Los Angeles Dating UK Swinger Ads Is it affecting your life or your relationship? Why is porn so hard to resist? I've been there, done that, and come back to tell the tale. I've discovered some answers that will help you deal with porn and it's not about forcing yourself to stop. Understand your reasons for choosing porn, regain freedom from the compulsion, find integrity and strength, and reconnect to yourself and your loved ones.
"I can stop looking at porn any time I want to; I stop almost every day. But I can't resist the urge to start again. Am I addicted to porn?" Does this sound like you? Some psychologists think porn can be addicting but many disagree. It's not addictive like a drug can be - I've looked at porn in the past, and I've spent years without porn with no withdrawals. Calling porn addictive is an easy explanation that really explains nothing.
Still, I have found porn hard to resist at times. It seemed strongest when I was feeling anxious, lonely, or depressed. Why shouldn't I indulge in some fantasy connection with a beautiful, willing woman with no demands or responsibilities? What's the harm? But when it was over and I was wiping up the results, I'd made no progress with whatever was bothering me. I don't want to think about how much of my life has been wasted in mindless unproductive activity watching porn. So why did I keep going back to it?
As a teen, porn was an exciting way to discover a forbidden topic. Later, when my first marriage was failing and my business going down the tubes, I indulged in porn as a temporary escape. During the lonely years after the divorce, I used porn as a balm for loneliness and depression. All of that made some kind of sense, but after Victoria moved in with me, I was still drawn to look at porn even though it upset her. How could I make sense of that? Now I had a strong reason to quit, but I was hooked on porn.
Understanding
In trying to understand why I was hooked, I came across all the lame reasons: "that's just the way men are," "men are more visually oriented than women," and "it's a way to satisfy the male instinct to spread his seed." And there were lots of excuses too: "I'm not hurting anyone," "it has nothing to do with you, Sweetie," and "at least I'm not out chasing other women."
Nothing seemed to make sense to me until I found this simple explanation: porn is a strategy to meet some deep need within me. The basic theory is that actions are motivated by attempts to meet basic human needs. A simple example: a basic need is shelter; as a caveman, I would find a cave; as a young professional, I would rent an apartment. But we are not simple creatures; often meeting one need means not meeting another. The caveman may have to sleep in the open to follow his food source. The young professional may have to decide between the nice apartment and sharing a house because of limited funds. Essentially they both have to find new strategies to meet their need for shelter.
Why is this relevant?
Watching porn is a way of meeting some basic needs. After much self-examination, I believe it is intimacy without fear that I am trying to find. Of course, it is only a facsimile of intimacy when compared to true intimacy with a real woman, but I'm only now beginning to learn what it might be like to have a relationship without fear. Throughout most of my life I kept a certain reserve, avoiding the risk of letting someone know the real me. Sexual intimacy was one thing, and easy - even affection was easy. But opening up? Showing a woman my deepest self? Not a chance. What if she didn't like me? What if she rejected me? What if I wasn't good enough? Getting to know a woman was always exciting at the start - maybe she was the one who would accept me as I was. What I didn't realize was that there wasn't a chance anyone could really accept me if I didn't ever open up. Eventually, the excitement died and we drifted apart for whatever reason was handy.
"I can stop looking at porn any time I want to; I stop almost every day. But I can't resist the urge to start again. Am I addicted to porn?" Does this sound like you? Some psychologists think porn can be addicting but many disagree. It's not addictive like a drug can be - I've looked at porn in the past, and I've spent years without porn with no withdrawals. Calling porn addictive is an easy explanation that really explains nothing.
Still, I have found porn hard to resist at times. It seemed strongest when I was feeling anxious, lonely, or depressed. Why shouldn't I indulge in some fantasy connection with a beautiful, willing woman with no demands or responsibilities? What's the harm? But when it was over and I was wiping up the results, I'd made no progress with whatever was bothering me. I don't want to think about how much of my life has been wasted in mindless unproductive activity watching porn. So why did I keep going back to it?
As a teen, porn was an exciting way to discover a forbidden topic. Later, when my first marriage was failing and my business going down the tubes, I indulged in porn as a temporary escape. During the lonely years after the divorce, I used porn as a balm for loneliness and depression. All of that made some kind of sense, but after Victoria moved in with me, I was still drawn to look at porn even though it upset her. How could I make sense of that? Now I had a strong reason to quit, but I was hooked on porn.
Understanding
In trying to understand why I was hooked, I came across all the lame reasons: "that's just the way men are," "men are more visually oriented than women," and "it's a way to satisfy the male instinct to spread his seed." And there were lots of excuses too: "I'm not hurting anyone," "it has nothing to do with you, Sweetie," and "at least I'm not out chasing other women."
Nothing seemed to make sense to me until I found this simple explanation: porn is a strategy to meet some deep need within me. The basic theory is that actions are motivated by attempts to meet basic human needs. A simple example: a basic need is shelter; as a caveman, I would find a cave; as a young professional, I would rent an apartment. But we are not simple creatures; often meeting one need means not meeting another. The caveman may have to sleep in the open to follow his food source. The young professional may have to decide between the nice apartment and sharing a house because of limited funds. Essentially they both have to find new strategies to meet their need for shelter.
Why is this relevant?
Watching porn is a way of meeting some basic needs. After much self-examination, I believe it is intimacy without fear that I am trying to find. Of course, it is only a facsimile of intimacy when compared to true intimacy with a real woman, but I'm only now beginning to learn what it might be like to have a relationship without fear. Throughout most of my life I kept a certain reserve, avoiding the risk of letting someone know the real me. Sexual intimacy was one thing, and easy - even affection was easy. But opening up? Showing a woman my deepest self? Not a chance. What if she didn't like me? What if she rejected me? What if I wasn't good enough? Getting to know a woman was always exciting at the start - maybe she was the one who would accept me as I was. What I didn't realize was that there wasn't a chance anyone could really accept me if I didn't ever open up. Eventually, the excitement died and we drifted apart for whatever reason was handy.
