A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Quit Porn

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How to Quit Pornography Use: A Guide to True Freedom

Quitting a porn habit may seem daunting. You’ve probably declared “one last time” numerous times, only to find yourself back where you started. This cycle of defeat and self-loathing might feel endless, but there is a way out.

Pornography casts a long shadow over your relationships, your faith, and your self-image. It fosters a toxic secrecy that erodes healthy sexuality and creates false intimacy. Learning how to quit porn is more than just stopping; it’s about transforming your life by replacing shame and isolation with truth and connection.

Quitting Porn Begins With Understanding the Complexities of a Porn Addiction

Recognizing that you want to quit watching porn is crucial, especially when you see the habit as harmful. Porn addiction often manifests when someone has attempted to stop repeatedly but finds it impossible, indicating that their brain may have undergone changes that make this behavior feel compulsive and unavoidable.

Many individuals do not initially see a problem with their porn watching habits, so they do not consider quitting. However, confronting issues like Porn-Induced Erectile Dysfunction (PIED) or marriage difficulties can suddenly highlight the necessity of stopping. When you’re unable to quit despite these realizations, it may point to a deeper addiction.

Whatever you end up wanting to call it – a habit, an addiction, a problem – defining and acknowledging that your porn use is a problem is the first step towards the process of knowing how to stop porn and finding true freedom.

Why Do People Get Addicted?

When the brain becomes addicted to watching porn, the process is similar to creating a trail in a dense forest. Each time you traverse this path—especially when you use pornography to alleviate life’s stresses and discomforts—the path becomes more pronounced and easier to navigate. Over time, this porn pathway solidifies as the brain’s automatic response to certain emotional triggers. However, the journey to quit porn involves more than just steering clear of these well-trodden routes; it necessitates the guidance and support to build new, healthier neural pathways.

The transformation as described in Romans 12:2, about “renewing your mind,” is essential for true freedom from addiction. This transformation requires a deliberate effort to retrain your brain, adopting new behaviors and thought patterns that replace the old, destructive ones. With the right strategies and support systems in place, including therapy, support groups, and possibly spiritual guidance, you can break the cycle of addiction. This process not only helps in quitting porn but also in fostering a resilient, renewed mind capable of handling life’s challenges without reverting to harmful habits.

Is Porn Addiction Real?

Pornography is a significant issue affecting both men and women nationwide, transcending all walks of life. For some, it’s a troublesome habit; for others, it’s an unavoidable compulsion deeply rooted in their daily routine. Large-scale studies reveal the breadth of this issue: approximately two-thirds of adult men report watching porn monthly, with half viewing it weekly, and one in four engaging daily.

Even the Christian community is not exempt from this challenge. Research involving over 750 practicing Christian college men indicated that 89% watch porn at least occasionally, and 61% do so weekly. Furthermore, over 80% reported feelings of self-hatred after watching porn, underscoring the deep conflict it creates with their spiritual values. This aligns with the biblical admonition in 1 Peter 2:11 to “abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.”

These statistics highlight the pervasive nature of porn and the need for effective strategies to combat porn addiction. Understanding the scale of the problem is the first step towards finding a solution that fosters lasting change and aligns with one’s values and beliefs.

How Do I Know If I’m Addicted to Porn?

Some would claim pornography isn’t so much of an addiction as a bad habit. Consider this:

A habit is a pattern of behavior that begins with a cue or a trigger and ends with a memorable reward, often referred to as a “habit loop”—trigger, behavior, reward (think Pavlov and classical conditioning).

An addiction begins with a behavior and evolves into a dramatic dependency that interferes with the normal functionality of your life and brain.

When a person becomes desperate to quit a behavior they recognize as harmful and has tried to stop repeatedly without success, this pattern is often indicative of addiction. The continual repetition of such behavior can lead to changes in the brain, effectively locking a person into a cycle that becomes increasingly challenging to break—this condition is what characterizes an “addiction.” Whether you label it as a bad habit or an addiction, the fundamental initial steps toward recovery remain consistent: acknowledging the issue and actively seeking ways to quit.

This cycle of failed attempts and the associated frustration often underscore the seriousness of the addiction. It’s essential to understand that addiction is not just a series of bad choices but a complex condition that requires a comprehensive approach to overcome. Engaging in this process involves both internal acknowledgment of the problem and external efforts to seek help, such as therapy, support groups, or other recovery programs. These steps are critical in laying a solid foundation for the journey towards lasting recovery.

hand with stopwatch

Find Out If You’re Addicted

Many sex addiction therapists use a tool called the SAST (Sexual Addiction Screening Test). It is a simple, 20-question test that has been taken by tens of thousands of people. The test is more than 90% accurate in predicting sexual addictive tendencies in a person. This is an objective tool that can help you start understanding and embracing the reality of where you truly are.

The Hidden Impact of Porn on Your Life

Pornography may subtly but profoundly affect your life, including your sex life, your brain function, and your relationships, more significantly than you might initially realize. Often dismissed as inconsequential, porn is, in reality, a silent destroyer of many vital aspects of life—emotional, relational, spiritual, and physical. Failing to quit a porn habit invites a gradual erosion of these crucial areas, leading to long-term consequences that can be hard to reverse.

The slow death of relationships and marriages.

Porn is mentioned as a significant reason in 56% of all divorces.

The slow death of healthy sexuality.

People who watch porn are less satisfied with their sex lives than those who don’t. Porn use has also lead to many men experiencing early erectile dysfunction.

The slow death of a heart for God.

Those who view pornography more often reported lower levels of closeness to God and higher levels of religious doubts.

A slow death of a positive self image.

Pornography use has also been associated with depression, feelings of low self-worth, shame and guilt, among many other negative emotions.

Signs & Symptoms of Porn Addiction

Porn can poison your life in many ways, but it happens slowly. You may not realize you’re suffering from side effects of your porn habit until the problem has become deeply rooted. Common signs or symptoms of a porn problem can include:

Increased frequency and intensity of porn use
Strained romantic and personal relationships
Lack of sex drive or inability to perform sexually
Feeling distant from God and your own identity in Christ
Altering your schedule to have more time alone for porn
Lack of interest in social activities
Feelings of shame, guilt and negative self talk

Not every person with a porn addiction will experience these symptoms, but it is common for porn users to experience a combination of these negative consequences.

Strategies for Coping with Triggers and Urges

Taking action to quit porn can lead to real change and growth, if you have the right support. When you address addiction from a holistic approach – mind, body and spirit – you can finally find freedom. You’ll need to reject isolation and find authentic community. Confront the addicted brain and transform your mind. You’ll need to grow in emotional intelligence and resilience, instead of medicating negative emotions. And finally, you’ll be able to heal from the trauma of shame by accepting God’s truths.

Step 1. Face Reality

Overcoming denial is the essential foundation for freedom and is the fastest way to healing (James 5:16). This means being honest about relapses, prioritizing truth over image, and avoiding excuses.

Acknowledge your struggle
Detox and remove all access
Recognize the lies of porn
Discover your triggers
Accept God’s love and guidance
Believe that you can change
Get help

Quitting tip: During a detox, an addicted brain will crave dopamine. It’s important to get good sleep, eat well, and engage in activities that naturally raise the level of dopamine like exercise, spiritual disciplines, and enjoying friends. Self-care is essential to recovery and can help diminish cravings for dopamine.

Step 2. Develop New Skills

Learning tools and methods that help you shut off access to porn, maintain accountability, grow in emotional intelligence, and respond correctly to a relapse are essential to build new habits and behaviors. Practicing these essential skills allow you to establish a new lifestyle.

Address the 6 roots of addiction
Resist temptations using the BRACE method
Install blocking software
Get support from an accountability partner
Recognize and acknowledge emotions
Find power in honesty
Track your progress

Quitting tip: When you are confronting a craving or temptation, remember to BRACE: B – Breathe Deeply, R – Remember the Truth, A – Ask God for Help, C – Call an Accountability Partner, E – Escape the Situation. Going through these 5 steps can help you stay on track and avoid relapse.

Step 3. Rebuild the Mind

As we learn and grow, change happens in the brain and new neurological pathways are created. To replace the damaging pathways porn has built with new, positive pathways. Change happens by renewing the mind(Romans 12:).

Learn to process emotions with God and others instead of medicating them
Remember the truth of God’s word when triggered
Confess and be honest with your struggles
Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).
Adopt positive habits (spiritual disciplines, exercise, etc)
Stay connected to accountability

Quitting tip: Stay connected and check in with your support team even after you’ve shown real progress. Maintaining a community helps you stay accountable, remember how far you’ve come, and feel supported if you stumble.

The Freedom Fight Works

The Freedom Fight offers a comprehensive and free online program for men and women seeking to overcome porn addiction. Our program addresses the six fundamental roots of addiction through a blend of scientific insight, gospel-centered wisdom, and clinical strategies, guiding participants towards lasting freedom from porn.

Participants can engage with the Freedom Fight program either individually or within a small group setting. Choosing to go through the program individually does not mean facing this journey alone. You will have the support of accountability partners you select, alongside the extensive resources and guidance our program provides. If you start without an accountability partner, we will assist you in finding one, ensuring you have the support necessary for successful recovery.

We encourage people to go through The Freedom Fight in a small group if at all possible. We have a Leader’s Guide, discussion questions and other small group resources to make it easy to facilitate. With our help, whether you’ve personally had a porn addiction or not, you can lead an effective FF recovery group.

About Our Program

Living a Porn-Free Life

You can stop watching porn and embrace the life you were truly meant to live. Achieving freedom from porn not only grants you a clear conscience before God and your loved ones but also opens the door to genuine self-expression. Instead of concealing your true self and existing in the shadows, you have the opportunity to be fully known and loved. Free from the constraints of shame, you are empowered to forge deep, fulfilling relationships. It’s time to reclaim your life and embark on the path that God has laid out for you.

Overcoming the grip of porn addiction alone is nearly impossible. True healing often emerges from within a community. As the scripture says in James 5:16, “Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.” This principle holds particularly true when dealing with a porn addiction.

Any effective recovery program recognizes the critical role of community in sustaining progress. Accountability is crucial, but so too is guidance from someone who has successfully navigated the journey to freedom. A guide can help you secure your devices, teach you techniques to renew your mind, and provide support after setbacks, significantly impacting your ability to stay on track rather than relapsing. The Freedom Fight has successfully led thousands on this journey, offering the tools and resources necessary for making tangible changes and achieving lasting freedom.

And remember, joining The Freedom Fight is completely free! This program is designed to support you every step of the way, helping you to break free from porn and live a life of true liberation.

Join The Freedom Fight today. It’s free!

No one quits porn alone.
You can do this. We can help.

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