A Sex Washout For A Healthier Sex Life
Is A Sex Washout Really Necessary?
Porn addiction can be all-consuming and affect nearly all aspects of life. One big aspect it affects is one’s sexuality. When consuming pornography, views on sex and what it should look like are often distorted. This is due to the higher and higher stimulation needed to get off when porn is consumed frequently. Each time someone goes back to the screen, more and more will be needed to become satisfied. This will lead to viewing more violent, aggressive, and inappropriate content.
What Does This Have To Do With Sex?
When engaging in sex, porn addiction can negatively affect the experience of an addict and their partner. When attempting to quit porn, a person’s sexuality is going to go through a lot of changes. For this reason, considering a break from sex may aid in the recovery process.
This will allow the brain to focus on sorting through feelings of discomfort. In a porn addiction, watching porn is not about sex, it’s about mood regulation which will lead to people also using sex for mood regulation and self-soothing. Taking a break from sex will allow time to find healthy ways to deal with these emotions. If not, having sex will often lead to discomfort afterward.
90 Day Sex Washout
If deciding to implement a sex washout period, the recommended time for this is 90 days. During this time, one should learn how to:
- Work through feelings of stress and anxiety in healthy ways
- Learn about sexuality in a healthy way without porn
- Find ways to connect with a partner without sex
When quitting porn, and focusing on improving emotions and reactions to those emotions, sex won’t be used to self-soothe. It will be used to build a connection with a partner, it will be fun again, and will be a way to build healthy sexuality.
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