Addiction to pornography may be one of the most problematic addictions to treat. Usually, when someone has a porn addiction, they hide it well. Unlike an alcoholic who the family may actually see drink, by the sheer nature of the addiction, the porn addict is compelled to try to hide his problem.
He may surf porn at work in the privacy of his office, he may wait until everyone goes to bed and sit at the computer late at night, he may live alone and simply avoid social interaction to stay home and view porn.
So when someone does recognize the problem, it can be severely embarrassing and a natural reaction is to deny the pornography habit rather than to admit to something that the addict knows he will be harshly judged for.
People with untreated addictions commonly argue that nothing is wrong with them. Most men with a porn habit will explain that they are not do anything any healthy man does not do. Many will be able to convince their partners or family that they are exaggerating their concerns. The pain of being found out is just too much for them to handle. They may believe that they can control their porn use and often will try to use willpower to stay away from porn from some period. But relapse is usually inevitable. Willpower is not a cure. And unfortunately, failing to keep their self promise can lead to shame, guilt and increased stress – which may only exacerbate the porn addition.
It may be tempting for loved ones, who suspect their is a problem and are themselves offended and hurt by the porn habit, to take a hands-off approach to the problem and pretend they don’t notice or do not care. But hoping that the porn problem will just go away on its own or because he loves you so much is just not likely to happen. It is not about how much the addict loves his family and friends. Even if you believe that the porn addict is not willing to try to change, treatment can still help and the sooner, the better.
Porn addiction is a progressive disorder -it gets worse over time. The sooner a person receives treatment for addiction, the greater the chances for recovery.In fact, if we could manage to address the problem at the very start, simply by installing a porn filter and blocking access to pornography online, chances are we would not have the porn addiction epidemic we have today.Many people receive treatment for porn addiction because they were forced into it by family or friends.
If you want to get your loved one into treatment for a pornography problem, try to get the advice of an addiction treatment specialist. The way you go about approaching the addict can make a very significant difference in his willingness to enter treatment and his attitude toward the treatment.
