Overcoming porn addiction with hypnosis
There are memes on the Internet about the feeling you have while watching porn and after watching porn. During porn is wonderful and super horny and after porn you find it gross and feel dirty. If despite these feelings you just can't stop watching porn for hours on end and satisfying yourself is not satisfying and you keep watching you suffer from porn addiction
Figures on porn addiction
Not many figures are known about porn addiction in the Netherlands. However, it is known that among students almost half of them watch porn regularly and three percent of them watch porn very often.
Male students are more likely to watch a lot of porn than female students.
Porn addiction is more common than sex addiction because it’s easier to be secretly addicted to porn than to sex. After all, you don’t need anyone else for it and can do it secretly in your attic room.
In the process, you can also exploit a porn addiction on online sex chats and other ways to get laid anonymously.
Causes and problems of porn addiction
Porn addiction can be triggered by porn sites. These can show a pop-up every time with a new form of porn, so you end up watching porn you weren't looking for at all to begin with.
This porn can even take on morbid forms.
People with low self-confidence, a distorted body image, untreated sexual disorders, or a history of sex addiction are at the highest risk of developing a porn addiction or cybersex addiction.
Leading an unsatisfying life—for example, due to unemployment at an age when you no longer expected it and the lack of a good daily routine—can also cause you to feel ashamed and, as a result, turn to porn again.
Not having figured out life and the disconnect between your self-image and what you’ve actually achieved can lead to depressive thoughts.
Porn addiction can be a problem in that you no longer function well at work because you watch more and more porn or think only about porn. It can work you into financial trouble, especially if you spend money on webcam girls.
Help with porn addiction
Most people with porn addiction seek help only after they are caught. This is often when their partner walks into the room while they are watching porn or when a co-worker catches them watching porn at work.
That's not what that administrative PC is for. Research shows that 1 in 5 men sometimes look at sexual images at work and 1 in 8 women do the same.
Men are more likely to watch porn, while women are more likely to have erotic chats.
Because in these digital times it is difficult to tell a porn addict "You are not allowed on the computer," extra care is needed. A first step is to block access to porn sites. Then that mouse click can't do as much damage either.
Psychotherapy is also widely used, for example to improve your self-confidence, improve body image or by addressing underlying issues causing addictive behavior.
Research shows that cognitive behavioral therapy, which is used to treat gambling and drug addictions, is also effective against porn addiction.
The focus should primarily be on establishing genuine social connections, finding a rhythm in your life, and changing the beliefs that lead to watching porn.
Techniques to get rid of porn addiction
There are a number of techniques therapists use to overcome porn addiction.
Taking stock of the pros and cons
If you have a porn addiction, but are not quite sure yet if you want to do something about it, it helps to make a list of its pros and cons.
The benefits can then include me-time, relaxation and de-stressing.
Disadvantages may include: Takes time, costs money, less likely to get aroused during real sex. Which may even make you want more and more extreme sex.
With these two lists, you will have quickly made the decision that porn is not that useful and that it is good to stop. After all, there are other ways to relax and have me-time that cost less money and ensure that you can continue to perform and most importantly enjoy real sex.
Tracking porn viewing behavior
Keeping a journal of sorts in which you write down date, start time and end time of porn watching can be a good wake-up call about the situation you are in. If you think your porn addiction is not that bad, you can double-check it this way.
An internet-free day
Many people with an internet addiction also struggle with a porn addiction. When it comes to internet addiction, it’s often either a porn addiction or a gaming addiction. That’s why having one internet-free day a week can make a huge difference in reducing the addiction and developing your social skills so you can do things without the internet and without porn.
If you find this difficult to do all at once, you can also start with an Internet-free morning, afternoon or evening and build up to an entire Internet-free day.
Building self-confidence
Not going out and fleeing to porn can be a result of low self-esteem. For example, if you think no one wants to hang out with you because you're just not cool enough or social enough, it's important to give your self-confidence a boost.
Hypnosis can provide a supportive role in this process. Initially, you then engage in a conversation with your hypnosis expert in which you talk more about how you think the world works and where your insecurity comes from.
Important symbols and moments, such as situations that energize you or relax you, can also be named. These, in turn, can be used by the hypnosis expert to improve your sense of self-confidence.
For example, this is often done with guided visualization. For example, if you are insecure about doing something social, such as playing soccer, a guided visualization can help you get over that insecurity so that you can do more outside of porn and so that you can build social connections that will reduce loneliness.
A guided visualization can then go as follows.
"Full of good cheer, you go to your local soccer club. You've already called to join another trial. You've bought your sports outfit and a water bottle and the training starts. You give and receive compliments on your playing style, which is still pretty good after not playing sports for so long. You smell the cut grass. The ball is well at your foot and even the header you head in. You are a good defender and a good attacker. It feels good to move around and play together with the rest of the team. The third half is a success."
This is just an example of a guided visualization. Depending on your beliefs and issues, you may get a different visualization from your hypnosis expert.
Changing Beliefs
Changing beliefs is also an important component in the treatment of porn addiction. Indeed, shame and depressive thoughts can trigger porn viewing in people with porn addiction. For example, shame about being unemployed or not having life figured out yet at a certain age, the feeling of having missed the train.
Many people think you have to have reached a certain standard by age 30, but of course that is by no means always possible.
A hypnotherapist helps you by pitting unhelpful beliefs against helping beliefs. Those beliefs are then repeated while you are under hypnosis.
These are so-called hypnotic suggestions. These suggestions are also often given to you on an mp3 to listen to at home during self-hypnosis.
Self-hypnosis is practiced first with the hypnotherapist present. It is important that your environment meets certain conditions before you practice self-hypnosis at home. For example, you want to be sitting or lying in a comfortable place, such as on your couch or bed. You have comfortable clothing on and you will not be disturbed during self-hypnosis. It is important to make this known to any people who may disturb you during self-hypnosis.
Then you lie down. You focus on your breathing and relaxing your muscles. You close your eyes and listen to the hypnotic suggestions. These might include:
"I can walk out of the house and do something outside."
"I can find new friends."
"I am a social person."
"I'm good at what I do."
"I have the tools to control myself."
These are just examples of hypnotic suggestions. Depending on your beliefs and porn issues, you may be given other suggestions to help you suffer less from these.
Thus, a porn addiction is often much like an Internet addiction. Because porn addiction costs money and can interfere with your social interactions, it is important to do something about it. Building self-confidence, getting a structure and finding activities outside the Internet are key to this.
Hypnosis can play a supportive and even leading role in this process. Would you like to learn more about how hypnosis works? Or how you can improve your quality of life through hypnosis? Then come to an event or sign up for a course at the Hypnosis Institute of the Netherlands.
Sources:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1002724116437
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0651/e43692c10ff6c85b165f87c66e6b1be4cbac.pdf
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-010-9295-0