Pornography = An Unhealthy Answer to the Need to Escape

What's the true cost of a no-cost addiction?

Pornography is one of the easiest forms of escape because it often has no cost associated with looking due to its immediate accessibility on a smart device. It's also seemingly anonymous, as the history of our browsers can be gone in a swipe.

What many may not realize is that because it becomes a deceptive and false attachment — a substitute for intimacy with God, others and self.

So, why the need to escape in the first place?

The absence of love (identity) and trustworthiness (safety) will innately lead us to hide or escape from our relational pain.

Paradoxically, what never escapes us even when we are lost in our wounded sense of self, is the desire to love and to be loved.

Pornography drives shame, guilt and secrecy. As we feel this type of pain, we find ourselves going back to pornography to escape the pain we have created. As such, it has the ability to become a powerful psychological addiction.

In order to overcome porn addiction (and this desire to escape), we need to empower ourselves by first choosing to come out of hiding; to become an honest and authentic person. Bringing light to those areas we once hid, such as with a small confidential accountability group or a trained sexual addiction counselor, can provide a space where we feel safe to be soberly honest with ourselves, others and God.