Treatment for Porn and Sex Addiction

Like drug or alcohol addiction, porn and sex addiction can negatively affect a person’s physical and mental health, personal relationships, quality of life, and safety.

The medical community has not classified sex addiction or porn addiction as diagnosable mental health disorders. But that doesn’t mean these addictions aren’t real and don’t have profound impacts on people’s lives.

Porn and sex addiction may fall into the category of hypersexual disorder, an umbrella term that includes problematic behaviors, such as excessive masturbation, pornography use, sexual behavior with consenting adults, strip club visitation, and others.¹

If addiction to sex or pornography is interfering with your life and ability to have healthy relationships, RECO Intensive can help.

Our addiction specialists in Delray Beach, FL have the training and tools to treat porn and sex addiction, based on the latest evidence-based therapies.

Symptoms of Sex Addiction

There’s no consensus on exactly what constitutes sex addiction, but the following symptoms may indicate a problem:

• Obsessive sexual thoughts and fantasies that interfere with daily life, work performance, relationships, etc.
• Compulsive relationships with multiple partners, including strangers
• Risky behavior that puts yourself or others in danger
• Feeling guilt or remorse after sex
• Inability to control sexual behavior
• Continuing sexual behaviors despite negative consequences or deriving little or no satisfaction from sexual encounters

Symptoms of Porn Addiction

While there’s no standard definition of porn addiction, if porn use interferes with your daily life and relationships, it’s a problem. Symptoms of porn addiction can include:

• Ignoring responsibilities to view pornography
• Using pornography to cope with sadness, anxiety, insomnia, or other mental health issues
• Having relationship problems or feeling less satisfied in a relationship because of porn use
• Feeling ashamed after viewing pornography, but not being able to stop
• Spending large sums of money on pornography
• Viewing progressively more extreme forms of pornography to get the same release
• Watching porn at work or in other risky places, such as in public spaces

The Effects of Porn Addiction

Substance abusers who view images of drugs or alcohol show certain brain activity patterns on MRI scans. Research has found that compulsive porn users and sex addicts show similar brain activity patterns when viewing erotic images.

Excessive use of pornography, especially by men, can harm romantic relationships. One study found that female partners who perceived their boyfriends’ porn use to be excessive reported experiencing lower self-esteem, lower sexual satisfaction, and poorer relationship quality.² Another study found that men who use porn excessively also tend to report lower levels of sexual intimacy in their real-life relationships.²

Treatment for Porn/Sex Addiction

Excessive porn use or sexual behavior that significantly disrupts your life is serious, regardless of whether it is considered an addiction in the traditional medical sense. RECO Intensive treats porn and sex addiction in much the same way as we treat substance addictions. Treatment strategies may include:

• Psychotherapy: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be particularly useful for helping people identify and respond appropriately to triggers. Individual and group counseling sessions are a core part of our treatment programs at RECO Intensive.
• Relationship counseling: Couples counseling can help partners explore their values and work through issues that may be hindering greater trust and intimacy in the relationship.
• Medications: Some people use porn or sex to cope with a co-occurring mental health condition, such as anxiety, depression, or trauma. RECO Intensive offers dual diagnosis treatment for people struggling with co-occurring disorders.
• Lifestyle changes: People may use pornography to quell stress or even out of boredom. Learning healthier lifestyle habits is a core part of recovery.

If you or someone you love is struggling with sex or porn addiction, RECO Intensive can help. Many clients choose our intensive outpatient programs, which provide the freedom to continue working or going to school.

Contact us today to learn more about our porn addiction and sex addiction treatment programs and to schedule a tour of our sex addiction treatment center in Delray Beach, FL. Help is just a phone call away.

Sources:

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6352245/
2. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/04/pornography