Alcohol and Porn Addiction

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Alcohol and Porn Addiction

Alcohol and porn are frequently used together.

As with many conditions, porn tends to make alcohol addiction worse, and alcohol makes your porn addiction worse.

This can leave you trapped in a vicious cycle and leave your relationships broken.

What is Porn Addiction?

If you struggle from the urge to constantly watch porn, and can’t stop watching it regardless of commitments, you may have a porn addiction.

Along with sex addiction, porn addiction can be officially diagnosed.

Signs of porn addiction include:

• You can’t stop watching porn, even if you have tried to stop or cut down
• You feel guilty or a feeling of shame every time you watch porn
• You take part in risky activities to satisfy your habits, such as watching porn in public
• You now find it difficult to enjoy sex and it is affecting your relationships

There has been an increase in the use of online pornography, mostly due to the ‘triple A’ influence: accessibility, affordability and anonymity.

This has the potential to affect sexual development and functioning within the younger people.

Porn addiction can overlap with various other addictions, such as alcohol and drugs.

What is Hypersexual Disorder?

Hypersexual disorder is considered a behavioural addiction.

It is an umbrella term for:

• Excessive masturbation
• Compulsive use of pornography, cyber sex or phone sex
• Frequent use of sexual services, such as strip clubs

The lack of data regarding porn addiction makes it difficult to be definitive on exactly how many people suffer from porn addiction.

This is due to the associated feelings of distress, shame and psychological dysfunction.

The Internet and porn addiction

The internet has opened up this rife problem of addiction, ranging from gaming to cybersex.

The internet often acts as a catalyst, enabling an addiction to pornography.

Porn provides an array of sexual activities, and the endless list of options is enough to keep people scrolling.

Problems With Porn

There are numerous damaging effects associated with porn addiction, such as:

• Isolation
• Aggression
• Distorted beliefs
• Wrong perceptions about sex and relationships
• Pressure to perform ‘perfectly’
• Neglecting other aspects of their life
• Sexually objectifying people

These aspects carry over into their daily life, such as losing interest in real-life partners and struggling to become aroused without porn.

This may leave partners feeling inadequate or devalued by their other half’s excessive porn watching.

Unfortunately, this can lead to a decrease in sexual satisfaction for all parties in the relationship.

Risky Behaviour

Watching porn constantly can leave you engaging in physically unsafe and harmful sexual activities, whilst objectifying sex.

Many people with porn addictions tend to engage in risky behaviour, such as accessing porn when it is not socially acceptable to do so, such as at work or on public transport.

This risky behaviour triggers euphoria in the brain, which can lead to criminal activity or producing and selling porn.

Mental Health and porn addiction

There are over 85 individual studies that prove the link between porn and bad mental health.

This covers all areas such as anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia.

This can trigger more severe disorders such as eating disorders and behavioural disorders.

Every 3 hours of porn watched can cause a reduction in grey matter in the brain.

Grey matter decline can leave you with limited motor functioning and can degenerate into Parkinson’s disease, but this is on a large scale.

Co-Occurring Disorders and porn addiction

Co-occurring disorders refer to the situation when mental health problems and addiction are occuring at the same time.

People with bad mental health tend to self-medicate with substances such as drugs and alcohol, as a means of coping.

People suffering from porn addiction tend to turn to alcohol to try and rid themselves of their bad mental health from constant watching.

Alcohol then forms the bond and becomes part of the problem.

Teenage Mental Health and porn addiction

It has been noted that pornography is a high risk for adolescent well-being, specifically relating to symptoms of depression, anxiety and low self-esteem.

Over 59% of teens are accessing porn intentionally, with the rest coming up coincidently or via adverts.

This further increases their likelihood of risk-taking, sexual functioning and mental health issues.

Mental health is seriously affected, obsessing over body image and sexual aggression.

Many people drink alcohol to cope with depression and anxiety, when in fact it only makes mental health worse.

Regular drinking interferes with chemicals in the brain pathways, specifically the chemicals that are required for ‘good mental health’.

People tend to use alcohol to get rid of bad mental health, when in reality, it contributes to it.

Further, hangover anxiety can leave you feeling ill, anxious and guilty, sometimes without reason.

Helping Your Porn Addiction

There are many ways to help you cut down on any addiction, specifically porn.

This always starts with acknowledging that you have a problem and therefore understanding the main reasons as to why you are giving it up.

Try and get rid of all physical pornography you have available to you, such as magazines, and install filters on your phone and WIFI to prevent content from being easily accessible.

If you are struggling on your own, try and join a support group and practice healthy habits.

Make sure you open up about it, either to a close friend or your partner.

A problem shared is a problem halved, and they can tell you any tips they know or perhaps share experiences with you.

You don’t have to be a porn addict to decide it is healthier to give up porn, but coming to terms with the fact that it is affecting you negatively or increasing your alcohol use is enough to start the process.

It is important to be kind to yourself -addiction is not an easy process, nor is it easy to break free from.

Even if you fall off the wagon or experience a relapse, you can still cut down and aim for a healthier lifestyle.

Try and add more healthy habits into your lifestyle, such as cutting down on drinking and exercising regularly, these are proven to help mental health.

When cutting down on alcohol or substances, try and attend fewer events where you know you might feel pressured to drink or use, and use other sources of natural help, such as a good sleep schedule to help with stress.

Get Help Today

Porn addiction is a more subtle kind of addiction – one that is not immediately obvious to many people but can have a devastating effect in time.

Careers, social lives and relationships can all be ruined by an addiction to pornography, and the presence of alcohol will only make it worse.

If you think that you or one of your loved ones may be suffering from an alcohol and porn addiction, the important thing to do is to reach out for help.

Our professional, discreet and entirely free helpline is ready and waiting to hear your concerns and give you all the advice you could need.