiction.
Until now, you are familiar with the concept of porn addiction, how our brain reacts to it, and the role of dopamine in porn. Now we will learn how to help someone with a porn addiction.
How to Help Someone With a Porn Addiction?
Helping someone who is addicted to porn requires great courage and a sense of empathy. Whether he is your friend, family member, or colleague, getting rid of this bad habit is extremely important for their life. Here are some important techniques to help someone with a porn addiction.
If they are not aware of Porn addiction:
Talk to them privately
If a person has no idea what is bad about watching porn and how much watching porn is normal, talk to them privately. So, they can feel comfortable. They may not be aware of this bad habit, and continuously watching porn makes them feel overwhelmed and so much addicted that they can’t realize the truth behind it.
Discuss their porn habits privately. So, they can feel secure and confident. Don’t pressure them about what you are doing by telling them “I saw you that day”. Please don’t make them feel guilty or hurt their feelings. You are here to help them; talk because you care about them. You can say,” I think you are watching porn more often than usual. Can we talk about it? Make sure to respect their boundaries and make them feel heard.
Set healthy boundaries
Make sure that you are here to support, not to pressure the person. Establish boundaries around both of you and respect them at any cost; they may feel guilt about their bad habits and not want to share them with you. Listen to their concerns and respect their boundaries at any cost. If they don’t want to talk about certain things, respect their decision.
You can’t force someone to care for them but you can show them the truth, guide them about recovery, and support them in their journey.
Be their accountable
Be their accountable partner if you feel they can’t recover from this bad habit alone. Sometimes, people can only follow the path once they are accountable. Ask them how’s your day and what you watched last night. Can I see your browsing history, or can I see your videos if you want? Make sure to respect their boundaries and hold them accountable sideways. If you ask questions, someday, they will start doing the things themselves. So, ask them about the situation, daily activities, and their plans.
Set restrictions on their devices
You can restrict their devices so they can’t access these websites or content. Sometimes a person watches porn unconsciously and not being aware of that, so it is important to use the porn-watching restrictions on their devices. Here’s how you can apply the restrictions
- Enable Google SafeSearch from Chrome
- Use block site extensions, which allow you to block specific websites/
- Use restrictions in screen time settings
- Use porn block extensions from google chrome
- Use Stay focused extensions.
Show them the alternative path, i.e, exercise
Porn addiction can be a source of other drug addiction and depression. It works the same way as other addictions do, i.e., it releases cheap dopamine very easily. But what if we exchange the porn-watching habit with its alternative, i.e., exercise and running? Any physical exercise can also release dopamine and make you feel happier and more motivated than usual. Advised them to join a gym or go for a run daily to break the habit of porn and find out its alternative.
Ask them to improve their mental health.
Any addiction can highly impact our mental health. A healthy mind leads to a healthy heart and, eventually, a healthy lifestyle. Studies have shown that good mental health can relieve all sorts of addiction and protect the body from any negative activity. Imagine that you are mentally healthy and aware of your circumstances and keep improving yourself daily. Your mental health is the root of all the problems; thus, taking care of it enables you to leave all the bad habits. Here are some ways to improve your mental health.
- Meditate daily.
- Journal your thoughts
- Say affirmations daily
- Read self-improvement books
- Get rid of negative people and thoughts in your life.
Conclusion:
On the whole, helping someone who is porn addicted requires understanding, talking, and using real-world methods. Understanding how dopamine affects the brain’s reward system is very important. Starting a private, non-judgmental talk will help the person see how their habits hurt them. Setting healthy limits and being there for them as an accountable partner can help them improve. Putting limits on devices and encouraging other activities, like exercise, can help break the cycle of addiction. It is very important to stress mental health as a base for general health. By being sensitive to their needs and giving them the useful tools they need, we can help people to beat their porn addiction as well as move on to a healthier and more satisfying life.
