“I haven’t watched porn in two months, and I’m not really experiencing any benefits. Seems like there’s not any point in quitting.”
One guy’s honest question on the porn-free subreddit sparked a good bit of back and forth conversation. Several admitted to being terribly bored without porn, especially late at night.
Truth be told, there’s a good reason you’re bored while weaning off of porn. Porn has become a “crutch” for your brain. If this is your current experience, we know that your life can greatly improve without porn. But don’t just take our word for it!
Table of Contents
- Short-term psychological and emotional benefits of quitting porn
- What happens when you stop watching porn: top 10 benefits of quitting porn
- Long-term benefits of quitting porn
- How to handle cravings or withdrawal from porn
- What to do if you slip up – handling a porn relapse successfully
- 3 success tips from people now enjoying the benefits of quitting porn
- FAQs about quitting porn
Short-term psychological and emotional benefits of quitting porn
With time and patience, many former porn addicts note improved long-term mental and emotional health. An online forum with 1.2 million members calls this process brain and body “rebooting”.
We culled responses from different public online porn recovery communities and advocates. There’s good news! You can also begin experiencing the benefits of no porn in a relatively short time.
Wonder what you can expect?
Improved mental clarity
Many note their brain fog lifting after quitting porn. Others say, “I feel happier – like I’m getting my life back.”
Some say that their business or workplace performance improves noticeably.
Increased self-esteem
Do you have trouble looking someone in the eye or enjoying a conversation without your mind wandering into a dark sexual abyss?
One man says he’s thrilled to “be able to look girls in the eye again.”
“I got my self-respect back!” says Bruce,
as a benefit of “no porn for two years and counting.”
Reduced anxiety
Porn-induced anxiety comes in at least a few different forms. Some experience body comparison anxiety or sexual performance anxiety.
For others, porn use creates stress and anxiety in their relationships. For example, do you fear getting caught again and having another D-day with your spouse or partner?
An anonymous Reddit user says his anxiety diminished by half since he quit porn. So, it’s reasonable that you’ll experience way less anxiety by staying away from porn.
What happens when you stop watching porn: top 10 benefits of quitting porn
While it often takes time, people from all backgrounds and life experiences talk about what happens when you stop watching porn.
1. Experience freedom – a most celebrated benefit of quitting porn!
This is perhaps the GOAT: “greatest of all time” top-rated benefit of quitting porn.
“I’ve never felt so free!” says one man inside this subreddit thread called “talk about the benefits of stop watching porn.”
Our accountability app users often experience and celebrate feelings of profound freedom as a top benefit of quitting porn.
2. Gain inner peace and spiritual restoration.
Many who struggle with porn feel distant from God. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me… Restore to me the joy of your salvation,” is a prayer for spiritual wholeness. You may gain hope and peace with God like repentant King David did.
3. Reap financial benefits plus job stability by quitting porn.
Millennials, known for outspending other generations, are also the biggest spenders on porn. Some even get fired for watching porn on the job. Webroot reports that businesses lost a staggering 16.9 billion dollars of productivity in the workplace in the U.S. alone. Imagine the money saved, as well as job advancement possibilities simply as a side benefit of quitting porn.
4. Enjoy mental health benefits when you quit porn.
Depression often lifts when someone pursues a porn-free life.
“I found a reason to live again. I no longer wanted to rid myself of the world’s struggles, and instead face them head on.” – Cole
5. Stop supporting the abusive porn industry.
Feel good about ditching porn sites who earn big bucks selling videos of sex-trafficked minors and have repeatedly failed to take down proven rape videos. Laila Mickelwait documents this in her recent book Takedown.
Or, listen to Jewell Baraka, a sex-trafficking survivor, share her haunting story in Coming of Age on a Porn Set. Her story is one of many who were trafficked in the porn industry.
7. Improve your energy.
In one recent quantitative study, those abstaining from pornography found “energizing and performance-enhancing potentials in a non-clinical group of single male subjects.” Many feel motivated to pursue physical fitness – a success strategy for quitting porn.
8. Become a high-value man that women want to date.
Increasing numbers of women have a “zero-porn” requirement on their dating checklist. TikTok creator @ThatsNotLove encourages women to commit to men (like you, quite possibly) who pursue a porn-free life.
9. Increase your chances of a happy marriage.
“Use of pornography by one partner leads the couple to have far less sex and ultimately reduces relationship satisfaction…We are led to unconditionally conclude that for many reasons, pornography poses a serious threat to couple intimacy and relationship harmony.”
– Drs. John and Julie Gottman, clinical psychologists, The Gottman Institute
10. Leave the world a better place.
A huge benefit of quitting porn is regaining time and energy lost watching porn. Begin investing this in your family, friends, and community.
Side note: quitting porn also benefits our environment by reducing porn’s massive carbon footprint.
Long-term benefits of quitting porn
We cannot emphasize this enough: no pain, no gain. Over the past 10 years, our valued porn fighters report huge long-term benefits as a result of quitting porn. For some, becoming accountable online has literally saved their marriages.
Stronger relationships
Ken Anderson credits two key relationship benefits to quitting porn. His male friendships grew due to his willingness to take responsibility. Plus, his relationship with his future wife was greatly enhanced as a result of his hard work.
“Quitting porn helped my marriage and made me a better husband, because it humbled me deeply.
Humility means my being okay with my wife being imperfect and struggling in her own areas.
If it wasn’t for this forced class in humility, I am confident that I would have been a huge jerk to my wife when she struggled.“
Improved focus and better productivity with no porn in your life
Want to defeat “bed-rot” and brain fog? Tap into the ability to focus and reach for new goals?
One young man reports his renewed zest for life after defeating a porn addiction: “I have been able to spend more time reading and learning new things,” while another says, “My ambition to do hard things and go to college returned.”
In a subreddit thread titled, “I feel alive for the first time in almost 30 years : r/NoFap (reddit.com)” this anonymous post exudes joy!
“I am bursting with energy that I haven’t experienced before and I feel like I can actually focus on tasks that I need to complete in my daily life without becoming distracted.”
Personal growth: become who you were meant to be
Become someone who brings life and light to this world.
After 13 years of self-proclaimed pornography abuse, Dr. Andrew Bauman, now a husband, dad, therapist and author, pursued radical change.
Today he helps other men face and overcome what he identifies as “a pornographic style of relating”. What is the first step?
“We must take full responsibility for our poor behavior and fully own what we have done and learn to live differently, becoming men who bring life rather than further heartache.“
– How Not to Be An A**: Essays on Becoming a Good, Safe Man
How to handle cravings or withdrawal from porn
Whenever you get rid of something that overdoses your brain’s pleasure receptors, you shouldn’t expect this process to be easy. Many experience some challenging side effects very similar to other addiction withdrawal symptoms
Common porn addiction withdrawal symptoms – what to expect mentally and physically
Potential mental symptoms:
- Anxiety
- Mood swings
- Irritability
- Agitation
Potential physical symptoms:
- Insomnia
- Cravings for porn
- Flatlining/loss of libido lasting a few months
- Headaches
- Physical aches and pains
- Appetite changes
Helpful porn withdrawal coping strategies
Fully commit to the process! Like everything else that’s worthwhile in life, success takes planning and effort.
- Make a list of physical activities you can enjoy to help offset dopamine withdrawal. (Check out our awesome list here.) Pick your favorite “natural highs” and put them on your calendar.
- Brainstorm and formulate a porn recovery plan with your accountability partner(s) and spouse.
- Join a supportive porn recovery *community and exchange ideas or ask for help there.
- Include good nutrition (with foods you actually enjoy) and exercise as a vital part of your porn recovery process.
- Complete our 30 day online *porn recovery course for a mindset reboot.
(*Accountability, community, and porn recovery course bundled here.)
Get accountability tools to quit porn
Be realistic about all the ways online porn sneaks into your daily life. For most people, their smartphone will be the easiest way to slip up. That’s where installing an accountability app on all of your devices creates a powerful boundary.
Accountability apps that share all of your online activity with a trusted person are 95% effective at greatly reducing porn use.
Some have combined our porn blocker app with our accountability app for a one-two punch against temptation.
What to do if you slip up - handling a porn relapse successfully
The very first thing you should do is be kind and honest with yourself. “In the process of quitting porn, I learned that beating myself up didn’t help. In fact, it made things worse.” ~ Ken Anderson
Next, reach out to your accountability partner and tell them what happened. We’ve made this super easy by including a “help” button inside our accountability app.
Finally, identify what triggered your relapse. Your accountability partner should help you do this. Remind yourself that “failing forward” means you’re gaining the ability to learn and grow from your mistakes.
3 success tips from people now enjoying the benefits of quitting porn
Over the years many customers have shared what has worked for them on their porn recovery journeys. (Click on their names to read the fuller version of their porn recovery success stories.)
Ask for help.
“To all those who are worried about starting the fight, who are worried about being too far gone, or who have doubts about your available support, I plead with you to ask for help.
It will be difficult, but please do not give up or be afraid.” ~ Cole
Be accountable.
Today’s porn is dangerously available to everyone who uses the internet as Rachael discovered in her early teens when she unintentionally got hooked on porn.
To quit porn, Rachael purposefully chose the Ever Accountable app to share all her online activity with an accountability partner. She didn’t believe that simply setting goals and tracking porn-free streaks would help her.
“Actually joining the app made me stop watching porn, because I didn’t want anyone to know what it was that I was watching.
This app – what’s great about it – is that these kinds of things (porn use) thrive in dark places. So when you know somebody else is watching, you’re less likely to watch porn.” – Rachael
You can try online accountability free for 14 days and start noticing a difference right away. In fact, 95% report significantly less porn use in the first 30 days of using Ever Accountable!
3. Choose counseling and community.
“And so I sought out counseling. I started to really get to the roots of why I was addicted, and why I was acting in certain ways.” – Brad
“Community isn’t just a good idea.
Rather we are psychologically designed for it all the way down
to the most essential and deep parts of our brains.
With connections we feel good, are playful, and thrive.
Without connection, we feel anxious, depressed,
and worst case scenarios, suicidal.”
~ Steven Luff, author of Faith and Sex
FAQs about quitting porn
- Expect that it won’t be an easy process, but you can see positive progress right away with online accountability.
- Dig deep and find mental courage not to quit! Fully commit to the process.
- Experiencing a relapse is normal, but you will find success by evaluating and learning from your mistakes.
- Accountability software and a faithful accountability partner are proven factors for success.
- Joining a porn recovery community is vital, especially if you’ve struggled for a while.
- Working through your life story with a counselor or therapist is often necessary to experience lasting change.
Hands down, one of the best benefits of quitting porn is freedom. Imagine a life free from porn’s violent, dark, and unhealthy influence on your mind and body!
Our accountability app users and online porn recovery forums repeat this theme over and over again. If others can succeed, you can too.
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