Pornography and social media is wearing me down

I’m not depressed but I just feel low when I’m on my own. That leads to either spending ages on social media or watching pornography. I always try set goals or targets to stop but it always falls through. I’m starting to feel like I’m in a cycle I’m trapped in and I can’t get out. It’s wearing my mental health down slowly but surely.

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Good idea @Chardonnay I’ll try that out!

Thank you for sharing. Have you tried replacing old/bad habits with healthy ones? Or if a computer/laptop is tempting you, get away from it, go outside more maybe. Just ideas. Hope it helps. Take care.

Sometimes it’s healthy to just step back. Social media for me all by itself can be so overwhelming on me mentally.

Disconnecting really is so healthy. Stepping back from it. Direct your focus on something else. Do you enjoy music? Movies? Reading? Are there things that you enjoy going out and doing? Maybe there is something you can focus your time on to distract.

Blogging and journaling can also be a really healthy way to release your thoughts and feelings.

I don’t have all of the answers but with a little effort we can come through our struggles and addictions as well as break away from what tears us down.

Can you call someone or message someone when you are feeling the urge? That may be a good idea.

Anyway. I hope you find a way to feel better friend. We care for you

Thanks for the ideas @BlackWulf777 , I will seriously think about these. They really help me.

@anon17277947 woah… thank you so much for caring, it really has touched my heart. Everything you said there makes so much sense, I’ll take it all into account. I can’t thank you enough :pray:t3:

First I want to say welcome to the community, and I’m so glad you are here and part of this community. I want to remind you that you are loved and welcomed here despite whatever you are going through, and you are never alone, and specifically in this struggle you are not alone!

There’s two things I want to have you look at:

^^ These two things from Nate, one of the staff members here at heart support is what started me on my journey of healing and freedom from my addiction to pornography (that I’ve struggled with for going on three years now). So not only is this a reminder that you are not alone in your struggles, but also that we see you, and people in this heart support family struggle with this as well.

I feel like I’m stealing Nate’s thunder here, but a lot of the advice I’m giving you is the same advice he gave me. So here it goes, first you need to stop focusing on days clean from this and start desiring freedom. What this doesn’t mean is that you should continue to watch porn until you’re free from it, rather the desire for freedom from this addiction is what we should want and long for. “Recovery is a 2-5 year process with a miracle from God everyday.” I’ve heard this a million times and it’s so true, recovery is a process and is not going to happen overnight.

The next thing that’s been really helpful for me is journaling, I’m pretty sure this model came from the 12-Steps Program but I may be wrong. But most of the time when relapse occurs (with any addiction we go through these things), and it’s called the FASTER Scale

F- Forgetting Priorities
A- Anxiety
S- Speeding Up
T- Ticked Off
E- Exhausted
R- Relapse

So in my time journaling I go through these things, and I journal these everyday whether I relapse or not. And see what got me to relapse, and if I don’t relapse what stopped me from relapsing that day. I hope that this is an encouragement to you. And I just want to remind you that you are not alone! I want to leave you with one of my favorite verses, and I hope that it encourages you!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Hold Fast, You’re Worth It,
Monkey

p.s.- I encourage you to read this amazing blog that Ben Sledge (the executive director of Heart Support) wrote about pornography: Generation Porn - God Loves Sex and Free People - Benjamin Sledge

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I have no words. This touches me in so many ways. I never knew how much someone who has never met me could care. everything you said ( and Nate’s) i will really try and do.Thank you so much, I’m sorry I cant say more, I’m just lost for words. God bless, you’ve helped more than you know.

All of these ideas sounds great, i just need to implement what everyone is saying and really over time make a positive change.

try one or two at first, then another after a few weeks and see the improvement…