How to stop watching porn and masturbating?
When someone asks this question, it’s not out of casual interest or curiosity. The question often comes from frustration and confusion – there is so much guilt and shame when you try to quit again and again and again, only to go back to porn and masturbation.
Do you know why most people struggle when it comes to how to stop watching porn and masturbating?
Because they are fighting a split battle – they are treating porn and masturbation as two unrelated challenges.
But, in reality, porn is often the trigger, and masturbation is the habituated response. Once your brain links porn and masturbation, one habit will keep leading you to another, and you will be trapped in the vicious cycle.
How to break this nexus – How to quit porn and masturbation?
Shame, guilt, or extreme rules won’t work. You need to first understand how porn and masturbation have hijacked your brain. Then you can try realistic strategies that address the craving and help to rewire your brain.
Why Porn and Masturbation Addictive?
To know how to stop watching porn and masturbating, you must first understand why porn and masturbation can become addictive. Masturbation in itself is a casual habit for many, but when it is combined with porn, the risk of addiction goes way up.
Dopamine is the neurochemical that tells your brain – This is good, let’s do it again! Its natural function is to keep you motivated to seek food or sex for survival.
But what happens in the case of porn and masturbation?
The dopamine release is so high that it acts like a drug. If your brain is repeatedly exposed to porn, then the frequent dopamine exposure can literally rewire your brain, so you are driven to seek porn and sexual pleasure. When your brain is rewired this way, masturbation becomes a way of seeking sexual pleasure and therefore hard to resist.
Signs of Porn and masturbation Addiction
Before we learn how to stop watching porn and masturbating, let us learn to identify if we are addicted to porn and masturbation. Here are the signs –
- You want to stop, but every time you try to quit or even dial down a little, you crave it more.
- You think about porn and masturbation all the time, like at work or when you are just hanging out with friends.
- Think back to when you started – the same porn does not excite you anymore. You keep looking for more new and edgy content.
- Are you using porn as a solution for uncomfortable emotions? Is masturbation your go-to habit for dealing with stress or boredom?
- You are feeling a disconnection with your partner and struggling to get aroused during real-life sex.
5 Practical Ways to Stop Masturbating
1. Identify triggers
When and why do you masturbate? When you answer this question, you understand your triggers. For example, many people feel the urge to masturbate when they see an erotic image on Social media. Or some might use masturbation just to pass the time. If you know your triggers, you can plan to manage them without porn.
2. Limit alone time
When you are alone and just lazing around, you will be tempted to watch porn on your phone and masturbate. When you are busy and have things to do and people to meet, porn becomes less interesting.
3. Resist
When it comes to resisting masturbation, only willpower can not work in the long-term. You need practical strategies. If you follow sleep hygiene – not sleeping alone or not keeping your phone in the bedroom, resisting porn becomes easier. When you feel an urge, peeking or edging can feel tempting. But they will actually increase the cravings. Instead If you ‘urge surf’ i.e. wait for the urge to pass, it will pass in five to fifteen minutes.
4. Focus on real-life intimacy
Partnered sex can become a casualty if you are addicted to masturbation. If you channel all that sexual energy towards your partner, it will make you feel more fulfilled. Even non-sexual intimacy, like date night or just cuddling, is an excellent option.
5. Professional help
A sex counselor or a therapist can help you address your masturbation addiction. People who try how to stop masturbating find that therapy, particularly CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy), is very helpful.
5 Practical Ways to Stop Watching Porn
1. Create Friction
Habits like porn can feel automatic i.e.before you become aware of your urge, you are already browsing porn on your phone. How do you break this? Adding friction between thought and action is the solution. For example, if you install a porn blocker like BlockP, it blocks convenient access to porn. Now your body and brain find the crucial pause where you can make decisions with self-awareness.
2. Online recovery communities
The shame of porn addiction can make you feel isolated. There is so much stigma around porn so, you might feel unsafe to confess about your struggles. If you get support from online support communities, it can make stopping watching porn more sustainable.
3. Social connections
Porn is a habit that thrives in loneliness and secrecy. When you have regular social interactions with family and friends, you will feel less lonely and bored. When you are laughing or building social bonds, your brain releases feel-good chemicals like dopamine and Oxytocin. So, you don’t have to rely on porn to feel good.
4. Replace dopamine
When you try, how to stop masturbating and watching porn, your brain will miss the dopamine hit. You can try taking a cold shower or doing a burst of HIIT exercise to help your body cope. In the long term, regular physical activity and hobbies like reading help you get steady dopamine to keep your moods regulated.
5. Look at relapse as data
You have to reframe your relapse. It is not a moral failure or weakness of will. When people try to stop watching porn, more than 50% report a relapse at some point. Treat it just as a data point that helps you understand your behavior and course correct.
Why Quit Porn and Masturbation?
If you know the ‘why’ behind your decision to quit, you will feel a stronger motivation to follow through on how to stop watching porn and masturbating.
Moderate porn use or masturbation is not an abnormal habit. But, if you are doing it in excess, then it can become harmful to you – physically and emotionally –
- Penis discomfort – Doctors have reported cases where men have developed swelling after masturbating compulsively. If you are masturbating roughly, then it might cause soreness and make the genitals more sensitive.
- Psychological issues – People who have a compulsive porn and masturbation habit feel shame and guilt about their behavior. They are also more likely to face sexual performance issues, relationship conflicts, emotional distress, and anxiety.
How long does it take to Quit Porn and Masturbation
Here is what a rough recovery timeline looks like for how to quit porn and masturbation –
- Withdrawal – First week, i.e., days 1 to 7, is the hardest phase. It is called withdrawal because your brain craves porn very strongly during this period. Get ready to manage mood swings, anxiety, and sleeplessness. Also, you have to double down on your coping strategies.
- Flatline – During weeks 2 to 6, you might notice a strong decline in your sexual desire. People who quit porn often experience low libido and depression, such as flatness during this phase.
- Reboot – When you go porn-free for 90 days or more, you will begin to experience the benefits. This is the phase where your porn-free lifestyle becomes your normal lifestyle. You should focus on replacing porn with exercise, new hobbies, and social connections – this is what makes reboot stick.
After reboot, you enter the maintenance phase. Now you will continue living porn-free; there might be occasional relapses (totally normal), but you can get back on track quickly.
How BlockP can help in quitting porn Addiction
BlockP is the best AI-powered porn blocker to help you if you are addicted to porn and masturbation. Here is how to stop watching porn and masturbating with the help of BlockP –
1. Avoid triggers
BlockP’s AI-powered blocking can detect and block any sexual content. Its network level blocking – so you don’t have to worry about running into porn or nudity on websites, Apps or social media.
2. Block Porn
Instantly block millions of adult websites on all your browsers, and also in private mode.
3. Accountability
You know the moments of temptation where you feel powerless to control your urges? BlockP lets you add an accountability partner, and they will be notified if you try to view porn. So, they can intervene and support you until the urge passes.
4. Password protection
Your accountability partner can set a password for BlockP. Now, you can not uninstall BlockP or change the settings to sneak porn.
5. Community Support
There is a dedicated online community on BlockP to support you.
6. Behavior change
BlockP helps you manage your cravings with meditation prompts and motivational quotes. Focus mode of the App restricts social media and other distracting Apps.
FAQ on How to Stop Masturbating and Watching Porn
1. How many days will it take to stop masturbation?
The time it takes to stop compulsive masturbation differs from person to person. If you are masturbating along with porn, then it might take around 3 months to quit masturbation.
2. How long does it take to stop watching porn?
It generally takes between three weeks and three months to completely stop watching porn.
3. How to stop watching pornography on your device?
The most effective way? Install a porn blocker like BlockP. You won’t be able to open any adult website, and it will also block any explicit content.
