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Suffering Sexual Anxiety Because of My Porn Addiction

12 July, 2024
Q As-salam Alaikum. I'm an 18-years-old male. I was exposed to pornography and masturbation addiction when I was around twelve, but Alhumdulilah, now I've overcome this habit with the help of Allah. The problem, however, is that in some way the effects of porn addiction still linger in my mind. This might sound extremely weird, I know, but since I've stopped this addiction, and have completely started detesting it, I've developed this sort of feeling that sexual intercourse is inherently something ugly and wrong. I don't know why I think like that. Sometimes I start thinking about all my elders in the family and my teachers and become disgusted over the fact that obviously being married they have done sexual intercourse too, and that when my time comes, I mean when I get married, I would have to do it too. The other side of the coin is that although yes I do suffer from this weird anxiety, but at the same time I'm even struggling to control my sexual desires. Sometimes I get feelings and fantasies about sex, I don't know why this happens. I know whatever I'm saying seems so gibberish, but at least I'm honestly opening up whatever I feel so that I can be counseled. I think it was because of my former addiction to pornography that my brain has been affected in this way. Please advise me as to what I should do.

Answer

In this counseling answer:

“Make sure to ask for Allah’s forgiveness as Allah loves to forgive. Strengthen your relationship with Him and seek His guidance and surely He will keep you steadfast and In the straight path if only you also make the effort to take the steps to stay o the straight path and away from things that might tempt you to desire to watch pornography again.

The very fact that you are confessing to have a problem will make it a lot easy to present yourself humbly in front of Allah in seeking His forgiveness.”

Wa alaikum salaam wa rahmatulahi wa barakatuh,

What you are saying makes perfect sense and is a perfect example of why pornography is forbidden in Islam. Unfortunately, in your case, it seems that your exposure to pornography was involuntary, perhaps at the hands of a family member.

However, there is nothing that can be done to go back and erase that, but instead you can find ways to.manage the consequences of this addiction.

Understandably, you go through a mix of emotions; both having sexual desires, but then at the same feeling repulsed by it at other times to the point of fearfulness about the fact that when you marry you will have to engage I this act that sometimes makes you feel so disgusted.

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Islamically, a way we are encouraged to avoid such addictions through acts such as lowering your gaze. Unfortunately, having already been exposed to it you are aware of the consequences of such an addiction.

However, there are many steps that you can take to help to overcome this addiction, whilst developing a healthy association with sex that is not related to what you have viewed in pornography.

Firstly, make sure to ask for Allah’s forgiveness as Allah loves to forgive. Strengthen your relationship with Him and seek His guidance and surely He will keep you steadfast and In the straight path if only you also make the effort to take the steps to stay o the straight path and away from things that might tempt you to desire to watch pornography again. The very fact that you are confessing to have a problem will make it a lot easy to present yourself humbly in front of Allah in seeking His forgiveness.

You can help yourself to avoid such thoughts by adhering to Allah’s commands to lower your gaze. This will prevent you from seeing ladies who might trigger such thoughts that might make you feel like seeking pornography again.

Make sure to keep Allah in mind in all that you do in order that the fear you feel of Allah will be so strong that will do all you can to avoid falling into anything sinful. Likewise, make sure to seek protection from Shaytan.

Again, this can be done by increasing worship of Allah so as to keep Shaytan at bay. Completing regular fasts and reading the Qur’an can be a great way to accomplish this.

Keep yourself busy in things that don’t allow you to have spare time where you might be tempted to go back to your addiction again.

It is natural at your age to be having such feelings and Islam has the perfect solution by encouraging marriage as a means to have such needs met in a way that is acceptable. Therefore, you might consider this as well, to prevent yourself from falling into sin.

At the same time, make sure to be doing all you can to overcome your addiction and keeping it at bay as of you have a hard time curbing the addiction, then it is something that could have a terrible impact on your marriage. Remaining steadfast in your Deen will greatly help you in this task.

May Allah guide you and help you to overcome your difficulties.

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Disclaimer: The conceptualization and recommendations stated in this response are very general and purely based on the limited information provided in the question. In no event shall AboutIslam, its counselors or employees be held liable for any damages that may arise from your decision in the use of our services.

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About Hannah Morris
Hannah Morris is a mum of 4 and she currently works as Counsellor and Instructor of BSc. Psychology at the Islamic Online University (IOU). She obtained her MA degree in Psychology and has over 10 years of experience working in health and social care settings in the UK, USA, and Ireland. Check out her personal Facebook page, ActiveMindCare, that promotes psychological well-being in the Ummah. (www.facebook.com/activemindcare)