Sorry boys, there's no such thing as porn addiction.

600+ streak and now 180+ streak and counting without porn.

Ain't no such thing as porn addiction. Depression, lonliness, lack of social skills, laziness, paranoia and arrogance. Those are real. Porn is our excuse to not admit we have those issues. nstead of admitting there's something wrong, we just keep running from the problem. Porn is just a distraction, not an addiction.

All we have to do is admit we are wrong. Admit we have anxiety, admit we have no friends, admit our families are shit, admit we are out of shape. Once you start doing that you can work on those real issues instead of complaining. Nobody should be on this site, it shouldn't exsist. Go to a site for aniexty treatments, for depression treatments, for paranoia, etc. All we are doing on here is bitching, moaning, complaining and seeking attention instead of trying to.do real.work on ourselves.

 

Those issues exist without porn; porn addiction exists and can create those issues or make them worse. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Now you extrapolate about yourself to say that porn addiction doesn't exist and doesn't lead to mental health problems but:
- everyone is different and you aren't the template for mankind
- 180 days isn't full recovery
- didn't you have issues before even using porn? OCD or something close? Nobody said stopping porn would solve issues not coming from porn in the first place
- how much do you put into your recovery? Sports, clean diet, good sleep, no other drugs, meditation, etc?

 

Actually that's exactly what most people say or try to believe. Everyone thinks stopping porn will cure their ills. I did all of those

And yes agreed I am not the template for mankind, but that doesn't change the fact that it is not an addiction. The way to healing is different for everyone but the idea that porn is as evil or addicting as alcohol heroin or pills is insanity.

This is strictly a social and sexual issue based on lack of experience and training.

 

Oh I have no lack of sexual experience, yet I have porn addiction.

And sure, a lot of people think stopping porn will make everything great. Because it's half-true: if you're addicted but you manage to quit porn, your life will greatly improve. Because porn is bad for people who watch it, and because they'll have implemented other changes to improve their lives. But most people here nevere said "change nothing, just quit porn, and you'll be as happy as it gets".

And if you "did all of those", I may ask, how long have you been meditating daily for at least 15mn (either in one session or more), working out at least once a week, and not done other drugs (with, say, no more than 5 drinks a night, 15 per week total), all at the same time?

I assume you just extrapolate from what you believe about yourself (quitting porn doesn't make you happy) to everyone else, but the reasoning is flawed. So you just say porn doesn't exist, but you don't say anything to make it any credible. No argument whatsoever.

 

You can technically be addicted to anything if you become emotionally reliant on it.

You can get addicted to weighing yourself, of all things. I know someone who has an eating disorder who had to take her scales on holiday and had a melt down when someone hid it when drunk.

But yes, if you have chronic depression before porn addiction then you will likely have it afterwards as well.

 

That's more my argument, that addiction is a secondary symptom of depression. Depression is the problem and root issue, porn is the coping mechanism.

 

That's still not an argument but an affirmation with no (told) foundation

So it's the chicken-and-egg thing again. IMO both porn addiction and depression are both the chicken and the egg. It's a vicious circle where porn/depression make the other worse and worse until one makes significant positive changes. For some the depression comes first, for others not... But just because it comes from depression in a lot of cases doesn't mean it's not an addiction.

I'm insisting on it because I think if a new member comes in, sees this thread, thinks "well they say porn isn't a problem anyway, I might as well keep it in my life", it's very bad.

 

lol fuck all the studies and what Gary Wilson says, right? Porn is not an addiction, says Iamhumanbeing based on his personal views and experience. Very convincing :

 

People aren't addicted to porn as a thing but to what they get out of using porn.
Yes you're right in saying porn is an distraction, but that's exactly what addiction is about. Distraction from emotional pain, miserable circumstances, failed dreams, whatever.
And I wholeheartedly agree with the notion some people here should stop scapegoating porn as the evil that caused all their issues and instead look at the hurting underneath.

 

The truth is that, whilst the addiction is real, the solutions to the addiction lie in addressing all those other things Iamahuman is talking about.

In other words the addiction is more like a symptom of an underlying problem.

For most people this is lack of social connection of some form that gives you pain and you are soothing with your drug of choice.

 

Lmao, yeah ok.

Tell that to my shriveled dick.

Also

ad·dic·tion
əˈdikSH(ə)n/
noun
the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity.

Drinking water isn't an addiction, because water doesn't release dopamine, and serotonin in fucked up amounts. It is literally impossible to be physically addicted to water, because it does not produce cravings to drink more water. You can drink lemonade or 100% orange juice and be satisfied.

Porn is a stimulant drug. It releases EXCESS dopamine and serotonin, as well as a bunch of other fuckin chemicals that tie your natural arousal (your dick) together causing you massive urges to jack off and ejaculate. Now, watch porn and masturbate every time you drink water.

Yeah get back to me.

 

Bullshit.

 

This.

I've come to regard porn addiction as a sign that I was going wrong in my life: poor social skills, terrible self-esteem, fear and anger. And when I relapse, that's a sign that I've not been doing enough to correct these issues, and have to work harder on self-development.

But at the same time it was an addiction - I tried many times to stop using porn as a coping mechanism. . . but I just couldn't quit. I also tried to control my porn use, especially the length of time I'd be surfing, but it always controlled me. If you can't stop doing something that you can see is harming you, then surely that's an addiction.

If it isn't an addiction, how come we go through similar rebooting experiences including flatlines?

 

Recovery from addiction isn't only abstinence. The end.

 

Well said

 

any addiction has these

*cravings
*desensitization
*tolerance - so what you need to increase dosage to get same hit, i.e. escalate to more extreme

Setting aside the CONFIRMED science behind porn addiction and dopamine receptors and all that. Are you arguing that pornography usage has none of the above?

have you not heard of story's where professionals, athletes, actors have come out and said they are addicted to pornography.
terry crews?
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/24/entertainment/terry-crews-porn-addition-feat/

pornography changes your brain structure FACT
this brain change means you will do anything to get your fix.
You can't deal with depression without dealing with pornography.

you have an opinion thats fair enough. But once an opinion is false as shown by everyone on this site and science then its ignorance. Pornography is addictive is a fact.

 

Agreed. If you read above we came to a consensus that Porn is an addiction, but the only cure is not abstinence, it is much more in depth.

 

cure to any addiction is not just abstinence, who said it was. Infact the longest I've gone without porn was 3.5 years. I can tell you from personal experience staying of it is harder than quitting. Even in beating alcohol, you first go through detox then group sessions for like ages.

But from what Im reading your saying that depression (or other illnesses) is the root of pornography. I disagree. Depression could have triggered your pornography abuse, but once your addicted it is a separate illness.

what im saying is that say your addicted and you start fighting your depression or lonliness and start making friends and going gym and you start feeling good. So your fighting the depression part and its working you dont have any cravings you feel happier and good. Then out of no where you have a flash back, because porn is an addiction, your brain is not in equilibrium state (the artificial porn state brought on by years of porn use) then you binge on porn and get depressed again.

like Newnes said, they are not mutually exclusive. Depression isnt the root cause of pornography. It can be a trigger but pornography itself is an illness that needs constant effort to fight (that will take years) even if you beat depression. Its all to do with brain chemicals.