Can Your Relationship Survive Porn Addiction?

The advancements in digital technology have made relationships more scandalous.

This can be attributed to the increasing use of electronic communication for sexual diversion. Pornographic materials come in the form of sexually-based DVD’s, websites as well as cybersex. Porn addiction, therefore, is the ever-increasing, insatiable and uncontrollable urge to view pornographic material.

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Below are the signs of pornography addiction:

• The inability to stop using or viewing pornographic content even after several attempts.
• The negative consequences of pornography in your life cannot stop you.
• You tend to make this part of your life a secret from your friends and family.
• You get hostile and angry when asked to desist from pornography.

What an addiction to pornography can do to your relationship:

When two people are involved in a relationship, fidelity is greatly valued. However, when pornography gets in the mix, the partner involved will tend to feel different. On the other hand, the partner who is not exposed to pornography feels cheated and betrayed.

The effects of pornography addiction are unique for each and every relationship. In most cases, however, porn addiction is detrimental to a relationship.

Below are some negative side effects of pornography on a romantic relationship:

• Brings trouble in or breaks intimate relationships
• The involved partner feels ashamed and guilty
• Attracts legal as well as financial problems
• Can lead to divorce
• Increases the chances of one getting involved in risky sexual activity
• Becomes an obstacle to open and honest communication in a relationship

So how can your relationship survive porn addiction?

Every relationship wants to see tomorrow. However, couples whose partners are addicted to pornography tend to lose hope. Instead of focusing on the solution, they become disillusioned and just think of breaking up. The good news is that pornography just like any other form of sex addiction can be tackled.

Below are tips to help break the habit of porn addiction and save your relationship.

Accept that there is a problem.

Some people do not even believe that porn addiction exists. In fact, some would go as far as justifying that pornography cannot transform your brain the way a drug does. As such, before you embark on finding solutions, you should see it as a real problem. Study your partner to find out if their addiction to pornography has negative effects on your relationship.

After that, decide on what should change as far as pornography and your relationship is concerned. Some people may decide to completely desist from it while other partners can come up with healthier ways on how and when to watch pornography.

Understand that humans are sexual by nature.

Human beings are created with the natural ability to get attracted to sex. That is why pornography is just one of the many forms of sexual addiction. Other forms of sex addiction include masturbation, prostitution, voyeurism, sadism as well as other uncontrollable sexual pursuits. As such, do not let your partner’s addiction to pornography wreck your relationship.

Find the root cause and deal with it.

You cannot survive porn addiction in a relationship if you do not deal with the root cause. Deal with issues of boredom, loneliness, trauma, and even change your environment. If you are bored, get into meaningful activities that keep you busy. Loneliness is common when partners are in a long distance relationship. In that case, you can make arrangements to visit one another frequently. Sometimes, certain health problems can also lead to porn addiction. For instance, certain drugs, alcohol use and mental issues can trigger hormonal balance thereby increasing one’s sexual desires.

Work on rebuilding trust in the relationship.

Trust is a major component of any healthy relationship. When one of the partners is addicted to pornography, trust also dies with it. Both partners must be willing to talk about things as they happened and clear all doubts about each other. This way, they will set themselves out on the healing process with total commitment. Rebuilding trust helps partners avoid any blame games.

Work towards ending the addiction.

If porn addiction is wrecking a relationship, then the relationship can only survive if it ends. Be patient with one another and know that the habit will not just break overnight, but after some time.

There are ways to help you break the addiction..

• Slowly pull away by using little or no pornography at all
• Get accustomed to using an internet censor, so you do not access certain websites
• Get off negative reinforcements
• Avoid the possible triggers
• Change your environment if you have to
• When tempted to watch pornography, try and remind yourself of the consequences
• Rebuild your sex life

Rebuild Sexual Intimacy

Rebuilding sexual intimacy with your partner is also very important. Remember, porn addiction comes with certain unrealistic expectations. Beat the addiction by understanding your partner’s sexual needs. Do not try to make them feel worthless because they cannot engage in fierce sex styles used by porn actors and actresses. Instead, practice sweet and realistic sex with your partner. As time goes, both of you will be fulfilled with your sex life and the urge to turn to pornography will end.

Get Professional Help

The efforts of many people are required to help a relationship survive porn addiction. As such, the couple should be willing to seek and accept the help of relevant persons. Help channels are available to couples trying to overcome a porn addict

Find a doctor or relationship counsellor

Professionals help people get through such situations. If the doctor you are seeing is unable to tackle your problem, he/she will refer you to another doctor.

Check out some specialised resources

You can get the help of organizations that deal with various forms of addiction. Also, look up some websites that provide information on how to overcome your problem. Using an organisation is better because you even get to interact with people facing the same problem.

Get the help of friends and family

Close friends and other relatives can also be of help. For example, with their assistance, you can install certain programs that track your behaviour on the internet. This way, they will help bring you on track when you take the wrong direction.

Relationships that are ravaged by pornography can actually be saved. It takes the understanding of one person and the willingness of the other to change. If partners decide to stick it out together, then no matter how long the recovery process takes their relationship will stand the test of time.

Sources: Wikihow.com; Counsellingresource.com; Relevantmagazine.com; Psychologytoday.com; Psychguides.com; Projectknow.com; Pbs.org; Tolovehonorandvacuum.com