I’ve quit my p*rn addiction for like 20 plus days now but I can’t seem to get rid of the bad habit of watching YouTube videos and YouTube shorts. I don’t plan on wasting hours but I get zoned in and by the time I look up the day’s over. Any advice?
2 Likes
Media addictions, whether porn or other media (both of which I’ve had problems with), in my experience are more about attention and fixation. The media is a distraction, an escape; it’s a way to avoid the ups and downs of life.
I have combined several strategies in my approach:
- sex addiction recovery work: attendance at a sex addiction recovery clinic (in my early recovery), and attendance (and doing the steps) at Sexaholics Anonymous (which continues, and which is long term)
- healthy media boundaries / expectations: (A) no sex media or sexualized media (if it’s using sexualized bodies in its advertising that’s a red flag; I don’t watch it); if I am feeling some type of vulnerability I call my sponsor or another group participant; and (B) for non-sexualized media (for example, I watch a lot of cartoons - it’s inane I know but it’s not a problem for me - while I’m cooking or cleaning, doing the boring activities), I give myself a free pass; I often watch, sometimes I don’t; but in my case watching them is always when I’m doing some type of constructive activity
- introducing alternate media: I have started listening to a lot of audiobooks, self-help, history, culture; I have also started watching more documentaries and science / nature shows (for example, I just finished a science show about the planet Jupiter; I’ve been watching it daily for the last week as I eat breakfast)
- developing my social life: I have made friends (at my recovery groups, and also at school and now work), and I text or call them for social time, we get coffee, we go for walks in the park; the social time feeds my heart in a way that videos don’t
Experiment, you’ll find a mix that works for you. Keep us posted!
6 Likes
I needed this.