Dr. Kersti Spjut offers her insights on the shame and stigma surrounding ADHD, why those with ADHD may be more drawn to the ‘stickiness’ of porn, and her top recommendations of interventions that have helped people with ADHD manage their porn use.
Overcome Pornography for Good coach Jessica Farmer is here to answer this week’s Ask a Coach question! Here's the question on which she's offering her thoughts today: “I watched porn after being clean for six months. I feel a bit disappointed and shameful on one hand, but also feel guilty for not feeling guilty enough. Do you have any thoughts on what it looks like for me to come back from this?”
We’ve talked about describing your porn habit as an addiction before on the podcast. It’s so easy to categorize our behavior as an addiction, but the truth is, when we think we’re addicted, we leave ourselves feeling disempowered and without agency. And today, I think it’s important we discuss this topic as it relates to your self-concept.
In my experience of working at addiction recovery programs and the research I’ve done in this realm, the term “addicted” or “addiction” has a long laundry list of definitions. But what I have found, especially in LDS culture, is the use of this label in a way that isn’t helpful and is in fact harmful to us. Sure, there are chemical processes going on in our brains when we view pornography, but that doesn’t have to mean you’re addicted or powerless. I’m inviting you to question the types of actions you take when you believe you’re “addicted” to porn, and how you want to use this label for yourself going forward. The truth is you always get to decide how you interpret yourself and your life. I’m sharing some ways I’ve intentionally chosen to change my beliefs about myself and the results I’ve gotten from that, and I’m asking you this week, if you decided being “addicted” to porn wasn’t a problem, what else would you choose instead?
