How Hypnotherapy Can Help with Sex and Porn Addictions

Sex: A very natural act of procreation and pleasure that occurs between consenting adults.

Pornography: The cinematography of sex in a not as natural, very staged way (usually).

There is nothing wrong with watching or even liking a little pornography now and then, but there is still the potential for one to become obsessed with it, which can turn into a life-interfering addiction.

Sex and porn addictions can become a significant issue for many and it’s normal to try many forms of treatment and feel defeated. Thankfully, all is not lost—hypnotherapy might be the answer you are looking for.

Learn the side effects of sex and porn addictions, and how hypnotherapy can help get to the root cause of them.

What are Sex and Porn Addictions?

The addiction happens when you no longer feel in control of your actions when it comes to sexual intercourse. You may find you’re struggling more often to think of anything other than sex, or your sexual desires may start to take over your day-to-day life.

Sex and porn addiction have many of the same symptoms and characteristics as alcohol and drug addiction. For example, you may be feeling as if your thoughts are always focused on sexual things, or you are in a continuous state of arousal.

Someone with sex or porn addiction may watch, listen to, or read pornography during masturbation at a higher than typical rate, while someone who struggles with a sex addiction will seek out other forms of sexual gratification. Everyone’s addiction varies, but this can include sex with an unknown partner or unknown people, paying for sex, or partaking in sexual behaviours that put you or others at risk.

Symptoms and Side Effects of Porn and Sex Addiction

Symptoms of Porn Addiction:

• Shame
• Regret
• Remorse
• Behavioural anxiety
• Feeling helpless and trapped
• Unable to stop looking at porn on the internet
• While at work looking at pornography or pornographic images

Signs of Sex Addiction: 

• Looking for casual sex frequently
• Multiple affairs, even while in a relationship
• Using pornography excessively 
• Unable to stop having sex with the desire to stop 
• Sex as a coping mechanism, distracting from stress, or emotional numbness
• Increasing the number of sexual encounters to achieve the same “high”
• Feel low and guilty after sex
• Obsessively planning sexual encounters-taking a long time to plan
• Miss major events or work due to sexual activities 
• Obsession over sex- frequently fantasizing, thoughts, or focus on past experiences that take over your energy and time, affects ability to concentrate on life
• Risky sexual behaviour without thought of consequence- affairs, unsafe sex, paying for sex or webcam, or phone sex, missing work to have sex
• Continuously doing things that you know harm yourself or others (emotionally, physically, or sexually) after concern has been expressed over your behaviour
• Increased need to seek out sexual fantasies or gratification, despite any negative repercussions 

Sex addiction can lead towards:

• Losing or straining friendships or romantic relationships
• Having trouble creating or maintaining relationships
• Increase in the risk of STDs/STIs
• Negative impact on career or complete loss of your job
• Develop compulsive behaviours or addictions
• Loss of self-worth and confidence
• Feeling shame, guilt, self-loathing, or self-hatred

Porn addiction can lead towards:

• Increased isolation
• Twisted perceptions of sexuality
• Negative feelings about self and relationships
• Neglect family, friends, and work
• Relationship trust issues
• Losing interest in “normal” sexual activities
• Cannot become aroused without pornography
• Depression 

Engaging in sexual activity that puts yourself or someone else at risk, or noticing your sex life has a poor impact on yours or someone else’s personal life—that is when you should seek out professional help.

Benefits of Masturbation without Pornography

To allow yourself to use your imagination opens you up for creativity and autonomy that is not present during pornography watching. You can create your own scenarios and fantasies, making your experience personalized and intimate based on your own distinct sexual preferences.

By using your own imagination, you can promote self-acceptance and body positivity, while pornography tends to portray unrealistic and limited standards of beauty, leading to feelings of unsatisfactoriness or discomfort with your own body.

Benefits of masturbation without pornography:

• Stress-relief: masturbation to porn leads to more stress rather than relieving it, it can also cause relationship issues, which we know are stressful. 
• Better Sleep: since masturbation takes energy, it will raise your heart rate, speed up your breathing, release muscle tension, and increase blood flow to your genitals, which leads to a better quality of sleep. 
• Better Mood: When having a difficult day, feeling ill, depressed, lonely, bored, or “sexually pent-up,” masturbation can help your mood by triggering endorphins, thereby releasing some stress. 
• Higher Libido or Sex Drive: masturbation can boost your libido or sex drive, causing you to want more sexual activity, sparking the desire for sex with your real-life partners. 
• Closer Relationship Romantically: Masturbation with a partner or solo can make a better relationship. Alone can help you become aroused before having sex with your partner, and together, mutual masturbation, can help you both “get in the mood” for sex. It can help couples connect more deeply and emotionally. 
• Reduce Depression: Masturbation can promote the release of serotonin (“happy hormone”), dopamine, and endorphins, responsible for improving and balancing mood, helping you to sleep, and helping you feel better.

Hypnotherapy for Sex and Porn Addictions

As with any addiction, for hypnotherapy to be an effective treatment, you must first be consciously aware and able to accept you have a problem, and be willing and wanting to make a change.

Hypnotherapy focuses on possible triggers and allows you to subconsciously address the addiction itself, with your hypnotherapist asking you to think about specific situations that you think are a trigger for your addiction. 

By delving into your subconscious mind, where your automated behaviours are stored (and replaced), hypnotherapy can find the underlying thoughts and beliefs that are driving the unwanted behaviour in you, and then through suggestion enable you to choose different, healthier thoughts and emotions that revolve around sex. 

If you feel you are ready to try hypnotherapy and change your life free from a sex or porn addiction, with a healthier approach to the subject, contact me today. You can also book a free consultation here.

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