Porn and masturbation, are they the same battle? How can we wage this war? Here’s a little piece on the subject, submitted by Xavier.

Pornography and masturbation both function on the same principle as drugs. You’re obliged, little by little, to increase the strength of the doses in order to obtain the same effect as the previous consumption. And so, an addiction takes hold. We try to “ease” our conscience by telling ourselves we’re just responding to a natural urge, and that there’s nothing wrong with that.

It’s important to think about the origin of these sexual urges, in order to master them, and if we want to break out of being enslaved by them. Becoming aware that it’s a sin (or a misguided distraction, if you prefer, sin being something which cuts us off from the connection with God’s love), and even going to confession (if you’re baptised), is a great first step, but there’s a good chance it won’t be enough. The urges remain strong and will probably cause you to fall again in the face of temptation.

It is interesting to know that the sexual urge – which in the first place is a good thing because it was created by God – does not only have “sexual” origins, linked to needs or desires. It can also be generated by a disruption or imbalance in your life, intentional or unintentional. Becoming aware of this enables you to stop blaming yourself and help you to break free. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of some life disruptions: stress, frustration, tiredness, boredom, lack of self-confidence, and poor personal hygiene. Poor personal hygiene includes excessive consumption of fatty meats, alcohol, sweet treats which “excite” the body, as well as not taking care of your physicality, meaning not doing any sport or not taking the time to relax your body (for example, having a nice bath or massage).

In brief, you need a “healthy spirit in a healthy body”, or even better “the Holy Spirit in a holy body”. Making the decision to pray more and/or go to confession must be reinforced by practicing a sporting activity to evacuate stress, frustration… and so bodily urges too, and introduce a feeling of well-being into your body. You need to replace pornography with a physical activity and/or a hobby, rather than trying to erase it. To be more precise, you need to reduce the intensity of the urges and channel the energy into another specifically chosen activity (organised in advance, if possible), rather than wrestling to contain them. In this way we treat the roots of the problem and not the symptom, which is pornography.

Lastly, we must take into consideration that the context of the society in which we are evolving every day, is unfavourable to purity: adverts, films, ways of dressing, jokes and conversations arouse our urges. We cannot always avoid them, but there’s all the more reason to be extra careful and learn how to turn our eyes away.

What do you think? Do you find it difficult to control your urges? Come and talk about it with us in the live chat! :

Going further:

• “How and why, I stopped masturbating”
• What’s wrong with masturbation?
• How do I break the habit of masturbation?