Pornography is stronger than heroin

[greenrangerx]

I actually did this for a period. Once a week I would go to McDonald’s with my laptop to use their Wi-Fi and do anything I needed internet for (pay bills, send emails, etc). It actually worked pretty well, since my only internet access was in a public place.

 

[christofirst]

A psychologist could help, if you can afford their service and hopefully find one that respects, or at least does not dismiss, Church teachings.

Matt Fradd, associated with Catholic Answers, also has a ministry for getting free from pornography. https://reclaimsexualhealth.com is another good resource that combines our current understanding of brain science and psychology, with age-old Catholic teachings. Reclaim has the approval of the Bishop of Green Bay, Wisconsin, where they are physically located.

Connecting with other people and having another person to hold you accountable seems to be another major component in getting rid of a pornography habit. Many users are reluctant to reach out to other people though, for a number of reasons.

 

[exnihilo]

I’m well aware of what the Church teaches, and I am thoroughly disgusted with myself everytime I commit adultery on my wife with pixels on a screen.

The disgust isn’t unwarranted, but be careful not to beat yourself up too much. Your will has been weakened by habit. You freely chose to indulge in the sin and ingrain the bait. But now you are weak against it. Satan wants you to hate yourself, feel shame and despair. It took a while to develop the habit. It may take a while to rid yourself of it. Also remember when God forgives you are forgiven. With sins like this it is easy to not forgive yourself even when God has forgiven you.

Make sure you aren’t cultivating the vice of curiosity. I think this can be part of a pornography addiction. This can be cultivated in part by wanting to know things which aren’t necessary or proper for our state in life. Wanting to know things about people you shouldn’t know is one. A lot of our media is entirely focused on cultivating this vice.

Why don’t you cancel your internet? Easy solution too. If nothing else has worked for you, you can always do this.

Jesus said:

if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell

We should be willing to do whatever to stop sinning. We should be willing if for no other reason than fear of Hell. We don’t need the Internet. Now, I am myself extremely attached to the Internet. But it is an attachment. Love for things of this world may have an eternal price.

 

[Azaryahtt]

I am 45, single and It seems to me I do not see myself as a monastic person, I get so angry at God sometimes (Lord Jesus have mercy on me) ,for not having been able to marry at a younger age, sometimes the pain and the humiliation,is almost unbearable!

 

[tawny]

Try to keep up with your prayers. I’ll be praying to the Holy Spirit to give you guidance, direction, strength, fortitude & wisdom to overcome your temptations. God bless.

 

[stupidisasstupiddoes]

Why were you not able to marry at a younger age?

 

[Gmsod]

Yeah it really is an addiction that is looked over in today’s society. I’ll be praying for you. Also if you fall again, you don’t have to wait till confession to be right with gone (not a command against confession btw- still go first opportunity) but i found this useful and i hope you do to (though you probably already know it i found this article particularly clear)
(The main focus is the bottom comment with the pages)

https://cor-mariae.com/threads/perfect-contrition-opened-heaven-to-the-good-thief.2252/

GOD bless!

 

[dallas_r]

I think I was exposed to porn when I was about 9 as well. I’m a teenager right now and am trying to stop it before I start a family and it becomes an addiction that gets out of hand. Praying for you Spyridon, may our Lady and our Lord assist you in your spiritual battles.

 

[Kei]

Ok my friend, I see you do not like the Rosary. But of the prayers it offers so much Grace it is not believable. When do you normally do it? If you say the Rosary around this time, it is almost impossible that you should fall into this sin. Indeed, the quote above is do totally true. Sin cannot abide in you if you say the Rosary.
The real struggle then is saying (I mean praying when I say this) the Rosary. The urges may feel extra strong if you do not do it. So pray it every single day without exception. it should not be long before the results come in.

Also, do mentally pray, try for every night before you go to sleep.

At the VERY FIRST INSTANT that you feel temptation, pray. Do you have a crucifix? How realistic is it? Regardless, also think of Jesus crucified in much detail.

And also, whenever you get a disordered thought to lust, strike yourself or do some other form of physical pain. Not enough to injure you or anything, just enough to feel it and get your mind off of it.

Also, make a commitment in your mind to become a saint, and pray about this.

What I don’t suggest doing is to start fasting all the time. You’ll feel like you’ve exhausted your will power quite possibly.

And yes, pornography IS an ADDICTION! There’s a website I want you to look up, yourbrainonporn. Google that. God bless.

PS: what sort of porn is it? Online? VHS tapes? Magazines? If the latter two, just throw them away. If the former, if nothing else works, then desperate times call for desparate measures. Hopefully you don’t need to go to such lengths.

My advice applies to all else who struggle with this.

 

[Mary888]

Oh just delete those videos . Sorry so blunt. I just don’t see it addiction to porn. It"s not like a drug because it is not physical. You turn it off
FYI those videos are disgusting, unimaginative garbage. All in it is fake. Why do you watch it?
I gave up movie and music addiction and not all there is obviously gross, but it just happened that I saw it all like a house of paper cards like Alice in wonderland. But I smoke. They are 3mg cigarettes. Are they all that bad? Which one of us is going faster into the burning? :hugs:
You don’t need prayer because I really do believe you can just effin do it. It’s garbage.
God bless one junkie to another

 

[Kei]

No one could stay away from mortal sin for a long period at all if not for the Grace of God.
Prayer is very important, to pray for Grace.
In fact, he should pray for MUCH MUCH more Grace than necessary to avoid the sin c

 

[Azaryahtt]

It’s a bit of a long story , but for many years a was part of different religious communities (commune / cult), were everything was decided for you , even the wife to be (and wifes were a way to control also).

stupidisasstupiddoes
January 7 |

Why were you not able to marry at a younger age?

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In Reply To

Azaryahtt
January 7 |

I am 45, single and It seems to me I do not see myself as a monastic person, I get so angry at God sometimes (Lord Jesus have mercy on me) ,for not having been able to marry at a younger age, sometimes the pain and the humiliation,is almost unbearable!
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[stupidisasstupiddoes]

I get it. I’ve known a few people who grew up in these circumstances. You have to understand that it was humans exercising their own free will who did that to you, not God who allowed it. There was fundamentally nothing stopping those people from using their free will for good, they chose to do that.

 

[Axsenex]

The price of failure is what?

To be a better person & that is what you’re supposed to be working toward & learn from your failures.

 

[exnihilo]

Sorry so blunt. I just don’t see it addiction to porn. It"s not like a drug because it is not physical. You turn it off

Let’s not call it an addiction. Let’s call it a habit. But what is an addiction anyway? It is a strong urge or, if bad enough, an actual need (to survive) of a dose of chemicals. The research about pornography use says it sends a rush of brain chemicals. So maybe it is an addiction. But again, let’s just call it a habit.

A bad habit is a vice. The Church has consistently taught that vices are hard to break. When we do evil things we lose our freedom. As we habituate ourselves to an evil we become slaves of this evil. We lose our freedom by engaging in sin and become slaves (servings wouldn’t convey the right meaning) of Satan.

So, no, it isn’t as easy as just turning it off.

You don’t need prayer because I really do believe you can just effin do it. It’s garbage

No, we all need prayer. Plenty of people struggle with venial sins. They can’t just stop them because they are attached to them. Grave matter, especially sins of the flesh, can be really hard to give up because of the pleasure you get from it.

 

[PaulJoseph]

Spyridon,

I will pray for you.

When I became a Christian, the biggest fight that I had on my hands was my own chastity.

What I found immensely helpful was a book called ‘Love & Responsibility’ by Karol Wojtyła (aka St John Paul II). This book is pretty tough to read, but it covered all of the sexual dysfunction that I had been suffering with for 20 years prior. It also addressed a lot of my confusion about what sex really is.

I see that Matt Fradd has been mentioned above (check out ‘theporneffect .com’). Another expert on this subject is Jason Evert (check out ‘chastityproject .com’).

 

[PaulJoseph]

P.S. I love watching movies but I never sit in front of a movie unless I’ve vetted the content first. Websites like ‘Movie Guide’ and ‘Plugged In’ (both of which are Christian) will help you review the content of movies, especially with regards to sex, nudity, violence and language.

 

[Mr_Freeze]

I would suggest that you come clean to your wife in this matter. She is there to help you get to heaven, and you to her. It would be better to rely on the covenant of marriage than to hash it out with internet experts anyway! I asked if she was aware of your problem a few posts back, but did not see any reply.

 

[BoomBoomMancini]

PS: what sort of porn is it? Online? VHS tapes? Magazines? If the latter two, just throw them away. If the former, if nothing else works, then desperate times call for desparate measures. Hopefully you don’t need to go to such lengths.

Unless OP is 75 years old, I can pretty much guarantee he’s not getting his porn through a physical medium like VHS tapes or magazines.

 

[BoomBoomMancini]

OP, just a final thought. I don’t want to make this sound like I’m rationalizing or letting you off the hook, but do remember to be merciful with yourself too. We live in an age when sexually suggestive imagery bombards us 24/7. And we live in an age when it’s possible to pull up almost infinite sexual material with the click of a button. Those are conditions that most Christians throughout history haven’t had to deal with. It’s a hard, hard temptation. You’ll beat it, but it may be a long term project. Don’t expect to slay this monster right away, and be patient with yourself when you fall.

Also, just realize you’re not alone and you’re not weird. The vast majority of men* at some point struggle with this to some degree. You know the old joke: most men masturbate, the rest are lying. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t continue to try to overcome, but don’t get down on yourself and start thinking of yourself as some uniquely broken deviant.

*And yes, I realize women struggle with this too, just figured OP was male.