How to Get Over Porn/Masturbation Addiction

[Mango]

:sl:

Nowadays porn is becoming really popular in society, mostly affecting teenagers and young adults. The sad truth is that almost every teenager, including Muslim teens, have been exposed to porn or masturbation at least once. Society tells us "It's okay, it's completely normal", but it's not. It's not normal and it's definitely not okay. Porn and masturbation are completely looked down up in our deen, and for a reason as well. Not only will they take over your life, but they are also really harmful to your body, both mentally and physically. I will be giving you advice on how to overcome either habit.

1. Manage your time. The main reason people get exposed to porn or start masturbating is because they have too much free time on their hands. They're bored and have nothing to do. Make sure you keep yourself busy, whether that be homework, sports, or spending time with your family.

2. Stay healthy. Eat well, stay hydrated, and take a shower regularly. Also, make sure to get plenty of exercise. It's been proven that physical exercise helps to take your mind off of sexual thoughts.

3. Listen to Qur'an regularly. You don't even have to read, memorize, or recite. Just listening to the words of Allah will surely bring you closer to your deen overtime, and will definitely take your mind off any bad thoughts you might be having.

4. Don't be exposed to bad influence. If you have friends who encourage you to masturbate/watch porn, leave them. They aren't truly your friends if they're telling you to go commit a sin. They will surely tell you that it's okay and that it won't harm you, but don't listen to them. Watching porn has bad effects on the brain, and masturbation causes a lot of problems all over your body.

5. Try to find out the source of your problems and come up with a plan in case that source comes up. When do you have sexual thoughts? In the shower? The bathroom? In your bed? When you are tempted, your mind won't operate clearly. Therefore, you need to come up with a plan beforehand in order to overcome your temptations. If you start having dirty thoughts while you're in the shower, try to use a washcloth to scrub yourself instead of skin-to-skin contact. If you're in bed, try wearing extra layers. That way, if you end up trying to take them off, your mind will think properly before you get through all the layers. If you're having temptations while you're using the bathroom, try to distract yourself by looking at anything, like the toilet paper roll or even the doorknob.

6. Distract yourself once you start having bad thoughts. Don't think about masturbation or porn. Do you think a smoker will sit on the couch all day saying to himself "Man, I wish could smoke right now. I really wanna have a cigarette, just one" ??? Definitely not. If he/she did, they wouldn't be able to overcome their smoking addiction. Try your best to drive your mind away from sexual thoughts. For example, you are thinking of watching porn. Now quickly, choose your favorite color. Got it? Okay, now imagine me holding up a red book. I drop it and hold up a second book, which is green. I also drop that one and hold up a third book, which is blue. Now you must be thinking, how does that relate to my favorite color at all? It doesn't, I was just driving you away from bad thoughts, step by step. You can do this on your own anytime, and it's super efficient.

7. Whenever you are feeling tempted, remember that Allah is watching you, and that the angels on your shoulders are writing down everything you do. Some people say that you should put the computer in the living room so that everyone can see what you're doing. However, I disagree with this. Why are you trying to stop watching porn / masturbating? Is it because you want to please your parents, or because you want to please Allah? Of course we should all try to please our parents, but Allah should always be the top priority.

8. Don't do this: "Wow, I spent a whole month without masturbating! Now I should reward myself by masturbating, and then aim for two months next time!" If you find that you are making progress, certainly don't reward yourself with the sin you were committing. If you do this, then your repentance isn't sincere and Allah will not forgive you.

9. Remember to always make dua' to Allah. Without the will of Allah, we won't accomplish anything. However, don't just make dua' and then not pay any effort to overcome your addiction. You should make dua' AND make an effort at the same time.

10. Don't give up. It may seem hard at first, but it certainly is possible. Believe me, you can do it. After a month or two, you will start to lose the temptation to watch porn or masturbate, إن شاء الله.