An interesting article, very relevant to today’s new norm of increased isolation, was posted on www.catholicgentleman.net. The article is called Boredom, Isolation, & the Internet: The Perfect Storm and was written by Peter C. Kleponis, Ph.D., SATP, CSAT.
The article follows the story of a man named Tom. Tom was frustrated with his use of pornography, but couldn’t stop watching it.
“It seemed that every day at work he would end up going online and viewing pornography. No matter what he tried, he always seemed to fall into the same pattern. For Tom, the root causes of his internet porn use were boredom, isolation, and access to the internet.”
Tom was bored with his job as it was very repetitive, and had very little room for growth. He was also bored with his life outside of work. Though he loved his wife and kids very much, life had become mundane.
Tom was also isolated. He worked mostly from his home office and his only social interactions were phone calls for work.
“It’s not hard to understand how his boredom and isolation could lead Tom to crave excitement in his life. This is where Tom turned to the internet. At first he would surf the web reading news and watching movies. However, they too became boring. This led him to internet pornography. The shot of dopamine his brain received gave him a thrill which helped get him through his day. However, Tom knew this only created more problems for him. As he became addicted to it, Tom spent less time working and more time watching porn. This affected his work performance. It also affected his relationship with his wife and kids. Instead of spending time with them, he chose to isolate himself with the internet. Thus, what initially seemed like a solution to his boredom and isolation only created a bigger problem for Tom.”
The “real solution” for Tom was making changes that addressed his boredom and isolation. He got a new job with room for advancement in an office, so he could interact with people on a daily basis. He decided to spend more time with his family and less time online. These changes really got at the root of his pornography use.
The article concludes with a suggestion to “consider how boredom and isolation might be driving you to the internet and pornography. By making small, and big, changes to your life, you can dramatically reduce your boredom and isolation. This can lead to a happier, more fulfilling life without porn.”
If you are trying to make a change in your porn habits, consider reading the Anaphro Program e-Guide. The Anaphro Program e-Guide is full of practical advice designed to put you in control of your sexual thoughts and urges so that you can break counter-productive patterns and bring about positive changes in your life. Click here to learn more.
For the full article, please visit: https://www.catholicgentleman.net/2020/02/boredom-isolation-the-internet-the-perfect-storm/
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