What happens when you stop watching porn? At first, stopping watching porn for weeks may seem easy, but in practice, most don't last more than a few days. Why? To know the answer, you need to know what happens to you when you stop watching porn.
The latest statistics shared by Pornhub confirm that 130 million users visit the platform daily. Their Insights blog (SFW) provides information on popular searches, trends, spikes in activity, and much more. For example, 84% of all their traffic comes through mobile devices, and in some regions, it's already over 90%.
In other words, we watch a lot of porn. Also, some people admit that they do it a lot, but they also find that it's hard to quit porn. More than 80% of those who try it fail, returning to their preferred platforms in less than a week.
The reason is simple: Our body does not easily give up things that give it pleasure. So, would you like to know what happens when you stop watching porn?
What happens when you stop watching porn?
1. You will develop your sexual imagination
The porn industry offers "ready-to-use" fantasies for instant sexual arousal. The problem is that it shapes and impoverishes your imagination. However, you can imagine by yourselves much more elaborate and much more exciting scenarios to enjoy your sex life. You don't need this industry. By stopping watching pornography, you will develop your sexual imagination.
2. You will regain sexual desire.
For some time (or for a very long time), you have not been able to see the beauty of an imperfect body, marked by life experiences, pregnancy, illness, old age, etc., because your mind has become accustomed to having sexual satisfaction with a specific body type, perfect-sized body, and misleading sexual prowess. You feel little or no sexual attraction to women, or men, when dating, or just when you imagine them acting out the sexual scenarios in your porn videos. By quitting pornography, you will regain your libido.
3. You will recover your natural empathy.
The first time you saw these images, you felt disgusted and, at the same time, sexual arousal and sexual pleasure. To enjoy the pleasurable sensations that porn provides, you have disconnected yourself from your emotions. By force, you lose your natural ability to feel your emotions and those of others. However, our feelings have an essential role: they allow us to adopt the correct behavior and adapt to others. By quitting watching porn, you will reclaim your natural empathy.
4. You will regain your vital energy.
Watching porn makes you sluggish, less productive, and depressed afterward. You lose energy, you know it, you feel it. And you don't like it. Pornography is a kind of antidepressant. Are you a depressed person? No, in reality, you are someone who, in your deep personality, overflows with desires, ideas, and projects. It is the consumption of pornography that makes you depressed; it is not the depression that pushes you to watch porn. By stopping watching it, you will regain your vital energy.
5. You will have the strength to solve your problems.
Cut out the porn then you'll see what's wrong with you in your life! No more escape, no more opium, no more artificial pleasure, etc. You will feel what makes you suffer. Your brain will finally distinctly receive the message regarding what is wrong, and the discomfort felt will provoke the motivation to find a solution. There's going to be a change, and that's good news because there is, in fact, no interest in remaining for years in an unsatisfactory situation. Pornography is never a solution. By stopping pornography, you will have the strength to solve your problems. I want to stop watching it!
6. You will increase your self-confidence.
You don't have to make any effort. The porn industry gives you access to bodies according to your tastes to satisfy you sexually. You fell into the trap of pornography because you lacked confidence in the game of seduction: it's easier and less risky to click on a pornographic site to get your "dose of sex" than to approach a woman or man and awaken his desire. The problem is that pornography is a "complex factory." It generates anxiety and amplifies the lack of self-confidence. You then flee intimate relationships for fear of being unmasked; you isolate yourself. By stopping pornography, you will break out of this vicious circle. You will seek help to discover what is holding you from having confidence in yourself and your ability to relate.
7. You will take care of your body.
Regardless of your physical appearance, condition, and dress, you can "consume sex" thanks to the porn industry, which offers you unlimited amounts of it. Instead of exercising to relax, you find what you need in a few clicks. It's fast and efficient. The problem is that you are neglecting your body's needs (rest, healthy eating, regular physical activity, health care, etc.) because you no longer feel the need to have a sexual relationship. The better you feel in your body, the better you will feel in your mind, and the more confident you will be in your relationships. By quitting porn, you will take care of your body again.
8. You will seek to have a fulfilling sex life.
The brain is programmed to search for a sexual partner to reproduce. This mechanism starts working in puberty during the transitions of adolescence. The problem is that consuming pornography disrupts this process because the brain does not differentiate between the pleasure in a sexual relationship and the pleasure obtained by masturbating in front of pornographic videos. The brain thinks it has done its job, i.e., find a partner and reproduce, when it hasn't. You are sending false information to your mind. You are deceiving it. So he will not adopt the behavior necessary to have sex because he has no reason. By quitting porn, you will regain your motivation for a fulfilling sex life.
9. You will stop lying (to yourself).
From day one, you have been lying to yourself and others. You tell yourself plenty of stories to convince yourself that it's OK to use it ("Everyone uses it...I'm not hurting anyone...This isn't infidelity..." etc.) when you know you're wrong. You constantly justify yourself; you lie to those around you because you can't afford to fall into a trap. You fear that people will think badly of you and that you will not be loved, rejected, or abandoned. Even worse, you can't stand that your actions can hurt the people you love. By stopping watching porn, you will put an end to the lies and bad faith.
10. You will feel liberated.
You always believe you are not a porn addict: "I watch it occasionally… I stop when I want! " The extraordinary power of the pornographic industry is to maintain this illusion. How? Thanks to video on demand. The screen allows you to maintain a feeling of freedom; all it takes is a click to stop everything. So, without addiction, we would immediately stop consuming the thing to which we could attach ourselves! Nobody, absolutely nobody, wants to be dependent on anything, which is why we always defend ourselves from being so. By stopping watching porn, you will feel like a free person that starts a new life without the restrictions of porn.
11. You will stop contributing to the sexual exploitation of human beings.
"I'm not hurting anyone. These people agree to do that," that's what you think. But what do you know about it? For you, pornography is evidence of freedom of speech, discretion, and sexual freedom. In fact, for every "porn star" who stands up for her job as an expression of her freedom to do business and do whatever she wants with her body, hundreds of thousands of women and men are exploited, abused, and raped. The sex industry continues its frantic pursuit of profit. By stopping watching porn, you will stop contributing to the sexual exploitation of human beings.
12. You will save time.
You were off to do a simple internet search or look at your social media and end up on a porn site. A lot of time has passed wasted time. Watching porn is a particularly time-consuming activity that calms you down at the time and then generates a significant dose of stress in the face of the little time left to do what you had decided to do. Pornography does not calm you down, but it increases anxiety: you waste time when you do not take advantage of the projects that improve you and your relationships. Quitting porn will save you time.
13. You will increase your productivity.
Before looking at it, think about it. After watching it, you still think about it. Your mind is distracted by sex, and your body by this sexual tension that lives in you. Sometimes you can't concentrate well. Inevitably, your productivity decreases. All this generates stress and anxiety that you will want to evacuate by returning to it every time. Pornography empties the individual of his power, creativity, and ability to produce. By stopping watching it, you will increase your productivity.
14. You will clean up your sex life.
You think that porn does not influence your sexuality. You believe that you can make sense of things. It's wrong. The truth is that your brain gets used to looking at a specific type of sexuality, certain sexual practices, and bodies, and these photos and videos distort your desires, fantasies, and the way you look at women and men. You have become a slave to your sexual urges. By quitting pornography, you will clean up your sex life.
15. You will strengthen your relationships.
You watch porn in secret, in your corner. It's your "secret garden," and you think that as long as no one knows about it, It's "okay" to do yourself some good. But in reality, you feel like you have a double life; you have two personalities. There is someone that people know, love, and admire, and then there is another person who can look at violent and humiliating images. You close in on yourself out of fear of being unmasked; you no longer dare to confide, to open up to others, to reveal yourself, to let yourself be loved. So, you will improve your friendships, family, and marital relationships if you stop watching porn because you will be honest.
FAQS
How to stop watching porn permanently?
You can stop watching porn permanently by occupying your free time, deleting pornographic films from your device, and avoiding sexual stimuli such as seductive images or videos.
How long does it take for a brain to recover from porn addiction?
The recovery period from the effects of porn varies from person to person, depending on the degree of addiction. It takes an average of 90 days to get rid of porn addiction and its damage. So no set period applies to everyone.
Should medical help be sought to treat porn addiction?
It is possible to treat porn addiction without a doctor. However, if there are mental illnesses that prompt treatment, such as depression and trauma, you will need medical help to get rid of them.
How do you convince your husband to treat pornography addiction?
Avoid blaming and admonishing, do not use violent language, and explain the impact of these films on marital life and the sexual problems they can cause. Finally, try to reduce life pressures and family disputes that push him to do so.
What do you do if you relapse and you back to watching porn again?
In the event of relapse and return to watching porn again, you must immediately take several steps:
- Know that relapse is something normal. So don't blame yourself or feel depressed or guilty.
- Immediately return to your treatment plan and stop watching porn.
- Determine the reasons that led to the relapse, whether it was exposure to sexual stimuli, having a lot of free time, exposure to pressure, or problems that you wanted to escape from to porn, and treat them so that they do not recur again.