Treatment Understanding Porn Addiction

Addiction can completely devastate lives. The pleasure we experience from indulging in a substance, like alcohol or drugs, or behavior, like eating or sex, happens because the substance or habit stimulates the brain’s reward center. Our Hawaiian porn addiction treatment program offers relief if your life has become hijacked by pornography and/or sex addiction.

Naturally, humans, like all other creatures, prioritize pleasure over suffering. Addiction can cause people to neglect the people and things that truly matter in their lives. Dependency can distract those affected from anything and everything. You may already know how bad it can be if you or a loved one are struggling with porn.

If you or a loved one are battling sex or porn addiction, you shouldn’t have to go through it alone. Call Hawaii Exclusive Rehab today for more information about our porn addiction treatment plans. Our team strives to unearth the root cause of clients’ addictions and empower clients with the skills to abstain from compulsive behaviors.

Porn addiction is among the most common forms of sexual addiction. Viewing pornographic materials becomes a problem when one can no longer manage or control them, indicating the onset of addiction. The internet makes porn easily accessible and affordable while users maintain anonymity.

Keep reading to learn more about porn addiction recovery at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab.

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What Is Porn and Sex Addiction?

Porn addiction is a form of behavioral or process addiction. Addictions are chronic patterns of behavior in which a person continually partakes in action despite knowing the negative consequences that doing so causes.

Process addictions are characterized by a progressive increase in the severity of recurrent behaviors resembling a drug use disorder.

Porn and sex addiction, like other process addictions, have been met with skepticism in the mental health field.

Some specialists advocated for its inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as a subtype of hypersexual disorder. Still, reviewers eventually decided against it due to inadequate supporting evidence.

The DSM only recognizes gambling as a disorder classified as a process addiction at this time. Even without a diagnosis or insurance billing code, porn addiction treatment is available. Although physicians cannot use the DSM to make a formal diagnosis of porn addiction, they can use the parallels between porn addiction and other disorders in the DSM to create a treatment plan.

A mental health professional may classify porn addiction as a sexual disorder, an impulse control problem, or a non-substance-related addictive condition, depending on the severity of the individual’s symptoms.

People suffering from porn addiction can benefit from talking to a therapist about their porn use to better understand the consequences of their actions and develop strategies for coping with situations that trigger them to use.

What Are the Different Types of Porn Viewers?

Highly Distressed Non-Compulsive Porn Viewers

There are various forms of porn viewers. Other than the first group, all others suffer from sexual dysfunction because of their pornographic activities.

Recreational Porn Viewers

Recreational viewers are those people with healthy porn consumption habits. Recent studies have found that most porn viewers do so for entertainment purposes. The average adult recreational porn viewer only spends 24 minutes a week on porn. A large percentage of these viewers are either women or couples.

When watched for entertainment purposes, porn rarely affects sexual life and relationships. Porn viewing is a pleasant pastime with no distress for recreational viewers.

A recreational viewer can watch porn on occasion without making it a habit or sacrificing their ability to pursue other interests. Many people who use porn regularly do it as a source of entertainment or to improve their sex life with their spouses.

Highly Distressed Non-Compulsive Viewers

The highly distressed non-compulsive porn viewers include a significant subset of pornographic viewers. These people usually watch an average of 17 minutes of porn each week but find their pornography consumption unhealthy and distressing.

People who watch porn and are highly distressed are often unmarried and may resort to pornography to boost their confidence. Those in this demographic may find solace in porn to deal with the emotional pain of a loveless or dysfunctional sexual life.

Compulsive Porn Viewers

The third type of porn viewer is the compulsive porn viewer. Data shows that about 12% of porn users are also obsessive viewers, with more males having this compulsive behavior.

Problems with relationships and daily life might arise when someone compulsively needs to watch porn.

Compulsive viewers may forego other interests and activities to satisfy their need to watch porn. On average, compulsive porn consumers spend approximately 110 minutes viewing pornographic material each week.

Some people develop a porn addiction from watching pornographic material repeatedly.

What Causes Porn and Sexual Addiction?

Man watching porn

The root causes of porn addiction are either psychological or physiological. Some people turn to porn to cope with psychological issues that have gone unrecognized or untreated.

Sexual trauma survivors can use porn to explore desires they may not feel comfortable expressing to others. Those who have grown socially isolated because of their anxiety or depression may turn to porn to reconnect with others.

Those who turn to porn in an attempt to alleviate the emotional anguish of past trauma or other sources of distress are more likely to develop a porn addiction problem.

Trauma survivors can usually emotionally and cognitively disconnect from their traumatic experiences. People that struggle with anxiety or depression may turn to porn to counter feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Recent studies have found that the factors contributing to substance or drug addiction also play a role in the development of pornographic addiction. Repeated exposure to porn can disrupt brain regions responsible for dopamine release and reception. That’s because watching porn causes your brain to experience heightened versions of natural events.

Because of this, the dopamine rush from watching porn can be more potent than the rush from actual sex. Porn addiction occurs when one repeatedly seeks out this level of excitement while simultaneously attempting to avoid the unpleasant states that follow.

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Porn Addiction?

Symptoms of Porn Addictions

Knowing how substance addiction is defined can be helpful when determining the signs of porn addiction.

Signs of Drug and Alcohol Addictions

A person can be diagnosed with a drug use disorder if they meet two or more of the following criteria:

  • Excessive drug or alcohol consumption over the recommended safe amounts
  • Consistently trying to cut back on, limit, or manage substance abuse
  • Spending a lot of effort and time to either get high or sober up from substance abuse
  • Experiencing intense cravings when trying to reduce drug use
  • Continuing to take a substance despite knowing the drug’s adverse effects

Signs of Porn Addictions

Porn addiction can be informally diagnosed using similar criteria. Using this framework, signs of a pornographic addiction may include:

  • Excessive or prolonged pornographic media consumption
  • Attempting to abstain from porn but failing
  • Having trouble controlling your pornographic behavior
  • Spending time viewing porn and engaging in risky sexual behavior
  • Continuing to use porn despite adverse effects on work or relationships.

Understanding Pornography Use Disorder

A pornography use disorder can be simply defined as any involvement with porn that has a detrimental effect on one’s life. Despite experiencing bad consequences or negative emotions, the user continues to engage in porn use, which is an early indicator of potential addiction.

A person with a porn addiction might view porn at work, get caught, and continue to do so even after finding a new position elsewhere.

Even if those who are addicted to porn have not experienced any negative consequences, they may still be plagued by internal turmoil due to their habit. Having moral or religious doubts regarding porn use is a common motivator for seeking treatment for a pornographic addiction.

Perceived addiction is a standard metric used by clinicians to determine whether or not a client needs treatment for issues stemming from porn use.

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Hawaiian Porn Addiction Treatment: Get Help in Paradise

Pornography addiction is often accompanied by feelings of shame, which can prevent users from getting help. Most persons with a pornographic addiction don’t talk openly about their problem since they’re ashamed of their porn use. Others avoid disclosing it to their partners for fear of escalating arguments.

The internet, which has contributed to the spread of porn addiction, may also provide information about how to combat the problem. Due to the anonymity of the internet, some people who have never sought help before can take that initial step.

There is a wealth of support for those struggling with porn addiction, despite the ongoing debate about whether or not this behavior constitutes a mental condition. Therapies that are useful in treating various mental health disorders are among the most widely used interventions.

Therapies Used in Our Hawaiian Porn Addiction Treatment Programs

Therapies Used in Hawaiian Porn Addiction Treatment

The most effective treatment option for those struggling with pornography addiction is porn addiction therapy. Multiple treatments are available for those struggling to break their habit of pornography.

The brain’s chemical makeup is altered by porn addiction, just as it is by other types of behavioral addictions. Antidepressants or drugs that affect brain chemistry are rarely used to treat porn addiction.

Addiction is characterized by physiological abnormalities that are almost usually remedied by reversing the behaviors that trigger them.

Some of the most commonly used therapies include:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy is among the most successful treatments for mental health issues. CBT is valid for various disorders because it focuses on relieving distressing symptoms of addiction and teaching clients coping mechanisms.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Acceptance and commitment therapy is a subset of cognitive behavioral therapy. In this therapy, model therapists advise clients to become aware of their triggers and develop strategies for accepting those thoughts without reacting.

Compared to cognitive behavioral therapy, the emphasis here is on altering one’s reaction rather than one’s thinking.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

The use of dialectical behavior therapy is effective in the treatment of pornography addiction.

A form of cognitive behavioral therapy, DBT was initially designed to treat borderline personality disorder. Still, it has now been found to be helpful in treating a wide range of other conditions, including those connected to trauma and substance abuse.

Clients learn and practice skills for better emotional regulation, social engagement, and distress tolerance in DBT.

Psychodynamic Therapy for Mental Health Treatment

Psychodynamic therapy is a traditional approach to mental health care that centers on the client’s unconscious desires and motives. Psychotherapy or psychodynamic therapies come in numerous forms, but they generally emphasize uncovering the formative experiences of childhood that have informed present-day behavior.

Conditions stemming from trauma are treatable using psychodynamic therapy. People whose upbringing has negatively impacted emotional or mental health may benefit from reflecting on pivotal moments in their youth to better comprehend and eventually let go of the emotional and mental baggage such experiences have left them with.

Couples Counselling

Porn addiction materials can have unfavorable consequences for an intimate relationship. One or both partners in a relationship may suffer decreased sexual interest, decreased sexual response, or even a complete loss of sexual desire. Also, it can encourage sexually-related attitudes or perceptions that an intimate partner finds off-putting or alienating.

Treating Porn Addiction and Co-Occurring Disorders

Treating Porn Addiction

Drug and alcohol addiction and compulsive behaviors often co-occur. One condition can cause the onset of another, or numerous conditions can result from a common trigger, such as a traumatic event or a period of heightened stress.

The United States has a higher prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders than any other country. Anxiety and depression can be produced by alterations in cognitive processes alone, unlike illnesses predominantly driven by heredity and biochemistry like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

People cannot become bipolar or schizophrenic due to stressful or demoralizing conditions, although they can get depressed or nervous. If a person does not already suffer from other mental health issues, their porn addiction may trigger stress, social stigma, and neurochemical repercussions.

Experience True Healing

Our deeply-caring staff and the surrounding natural beauty offer an unparalleled healing experience.

Get Help with Our Porn and Sex Addiction Programs

Porn addiction isn’t officially recognized as a medical condition but it can devastate a life. When viewed in excess, pornographic materials can have devastating effects.

The contentious disorder can negatively impact a person’s day-to-day existence, relationships, and capacity to function. Those struggling can access a variety of treatments from a licensed therapist in Hawaii.

If you or a loved one are struggling with porn addiction, there is hope. Please get help immediately rather than putting it off.

Our Hawaii rehab center is in a calm and serene environment, allowing whole-body healing with the help of compassionate staff. Call our Intake Coordination team today or reach us through our online contact form for professional medical advice on porn and drug addiction treatment plans at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab!