Pornography Addiction

_{Image from 2013 film Don Jon}

Me: Hello my name is Tyler...

Everyone: Hello Tyler!

Me: ... and I am a porn addict.

Now that we've got that out of the way, what are we gonna do about it? I've been asking myself that same question for years, what can you do in this day and age when sex is everywhere? You can't drive more than 20 minutes to anywhere without seeing an Adam and Eve billboard, You can't watch TV without being bombarded with sexually charged advertising or programming. So what can you do live in a cave, become a monk or a priest?

If you struggle with this as I do I'm sure you've asked a few of these questions yourself, it's very hard to stay porno free when bombarded with sexuality every day. As the clothes get tighter and TV shows more and more, young men and women become more promiscuous and are more likely to become addicted to pornography. Also much like alcohol and drug abuse, porn can harm developing brains, the earlier one is exposed the more harm it causes. For example, I myself was exposed to graphic pornography in my early teens and I'm definitely not playing with a full deck now at 22 years old. My ability to connect with a woman and try to have a relationship is essentially ruined and yet people try to tell me there's nothing wrong with watching porn.

Porn is a lot like gambling, you think you can give a little and you'll be fine but then you start to give a little more and before you know it you've been staring at garbage for 5 hours. It grabs a hold of your mind and body and until your lust is satisfied you can't fight it, the very definition of addiction. People treat it like it's normal, good, clean fun but in reality it's an empty, unfulfilling, unrealistic, and disturbing experience that leaves you ashamed and feeling dirty.

So like I asked before, what are we do? To be honest I don't know, I've tried to rely on my faith but sometimes I'm not sure it's enough. Different things work for different people I guess but there never seems to be an all-time cure just like with any other addiction. Once you become an addict you spend the rest of your life trying to keep that addiction down but it never truly goes away. My thoughts and prayers go out to those who deal with this and I hope you find your way out of the darkness.