30 Oct Identifying Your Porn Addiction Triggers & What to Do About Them
Triggers are essentially the catalyst for your addiction. They are what prompts you to act on your urges and what keeps you in trapped in the cycle of addiction, so for those struggling with porn addiction, it’s important to make yourself aware of your triggers. Once you identify your triggers, it becomes easier to avoid them and manage your addiction.
When it comes to sexual addictions, including pornography addiction, there are two main types of triggers; internal and external.
Internal triggers are those feelings of emotional discomfort we all experience from time to time such as depression, loneliness, stress, shame, boredom, guilt, anger or any other type of negative emotion. Something as simple as a disagreement with a partner or work colleague can be a trigger that can quickly send you right back into the addiction cycle.
External triggers include physical, audio and visual stimuli typically involving people, places, things and/or events. For example, this could be seeing a picture of a woman in lingerie or hearing a conversation about sex. Keep in mind, triggers are individual to a person and some addicts experience both internal and external triggers at the same time.
Once you have identified what your specific triggers are, you can begin to take steps towards recovery and avoid putting yourself in situations that perpetuate your addiction. This may include things like avoiding arguments, decreasing your stress levels, keeping yourself busy and minimising your exposure to erotic stimuli.
If you need help overcoming your porn addiction, our qualified therapist can work with you to manage your triggers and help you regain a normal, healthy life.
If you would like to speak with our experts to find out how we can help, contact us today.