Pornography can be healthy.
But in moderation.
And therein lies the problem.
Pornography has become a problem for many people.
So how do you recognize the signs when you think it may be having a negative impact?
And where do you go from there?
Redditor Miix_ wanted to see who was willing to fess up about their relationships with pornography, so they asked:
"People with a porn addiction, how did you realize you had it?"
Frequency
Oh My Reaction GIFGiphy"Watched them even when not horny."
thestarsinmysky
"I sometimes watch it while I'm eating like I'm watching a Netflix show."
KenKaniffLovesEminem
Sleep First
"I looked up addiction one time and it said stuff along the lines of 'Causes lack of sleep, worse performance at work/life due to thinking about said thing, and depression.' All those boxes were checked so now I know. I just don't know how to take care of it."
GodKing_Zan
Can't Stop
"When I wanted to stop watching it, but I kept going back to watching even though I wanted to stop."
Arrowkill
"Same, that and because I only know it was father's day because pornhub had a premium promotion."
Raskalnekov
"Yeah when you're at the point of 'I want to fight the urge, but it takes too much energy, so i'll just let it go on and figure it out later,' that's when you're addicted in my opinion (experienced it myself)."
PaleontologistDry118
Cold Turkey
"I went to Turkey 🇹🇷 and tried to access my favourites. They blocked virtually all porn. It ruined my vacation, I left early."
"I checked myself into therapy and just quit. I have had some relapses, but I now have a support system and a mentor. I will be back to two years porn-free April 17th."
Puzzleheaded_Ad928
"Turkish person here! Congratulations on getting your life back, and hope you revisit the country!"
volcanopenguins
Problems
"I couldn't get erect with my girlfriend and I preferred porn over sex."
louied862
"The s**t ain't worth it. I now use my imagination or just physical touch when I crack off. It's healthy sexuality. Porn is just escapism and isn't real."
louied862
Not being able to be with a loved one is a big red flag.
Rush
robot chicken boobies GIFGiphy"I thought about watching porn basically everytime, sexualized almost every women I saw and I used it as a dopamin rush every time I felt a down."
SirBurgonya
Crazy
"Actually, I heard this story from someone else (it happened to them): So this girl hooked up with a guy and in the middle of the hook up he takes out his phone and watches porn. Yeah, that’s how bad addictions could go, it’s horrible."
CakebitezCrisis
"I've read interviews with female pornstars talking about how the guys have to watch porn to stay hard while they're literally having sex with pornstars. Like they have to stop the scene and they have to get out their phone and watch porn for a little bit to continue. Crazy."
DannySorensen
Cycles
"I had no interest anymore in real life. it felt underwhelming."
thebeeleaveme
"I appreciate you posting this, because I feel like it’s exactly what my partner is going through. Of course, it’s a vicious cycle because he goes back to it when he’s feeling bad and then it just continues getting worse. I have no idea how to help him stop the cycle."
J3llyDonut
Ladies Too
"Planning every daily event around when I could get back and watch porn. Reading smut while at the park with my kids. And finally getting caught by my Mother in law. This is from a ladies perspective because we can definitely have a porn addiction too."
Totallymommy
We applaud these folks for addressing they may have an issue and taking the steps the need to address it.
Curious to hear examples from those who've witnessed extremely unusual behavior at these facilities had plenty to share when Redditor N3SSDOGGDOGG asked:
"People who have spent time in a Psych Ward what is the craziest thing you’ve witnessed?"
One thing is certain. There is never a dull moment.
Consequences Of Enabling Drug Addiction
"In our tiny community some kids are smelly because typically the parents are addicts who either didn't pay their water bill, don't own a washer/dryer or are too brain dead to care. The nearest laundromat is now 30 miles away because the local one got broken into and robbed too many times by. Our school is awesome, there are staff members who do laundry for these kids and make sure they get showers. It's discreet so they're not ridiculed. I hate how our society enables addiction and even celebrates drug use, but I don't know how we can fix it at this point. It's gotten completely out of hand."
– Marisleysis33
Taking You To A Live Commercial
"My brother-in-law had a stint in a psych ward a little over a year ago, and on a particularly manic day they were in the middle of the community room and started singing."
“I have a structured settlement and I need cash now”
"This was then met by about 40-50 psych patients shouting back."
“CALL J.G. WENTWORTH!!! 877-CASH-NOW!!!”
"After getting a few verses in the orderlies stepped in and kindly requested they stop, which was kinda a shame since it sounded like they were all having a good time."
– MikeMars1225
Select Highlights
"I've worked in one for about 2 years now. The staff are just as crazy."
"Here's some highlights"
"Patient got into the ceiling, couldn't get them down for a while."
"Patient milked themself into their coffee. Did you know some anti-psychotics make you lactate?"
"The entire adolescent unit escaping because maintenence forgot to lock the gate. Don't worry. They all came back eventually."
"And myself getting a concussion from a patient trying to escape, they weren't successful, but at least I didn't work for 6 weeks."
– NeverlandEnding
Character Performance
"The funniest thing I ever saw (spent total of about three years in in my teens and early 20's): a kid in seclusion who was having a genuinely good time making staff's life a living nightmare while he was in there, took apart the plastic mattress, tore the foam inside into small pieces, donned the empty mattress and started yelling 'I'M GUMBY, DAMMIT!' while tossing the pieces of foam around like confetti. Even most of the staff were laughing about it."
– t_portch
Physical violence seemed to be a common occurrence.
He Had A Violent Streak
"Not a patient but an employee. Had a 16 year old kid come in who was about 6'2 220 pounds. Built like a linebacker. I found out since he was technically a child he somehow ended up at an autism school for children with very little security. He ended up inflicting a TBI on one of the teachers and got sent to us. The kid had a violent streak the likes I hadn't seen before, he knew he was stronger than most and liked to fight unprovoked and it always took 4 to 6 people to restrain him. I never seen a patient spend more time than him in the 'safety room' an incredibly small padded room with nothing in it. His parents wouldnt authorize his move somewhere else and they wouldn't take him home either. We were not equipt for someone with his level of violence. So there he sat... For one and a half years..."
"It wasn't like a single incident that was crazy, it was the entire situation."
– DisagreeableFool
David And Wendy
"I was in an adolescent inpatient facility for 30 days. One kid named David who was very tall for his age, I think he was only 13. He insisted on watching Friday the 13th movies on movie nights and everyone was afraid to disagree with him because of his violent nature and frequent homicidal fantasies. He hated taking his meds, and probably 2 or 3 times a week he'd brawl with the psych nurses over it. No joke, it took 5 to 6 large grown men to overcome this kid. He was scary."
– better-off-ted
A Mother's Experience
"My mother worked in an asylum in Ireland when she was about 15. This was in the early 60s. She loved working there, despite the fact that some of the patients would physically try and kill her. One patient always stuck out to her, every day he would tell my mum he was going to kill her when she finished work. She knew he loved music, so would tell him she was out dancing that night, and could he wait until the next day, which he agreed to. The next day he would forget what he had said, and would threaten her again, and she'd say the say thing again. This went on for a couple of years that she worked there."
– tiredandstupid82
Turns out some patients weren't seeing a change of scenery any time soon.
Fighting To Stay
"I work inpatient and we had someone who was in for 2 1/2 years. They would try to take him out but he would start fighting immediately and eventually said he preferred it."
– Deathdad
Simon
I was a social worker at an institution that had a hall for what we called 'lifers,' it was essentially for people who had no hopes of ever being released due to their conditions. Anyway, my hall had 14 beds and it was full. There was this one guy who was huge. He was 6’7 and about 350. His name was Simon. He suffered from drug-induced schizophrenia and had bipolar disorder. He talked to himself all day, but never talked to others. All the other men in the ward were scared of him."
"It was my day to do first shift. I got there early to start on some paperwork I needed to finish. When I got my keys in the door, I heard Simon hit the door with his fists. I looked through the tiny window on the door and he and the hall was covered in blood. I panicked and called security for backup because I thought he had killed somebody."
"Turns out, Simon was in the throes of an extreme manic episode and had managed to walk the literal soles of his feet off. Other medication he was on thinned his blood and led to him bleeding all over the place."
"We checked the camera footage and he had walked and talked all night. The orderly (who was fired that day) had slept through his whole shift and never heard Simon walking back and forth."
– CamillaCream02
Some of these examples sound like they could patients in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, without Nurse Ratched tormenting them.
But props to the real humans who are compassionate and look after those who can't function alone in society.
