I recently had someone reach out to me directly to ask about porn addiction withdrawal—what it really feels like, what challenges come up, and how to get through it. Their question instantly took me back to the beginning of my own porn addiction recovery journey.

When I was six months sober, it was one of the most beautiful yet difficult times of my life. I was learning so much about myself. But I was also facing challenges I never expected.

You might have heard people describe withdrawing from porn as mild—a process that only lasts days or weeks. But I’ll be honest, that hasn’t been my experience, nor the experience of the clients in my program or the people I’ve volunteered with. For most of us, porn addiction withdrawal is a longer, more complex process.

Why Does Porn Addiction Withdrawal Feel So Hard?

First, let’s be clear: You’re not crazy if you feel like quitting porn is a battle. Pornography is highly addictive—some studies suggest it’s as addictive, if not more, than cocaine. It hijacks your brain’s reward system, creating a dopamine rush that can feel impossible to resist.

Here’s the kicker: withdrawal from porn mimics some of the same symptoms of porn addiction itself. Why? Because using porn spikes dopamine to extremely high levels, which damages your brain and inhibits its capacity to produce its own dopamine in the short and long-term. To cope with this, you go back to porn again and again to get that “hit”. But when you quit, your brain is suddenly deprived of these dopamine spikes altogether, and this leaves you feeling unmotivated, unfocused, and disconnected from others. 

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