Pornography

Wives of Sex Addicts: If you have discovered that you are married to a sex addict and want to know what to do next, send me your name and snail mail address and ask for the free CD on sex addiction and counseling and I'll send to you a free CD that will give you information that can help you decide what steps to take.

                                                                                       Bill Hicks, Ph.D., LMHC

Pornography as an addiction … can happen when people spend increasing amounts of time using pornography and begin using increasingly more extreme pornographic material. This increase in use occurs even though the use has negative consequences. Some people find that their entire sex life revolves around pornography and they are unable to be sexually involved with a real person without the use of pornography.

How would you know if your pornography use is harmful to you? The following are some signs that pornography use is problematic:

• The use feels like it is out of your control. Your use of pornography is incompatible with your beliefs and values. You keep your pornography use or the extent of your pornography use secret from others and worry that others will find out about your use. The use of pornography consumes your thinking. (When you are not using pornography, you think about if frequently and anticipate when you will use it again.) You spend increasing amounts of time using pornography. Your use of pornography has negative consequences in your life (eg. neglecting responsibilities, becoming less effective in your job or in academics, spending too much money on pornography, etc.) Your use of pornography causes problems in your intimate relationships - creating emotional distance between you and people you love - or maybe even causes you to lose relationships