TryingHarder
Well-Known Member
Some thoughts on the shame of a porn addiction (inspired by Eli Nash's must-see video)...
Any addiction is bad news and destructive. If you were to confide to someone that you had a drinking problem or a drug problem, they would most likely be concerned, and ask how they could help. And there would be a familiarity; most people drink, and anyone who drinks has been drunk before. Your confession would probably conjure up images of you sitting at home, drunk, drowning your sorrows. Unpleasant, but also familiar thanks to personal experience and the way that drinking and being drunk is often glamorized in TV and movies.
However, confessing to a porn addiction would conjure up images of you sitting in front of a computer with your pants around your ankles fapping.
That's truly grotesque and disturbing, and your friend would likely be repulsed (unless they have a porn addiction, too). What kind of porn are you watching? What kind of disgusting things are you looking at to get your kicks? And so this is why so many addicts can never confess their porn addiction. It's too shameful.
Drinking is a relatable analogy. I drink, but nothing stronger than beer, and I rarely get drunk. I enjoy a few beers on the weekend or out with friends, and I don't have a problem with alcohol. With porn, however, there is no equivalent of "social drinking". Guys don't just look at porn and say "hey, that was fun, but I'm keeping my pants on, time to go to bed now". Any porn viewing will lead to PMO 99% of the time.
And, to extend the alcohol analogy, most of us porn addicts start out "drinking a couple of beers" but then find we don't get enough of a buzz. So we "have a few shots" of something stronger and like how that feels. Before long, we are constantly drinking, drunk, and addicted - to porn.
Any addiction is bad news and destructive. If you were to confide to someone that you had a drinking problem or a drug problem, they would most likely be concerned, and ask how they could help. And there would be a familiarity; most people drink, and anyone who drinks has been drunk before. Your confession would probably conjure up images of you sitting at home, drunk, drowning your sorrows. Unpleasant, but also familiar thanks to personal experience and the way that drinking and being drunk is often glamorized in TV and movies.
However, confessing to a porn addiction would conjure up images of you sitting in front of a computer with your pants around your ankles fapping.
That's truly grotesque and disturbing, and your friend would likely be repulsed (unless they have a porn addiction, too). What kind of porn are you watching? What kind of disgusting things are you looking at to get your kicks? And so this is why so many addicts can never confess their porn addiction. It's too shameful.
Drinking is a relatable analogy. I drink, but nothing stronger than beer, and I rarely get drunk. I enjoy a few beers on the weekend or out with friends, and I don't have a problem with alcohol. With porn, however, there is no equivalent of "social drinking". Guys don't just look at porn and say "hey, that was fun, but I'm keeping my pants on, time to go to bed now". Any porn viewing will lead to PMO 99% of the time.
And, to extend the alcohol analogy, most of us porn addicts start out "drinking a couple of beers" but then find we don't get enough of a buzz. So we "have a few shots" of something stronger and like how that feels. Before long, we are constantly drinking, drunk, and addicted - to porn.