Julian does not have any addiction to drugs or gambling, but porn addiction has become an ongoing struggle for him.
The decreasing amount of social recreation has led him to rely on pornography as a means of escape.
Over a decade or something where I didn’t want to stop because I didn’t think I had to, but if I would have tried to, I think I would have found it hard when you put it that way,”
Julian said.
So, what to do if you or someone you love has a porn addiction?
On today’s episode of The Briefing, we talk to Julian about how porn addiction has taken over his life. We also speak with Jane O’Keeffe, a consulting psychologist for sex and porn addiction at South Pacific Private.
Julian says his porn addiction eventually interfered with his relationship, and he has questioned himself, “Is this the hell I am going to die on?”
I did a self-imposed digital detox where I went back to a dumb phone for a while, like the 3G phone that doesn’t have it,”
Julian added.
Julian also started going to a 12-step program for porn and sex addiction, where he met others who struggled with porn addiction and talked to each other face-to-face or via Zoom.
I was ashamed of these, but I am not being judged for it. It’s really powerful.”
Not only is porn addiction a growing problem in Australia, but it is also affecting younger individuals, leading to an increase in addicts.
O’Keeffe was part of the team to pioneer the treatment of porn addiction in Australia. She said the average age of people finding porn is at the age of 12, and it can also be children as young as eight.
It’s these highly salient images coming at people. It’s really hard to regulate that, but once they’re taught regulation skills and other behaviours, they can learn to break that cycle.
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