I keep watching p*rn, I want to stop but it’s really hard. I just hate myself right after. I hate it so much. Has anyone here struggled with this and has found a way to stop?

Hey man. We've spoken before under a post I've made. As someone who also struggled with porn in the past but is now free from it for 7 months now, I have tips to share with you. First things first: You've already established that you wish to stop watching porn and you hate that it affects you this much. You especially hate the clarity you get after watching it. Basically you're admitting that it's a compulsion you're using to cope with something. I want to tell you that it isn't helping you. This will only make any kind of symptoms you've got with whatever you're going through worse and worse. If you think about it, porn is there to mostly cope for something. It was definitely like this for me when I was much younger. 13-18 at least. It even started out that way because I used it to get away with anything I didn't want to deal with. It was an escape method, but when you finish with it, everything comes back full force and you just feel a lot worse. It's a bad cycle that you don't have to continue doing. At the same time, you're not a bad person for struggling with this. Not at all. The first step in trying to stop is accepting you have an addiction to it, for you can't stop watching it. Whether in an addictive or compulsion fashion, you wish to stop. Now let's get to ways you can try and stop this cycle from continuing. There are plenty of ways. One way is exercising. All of that energy you're using to watch porn and engage with it can be used for something else. Something more meaningful and worthwhile for your overall well being. Something you genuinely enjoy. Exercise helps the body feel good overall. Another option is to not feel shame. This is a very tough one. You say you hate yourself right after and you might feel lots of guilt after being done with it. When trying to stop, you end up relapsing. That's all going to happen and it's all inevitable because that's all part of breaking out of a cycle you're so used to. You're currently dependant on porn and you don't have to be. The active choice to abstain from it will slowly but surely change how you function. Your mind will hate you for it, but after a while, it will drop the subject of it altogether. Another tip that can help is not to keep it to yourself. Making s post about this is a great step becaue there are several people with OCD, including myself who are or have struggled with a bad addiction with porn. It's a terrible combination and no one should have to go through with it. You don't have to do this alone, so getting a support group will absolutely help. Reducing phone use overall can benefit you quite well. Whether it'd be porn blockers, no social media, or anything that triggers you. Understanding your triggers is huge in trying to recover from this. Take time to elaborate on what triggers you and strengthens the urge to want to watch that content. Any way you know of to get to porn, block it. It can help stop urges. If masturbation plays a role in watching porn, maybe try masturbation without porn. This is not as recommended as the other tips but can be provided if it means you know you'll relapse. When you do, simply refrain from watching porn and see the experience without pixels on a screen. Porn is not only not needed, but the use of imagination will leave you better off in comparison. Porn is a lot more detrimental for your mental health because your brain treats porn as sex with multiple partners. It thinks you are getting all of this control and power with surfing through videos, escalating, and selecting what content you want to see when it comes to what works for you. My last two tips would be to just be patient, and show compassion when going through something like this. Change if very difficult, but it can be done. It will take a while until you start noticing the benefits of change though. If it helps, you can track your progress to see how many days or months you have gone without engaging in the very thing you want to break free from. I do wish you all the best in this man. You deserve a lot more than just porn. That goes for everyone that struggle with it. I hope this helps you.

Have you tried sex toys? They can help to wean off by taking care of the physical stuff while you can think of a fantasy in your head. For me, I recenter myself and think about my bf or girls (I’m bi) and I let myself fanticize. I find it to be more satisfying because it’s more personal, and it’s more of a “reality” than porn. I think it’s perfectly fine to watch porn sometimes, it’s just when it becomes an everyday/multiple times a day thing that it can become more of a worry