A man who has spent around 17 years battling an addiction to pornography has called for greater debate on its effects on young people.
On Lunchtime Live this afternoon, two doctors warned that the widespread availability of porn was leading to increasing impotence among young men and a rise in the use of Viagra.
Meanwhile, Johnny from Westmeath called in to say he has been battling an addiction to pornography for around 17 years.
Porn addiction
He said his relationship with porn “started off very simple” with magazines and DVDs; however, the introduction of the internet and smartphones “changed everything.”
“I guess about five, six or seven years ago I realised I had a serious issue with pornography,” he said.
“In the sense that you would enclose yourself in your home, in your bedroom, you would turn on a laptop or your phone and you could spend seven or eight hours watching.
“It is not all about an erection and ejaculation, it is about the actual watching of it and seeing what is on these videos and getting excited in that sense. You know, the ejaculation can only last for minutes at the height of it but before that …
“You are going to realise there is something wrong if I am drinking all day from 10am to 6pm, well then I possible could have an alcoholic problem and if I am going to be watching something like that, it is the same.”
"Devastated"
He said his addiction has “devastated” his life and his relationships.
“It has affected every aspect of my life,” he said. “Everything you can think of – emotional, physical, mental; the relationship with yourself which is the most important relationship.
“You don’t have other relationships. You tend to be in them and then out of them again because the pornography comes back stronger.
“You are married to it instead of being married to anything else. It is like a marriage in a way and breaking away from anything like that is quite difficult.”
He said he now has a partner who understands what he is dealing with.
“I am in my 40s and I am still battling, I am still fighting,” he said. “I have gone to counselling but it doesn’t seem to stop. It stops for a while and you go back to it.
“I’m in a relationship and my other half knows about my addiction. We’re working on it and fighting it together.”
Stigma
He said the hardest thing about battling a porn addiction is the stigma.
“One of your listeners there said about stigma and how shameful it is,” he said. “You could be classed as X, Y or Z because you watch pornography or what sort of pornography you are watching.
“We really need to be putting this on a forum and putting it out there for young people. Putting it into the big halls and talking about this because talking helps an alcoholic. Talking helps anyone with any addiction.”
