Last updated on October 26, 2020
Question:
Help me,
I have been going through so many obsessive sexual thoughts, that are plaguing me and giving me anxiety, I don’t know what to do. I started masturbation at a very young age, but porn and inappropriate sexual stories I only started two years ago. These thoughts are ruining my life. I’m constantly thinking about it, and it makes me sick to my stomach. I just wish I could forget about all this. I don’t want to feel like this anymore. Anyone who is familiar with obsessive thoughts knows what people with OCD and have these kinds of thoughts go through. I already promised myself I’ll never watch porn again, or read sexual stories again, or even masturbate ever again. I just want these obsessive thoughts to go away though and never come back.
Answer:
There are two halves to breaking an obsession. First, you have to break the habit. This means making it hard to engage in your bad behavior. What I suggest doing in installing an Internet filter on the devices you typically use to look at pornography. Have a parent or friend hold the installation key so it is not easy to remove or bypass. Second, you have to replace the bad habit with something productive. For that, you have to look honestly at yourself to determine when you have the urge to look and then find something better to do. If you do it out of boredom, then you find a fun task that you reserve for when you are particularly bored.
Once the habit of fixating on something is broken, it then becomes easier to overcome the obsessive thoughts.