How to Quit Porn For Good in 5 Simple Steps

Although some guys might not admit it, all of us want to know how to quit porn. We intuitively understand that it’s not healthy for us. Online porn is one of the worst things to come out of the digital age. While our fathers and grandfathers were sneaking looks at nudie magazines, today’s generation of young men can watch millions of explicit videos at the push of a few buttons. 

Unrestricted porn access has led to countless debilitating addictions, ruined relationships and weak, emasculated men. If you’re struggling with a porn addiction, we’ll show you how to quit porn for good in just five steps. It won’t be easy, but it will be simple.

Negative Effects of Watching Porn

The first step in quitting any addiction is acknowledging the addiction itself. Porn isn’t a substance that you consume like drugs or alcohol, but it can still cause a behavioral addiction.

Watching porn causes a spike in dopamine, which humans desire more than any other form of inebriation. If you watch porn frequently enough, your body will develop a tolerance for the dopamine and soon become dependent on porn to maintain its high dopamine levels.

We might get a brief sense of pleasure from watching porn, but we become desensitized to other life experiences as a result. Our hobbies aren’t as enjoyable and our relationships fall apart as the addiction takes over. Our career ambitions disappear, all because they don’t compare to the brief euphoria we get from watching sexually explicit videos.

In other words, watching porn can ruin your life. Don’t just take our word for it. You can find countless tragic porn addiction stories from a diverse range of people. Although it primarily affects young men, many women also suffer from chronic porn usage. It’s a huge contributing factor to the decline of marriage and stable families in the Western world.

Now that you appreciate the gravity of the situation, you can finally take swift and deliberate steps to beat your addiction. Let’s talk about how to quit porn in five simple steps.

1. Find Your “Why”

First, you need to find your reasons for quitting pornography — your “why”. Loser deadbeats who spend all day online have no reason to quit. They have no greater aspirations, but YOU do. You want to have a successful career and settle down with someone you love. Porn is one of the obstacles preventing you from reaching these milestones. 

Which do you care about more – your long-term goals, or a fleeting pleasurable experience from watching other people have sex? When you look at pornography from this perspective, it’s much easier to quit. Your “why” is more important than your next fap session. Stop being a slave of the moment and think about your future self. 

2. Keep Yourself Occupied

Addiction recovery is a crisis period that often includes lots of downtime. After all, you wouldn’t have developed a porn addiction if you didn’t have enough free time to regularly watch it. These parts of the day will be the most difficult. You need to occupy yourself with other things to prevent your mind from succumbing to the temptation.

The best way to stifle the “urge” is to engage in other forms of physical activity. Go for a walk, do some push-ups, clean your room – ANYTHING to expend your pent-up energy and take your mind off of porn. You should also start a mentally stimulating hobby, such as journaling or playing puzzle games. There are plenty of better ways to spend your time than watching porn.

3. Use Site Blockers

If you’re still struggling to control your urges, you need to cut yourself off from porn websites. Use parental controls and site blocking software on your web browser. They take your personal choice out of the equation and force you to stop watching porn. Here are some free site blockers we recommend:

• Microsoft Family Safety
• SafeSurfer
• BlockSmart
• BlockerX
• Norton Family

iPhones and Androids also have content blocking features that you should take advantage of. Learning how to quit porn is almost impossible when you’re surrounded by screens all day, so you need to restrict what the screens can show you.

4. Build a Support System

Nobody beats an addiction on their own. They have a support system – family, friends and colleagues who help them overcome the addictive substance or behavior. In the case of pornography, you should have no issue finding a support group. You might feel embarrassed to talk about your porn habit, but almost everyone can empathize with your suffering. Don’t be afraid to open up.

If you want to maintain anonymity, you can always join online forums like Reddit’s NoFap and other social media communities. Millions of people are in the same exact position as you. They want to quit porn more than anything in the world, but they can’t do it alone. You can get help with your recovery and help other people recover in the process.

5. Embrace the Suck

Remember, these steps might be simple, but they won’t be easy. Beating your porn addiction will require lots of effort, especially in the first two weeks when your dopamine tolerance is still high. It will take time for your mind and body to adjust to a life without porn. You need to welcome this rough adjustment period with open arms – or in other words, embrace the suck.

If you’re feeling anxious without porn, that’s a good thing. It means you’re getting stronger. If you tolerate the withdrawal symptoms long enough, they’ll disappear altogether and you’ll be back to your normal self. Every addict must pass this crucial rehabilitation stage, no matter what substance or behavior they’re addicted to. 

Get Your Life Back

Porn has been a plague on your life for too long. It has ruined your confidence and charisma. It has turned you into a shell of your former self. It has made you a slave to your worst desires. These five steps won’t be easy, but they will help you learn how to quit porn for good and get your life back.