How can a woman overcome her addiction to pornography and masturbation?

Question

Hi doctor,

I am suffering from an addiction to watching porn and masturbating. This addiction started when I was a teenager, and after five years, I went to a psychiatrist. I started taking medicines, and maybe for two to three years, I took Zoloft 200 mg with Abilify 5 mg, and now I decreased my dose gradually after my doctor's supervision. He said I have OCD and depression. The problem of watching porn is not solved. When the urge to watch comes, I cannot control it and say no even if I try. It causes me to resist. Still, I fail after watching porn. I feel terrible, lose hope in life. I am so tired of this addiction. I tried a lot of stuff, but nothing is working. Please help me to get this sorted like it happens more before my period and once during my period. But let us say it happens once or twice per week.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern.

It is normal to have sexual desires and masturbate, but if the frequency is more than four to six times a week, it should be an addiction concern. Having strong sexual desires before and during the period is expected. If masturbation is causing any trouble to your mental health, then masturbate once a week and whenever the desire to masturbate arises more than once, kindly have a diversion by taking deep breaths and counting from 100 to 0 in the reverse order that moment.

If there is anything else that you need help with, you can consult me through this platform.

Good luck.