When you’re in porn addiction recovery, you can easily encounter porn triggers in your daily life that drive you to watch more porn, chronically masturbate, or engage in some other compulsive sexual behavior. That’s why overcoming porn addiction, maintaining recovery, and avoiding porn relapse can be so difficult. In fact, managing triggers is one of the biggest challenges during recovery, shares Loma Linda University.
When you think about it, your addiction triggers may be all around you. But do you know what they look like? Let’s explore porn addiction triggers and how you can learn to keep them at bay.
What are Porn Addiction Triggers?
Simply put, porn addiction triggers are whatever reminds you of your porn usage and addiction. They could be anything, from certain places or situations to specific people or even feelings and memories. Whether they’re external or internal, these porn triggers activate your desire to look at porn:
External Porn Triggers
You may already know your external porn triggers, as they easily stand out. Perhaps it’s the restaurant or coffee shop where you had a bad breakup, leading to unpleasant memories. It could be the strip club you drive by on your way to home. Or certain people you follow on Instagram. Maybe it’s a buddy you know who watches porn, too. Here are some typical external porn addiction triggers you may run into on the regular:
- Risque commercials or advertisements
- Sensual magazines, movies, or TV shows
- Social media platforms or websites
- Places that remind you of stressful or difficult memories
- People who generate stress or remind you of difficult memories
- People who encourage your porn use
- Strip clubs, adult-themed stores, or businesses that sell pornography
Internal Porn Triggers
Unlike external addiction triggers that you physically encounter, internal porn addiction triggers arise from your own thoughts, memories, and emotions. As such, they may be more difficult to notice as they’re happening, as well as harder to avoid. One of the common porn addiction symptoms is using porn to cope with stress or other negative feelings. So, in this case, stress, boredom, anger, loneliness, depression, embarrassment or another negative feeling may be considered an internal porn trigger, as it drives you to seek out porn in response.
Often however, porn addiction is rooted in past trauma that continues to influence your life. This trauma may be from a difficult relationship, or it may go farther back as ACES trauma from childhood. In many ways, addictions are started due to poor coping mechanisms for unresolved trauma. So if a traumatic memory arises—even repressed childhood trauma—the emotions stirred up can become porn triggers themselves. This is why navigating the holidays in recovery can often be a great challenge, for example.
Tips for Fending Off Porn Triggers in Recovery
It’s one thing to recognize your porn addiction triggers in the moment. But it’s another to know how to keep yourself from succumbing to them. If you want to achieve long-term recovery and avoid porn relapse, you need to learn how to manage your porn triggers. Here are a few strategies that can help you stay the course the next time you encounter a trigger (and yes, you will encounter them again):
Understand Your Signals
Do you know what signs your body gives off when you’re getting triggered? By understanding your body’s signals, you can make adjustments to your situation before your trigger leads you to do something you’ll regret later. These signals may include muscle tension, chest tightness, or heightened heart rate, for example. Alternately, you may become anxious, detached, or numb as your body’s fight flight freeze fawn response kicks in.
Use Grounding Techniques
Finding ways to cope with porn addiction triggers is a learned response. Instead of seeking out porn, you can apply grounding techniques to help you regulate any negative, triggering emotions that arise. The following tools can help you snap out of your thought patterns or desires to mask or numb your feelings:
- Applying breathwork practices to make your anxious thoughts go away
- Participating in spontaneous exercise or physical activity (such as doing situps, for example) to bring you back into the present moment
- Clutching ice cubes or running your face through cold water to calm your heart rate and nervousness
- Taking note of your five senses in the moment to prevent further spiraling
Connect With Others
The right people can really make a difference in the face of addiction triggers. When you’re triggered, calling on a close friend, family member, or accountability mentor can help you get out of your own head. Plus, opening up to people who care about your sobriety will help you receive the support and encouragement you need along your recovery journey.
Change Your Lifestyle
Let’s face it. If you want to achieve long-term recovery, you need to uproot any external addiction triggers from your life. This may require major lifestyle changes. Perhaps you need to avoid certain forms of media when you’re tired, bored, or alone. Maybe you need to install a porn blocker on your devices if you haven’t already. You may also need to end certain relationships or stop specific activities if they’re triggering.
Achieve Long-Term Sobriety With Integrative Life Center
By recognizing your porn triggers and applying the management techniques above, you’re in a better position to maintain your goals of long-term sobriety. And if you need help along your recovery journey, we’re here for you at Integrative Life Center. We offer alumni and aftercare programming to give you the support, resources, and ongoing therapy you need to stay focused on your recovery. And if you’re just getting started with your recovery, our porn addiction treatment program can help you finally break free from porn’s grip. To learn more about our programs, contact our team now.
The post Navigating Porn Triggers in Recovery appeared first on Integrative Life Center.
source https://integrativelifecenter.com/recovery/navigating-porn-triggers-in-recovery/
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