Before you indulge, Check the side effects of porn
Last time we looked at some of the reasons why a porn habit is tough to break.We use porn in secret and think that if no one knows, it can’t hurt anyone.A sin that is kept in the dark will grow just like a fungus.The sex saturated society we live it won’t let us forget about how we need to put sex as our number one need.Everywhere we turn there are reminders of how important sex is and how we value it above many other things.When we feast on sex saturated media, we buy into the value system society offers us in regards to porn and sex.We also have been led to believe that use of pornography has no ill effects on the user and that our usage has no effects on anyone around us.As long as we can justify our usage and point out the lack of side effects, no harm, no foul, or so we think.Porn is a tough habit to break and these are just a few of the reasons why we stay enslaved to it.
This time we are going to take a look at what porn does to its users.Contrary to popular culture’s stance on pornography, there are side effects to using porn.Drug companies are legally required to warn you of the possible side effects while taking their product.Many people will never experience all of the side effects listed or they will have one or two of them but won’t attribute them to the drug they are taking.It’s the same thing with porn usage.You will have a side effect, but you may not realize or notice it yourself.Sometimes people around you will notice something that you are blind to.Here are a few of the side effects that may be present in you, some obvious, others not so much.
- It amplifies our selfishness.Pornography focuses on our satisfaction, our needs, and turns us towards ourselves.When you watch porn- who gets the most satisfaction in the film?-The guy.Most pornography elevates the importance of the guy’s pleasure and shows the woman as the willing provider of it.This theme runs throughout the pornography world and will find its way into your life.After hundreds of impressions of these situations, you will find yourself acting more selfishly, especially in your interactions with women.Why?Because the standard pornography theme has subconsciously tricked you into believing that your feelings and satisfaction are greater than anyone else’s.You have satisfied yourself with the images of others who willingly gave in to your desires and needs.Now you are more biased towards your own satisfaction that you will act selfishly towards those around you.It will be hard for you to see this yourself, but you will become more selfish than you already are.Don’t be surprised when someone close to you points this out.
- Pornography changes our perception of women.Women become objects instead of human beings.This goes along with the point above.The most common theme in pornography is a woman giving herself to the man to please him.The woman is portrayed as super eager to please her man, that she will do whatever he wants, even to the point of degrading herself.The focus is on the man getting off.Think about what usually happens in the end of a pornography film.The man gets off and then its over!When he is done, it’s all over.It’s all about the guy.The woman’s need is not considered and then she is degraded by how the guy shows her his thanks… by covering her in his semen.. that is real class, huh.This scene, played over and over before our eyes will make us believe that women are available anytime men are ready and they will do whatever we want because they are here to please us.We will look at them not as humans with personalities and feelings, but as sluts here to please us.You will know that your thinking about women has changed to viewing them as objects when you scan their body and immediately think of them in bed servicing you.You won’t even register their facial features, their smile and the color of their hair or eyes.Immediately your eyes will go to their body and you will start lusting for them.Women are created in the image of God deserving of our honor and respect. They are not here just for our pleasure.
- Pornography robs you of your passion for anything else besides itself.Pornography takes control of our passion and uses it to satisfy itself.Your passions will get consumed by it and you have none left to pursue noble causes.Pornography is a mean task-master, it grabs you and will force you to feed it unmercifully!You will find yourself searching for more time to give to it, plotting out ways to get away to feed it.Your spare moments are spent thinking of the next time you can get lost in pornography.Pornography drains you because so much energy and passion go into feeding it, that you have no energy or passion to put forth into other areas of your life.That is why one of the ways out of pornography is to find a new passion.It is very true that idle hands are the devil’s workshop.Just let yourself be idle and not involved in something and watch pornography knock on the door asking you come in.
- Pornography will destroy your ability to be intimate (emotionally) with your spouse and others.It develops a false intimacy, one where you relate with someone who is attractive, satisfies your physical needs and does not require anything from you.This relationship you have with pornography is very different from real life.In real life, you have to speak with people who don’t always affirm you and actually speak to you, sometimes even in anger.Relationships in porn films are superficial and only for one thing: sex.There very little communication.In real life you cannot just walk up to someone and expect sex after a few words.You may find yourself wanting to disengage from conversations with your spouse and retreating to the world of porn where you create your own adventure.Real emotional intimacy with your spouse is much more work and painful at times verses what happens in the porn world.
- Pornography will destroy your ability to be intimate physically with your spouse.Pornography provides physically attractive women who have all the right proportions you love.The vast variety of women available allows you to be picky about who you choose to get off on.You can have a different woman each time.All the while you are setting yourself up for failure in the bedroom with your spouse.Your spouse will seem boring and not as attractive.You lose the appetite for sex with your wife and your encounters become infrequent.When you do come together you may have a difficult time getting the job done and your mind may also be elsewhere (with a porno star).Your wife knows something is up!Don’t think you can hide it.If you aren’t totally there for her she will be suspicious.
- Pornography will grow the time you spend in fantasy land.Once exposed to this exciting world where anything goes and there are no problems, you will find yourself trying to escape to this place anytime you can.While you are waiting in traffic, mowing the lawn, in the bathroom, trying to fall asleep or anywhere else you can go and put your mind in neutral, you will find yourself fantasizing about sex.Pornography will get in your head and it will expand to take up as much space on your hard drive like a virus!You will become more distant to your spouse when you spend lots of time in fantasy land.Maybe she does have a point when she says you ‘are distant lately’.
- Pornography will make you act differently in the bedroom.Your focus will become more on your own satisfaction and not so much giving your wife pleasure and you will want to try things you saw in pornography.You may not spend the time getting her ready and paying attention to her needs as you are to ‘getting it done’.Think about the pornography scenes you have watched… how many of them involve lengthy kissing and foreplay?Not many.They usually get down to business.This is what you will start to emulate.You will also want to try things that you saw in pornography.Many of the things you saw in pornography are not healthy and should not be done.Anal sex, for example is shown in lots of pornography, but it is unhealthy and will hurt the person done to.You obviously should never force anyone to do something that they are not comfortable with.Have you wanted to ‘talk dirty’ to your wife?Whether or not you have said it, I will bet it has come to your mind.
Take all these points together and don’t you think you wife will get wise to your pornography consumption?Of course she will!She may not be able to finger the problem, but she will be on alert.Maybe you say she will never know because you have had this problem before she knew you.Consider this:When you go through your cycles of pornography usage (going from high usage to no usage) do you think your actions change based on which cycle you’re in?I would say yes.Be honest and remember that whatever you feed will grow!
If you feed your pornography addiction it will grow and you will be displaying many of the side effects given above as you progress in the addiction.When you starve your pornography addiction and redirect your passions into other areas, the side effects of pornography will dissipate and not be as noticeable.
Even if you were using pornography before you met her, you have been through the normal cycles of usage.Chances are you thought that when you got married, you would not need pornography anymore and so you stopped when you first met and were married.The point is, she has seen you at your best (off of pornography) and at your worst (using pornography) and she will notice the difference.
Maybe you aren’t married and are thinking this doesn’t apply to you.You will display some of the side effects of using pornography.These side effects will directly impact how you treat the women you date.They may not want to date you for long, or maybe you get more rejections than you like.Whatever the case, you will be able to identify with some of the side effects and they will be picked up by some people.
Consider these side effects before you consider using porn again.Porn is bad for your health!
Thank you for this article. I am divorcing my husband of 7 years (4 1/2 of those he has been a porn/chat room/sexting addict). It hurts so much when he tells me he is not attracted to me and reading this helps me remember that it is the addiction talking and not the truth.
He has never committed to recovery. He does just enough to appease me and then falls back in the cycle. Everything in his life has suffered due to this addiction. Our marriage, grades when he went back to school, family and friend relationships. There are people he has completely cut out of his life because they created “stress” and he couldn’t handle it.
He is at risk of getting in trouble at work because he uses his work phone and computer to act out.
I have tried for the past two years to support him through getting control of this addiction but after a 6 month spell of him lying about porn/chat rooms and why he stopped seeing his therapist I realize there is nothing left for me to hope for.
I try talking to him rationally but there is not a rational person listening. He has gotten so good at justifying his addiction (“I only do it once or twice a week”). But each time he has admitted is usually 6 to 7 hours. Usually at night on the weekend so I end up with a tired, irritable addict for the daytime.
I just wanted to say thank you for this article. It reminded me that I am not unattractive. I am just a real person and not a fantasy on the other end of a computer.
How sad it had to end for you. There is no way a real woman can compete with the fantasy of the porn actress.
i’v read ur article nd watevr explanation nd symptoms u’v given regarding the problems seen during intercourse due to heavy/gud use of porn by the partner is very much tru nd similar to my problem indeed! i hv been married for only 2 yrs now!bt i’hv figured out dat my husband masterbates watching porns which is causing big prob to my married lyf!when i ws about to give him a divorce,he claimed that he wudnt do it anymore nd he is keeping his words.But,it the new problem now is that,he cant turn himself on witout watching porn!week passes by nd we keep trying to intercourse bt it becums hard for him to erect without help of porn.Should i actualy leave him?is he curable?how can he be cured nd wats will be my step?plzz help me
Hi, i have been masturbating for the past 17yrs, i feel my case is beyond redemption,not until recently when i started havin dificulty satisfying my spouse did i realise i might be in trouble. the problem is that i find it very difficult to get aroused when i am with my spouse, and when i eventually do, my erection dont last up to 3mins before loosin it. this has caused a strain in my relationship and I urgently need help.
You seem to be burned out from the porn. I would be it now takes some pretty wild pornography to get you aroused. If that is the case, your wife seems not very exciting to you anymore. Let me know if this rings true. I would guess your wife does not know of your addiction. What did you tell her the last time you tried making love? You are not beyond redemption! I suggest you start working the battle plan as I have laid out in my book! You need to quit the porn and stop wearing out your sex drive on it. Save yourself for your wife! The road to recovery is long and hard, but start today on it. I am here if you need help.
There is one thing missing in your list. The time that flies away and never gets back. You as an individual become more limited because you lost that time to improve as a person, to enjoy a new hobby, to learn a new language, to improve in knowledge to get ahead at work, etc.
Roberto, Your statement is oh so true. When you get lost in the world of porn, its as is you have stepped into another dimension and you loose track of time. Countless hours are gone, never to return. Sad really, you only get so much time. Use it wisely and invest it in eternal causes and people you love. Thanks Roberto
how do you get the same satisfaction with out the vice? what are some alternatives?
Try real sex with your spouse. Find another outlet. You need to enroll into a 12 step type program that will help you find other outlets for this urge. I found old hobbies and trying to steer my thinking in another direction to help a lot.
How true this is. After experiencing several months of sobriety, I see some of this in my past (and present) self. Thank you.
Keep your sobriety going and don’t give up!