Pornography
A guy's story of addiction
"I saw my first pornographic pictures when I was twelve. My cousin and I were at my uncle’s house, when I found his “stash” in the shed. For many days, I spent long hours in there.
If you’re a guy, then you’ve probably seen pornography. Maybe a lot of it. You probably like it. I certainly did. Before long I was trading it, stealing it and even selling it at school.
In my case, porn began to control my life. I grew older, married and thought I’d left it behind me. But my need for porn kept popping up and continued to get worse. It began to ruin my marriage, my business, everything. Most of all, it was destroying how I felt about myself. I just couldn’t stop using it, I was addicted. I would tell myself, “I’ll never do it again,” only to find myself self using porn again and again. I felt helpless.
Not everyone who sees porn will become addicted. Some will just come away with toxic ideas about women, sex, marriage, and children. Porn isn’t the only ingredient of this addiction. Usually there is some kind of emotional opening that allows the addiction to really grab hold.
It’s like making a cake. Flour is only one ingredient, but without it there isn’t going to be a cake. Sex addiction has several ingredients, but one of the major ones is pornography. Some of you will become addicted like I did. The porn companies don’t mind at all if you become completely addicted to their product. It’s great for business."1
Gene McConnell
Authentic Relationships International
- This is an excerpt of an article written by Gene McConnell. For more information, visit Authentic Relationships International at http://www.authenticrelationships.com.
The information on this website is for general educational purposes and is not intended to be a substitute for professional counseling. If your situation is an emergency, please call 911.