Often when we think of porn addiction, we picture some sweaty dude tucked away in his apartment with a big container of lube at his side, getting his rocks off all day. But this is not always the case. Women can be just as helplessly addicted to porn, and once they’re tangled in the vicious cycle, it can seem impossible to beat; it becomes debilitating and shaming, isolating the addict from the real world.
For nearly seven years Oghosa Ovienrioba, a British woman who’s now 22, would lock herself in her college room and watch porn for hours, unable to do anything else.
Deep Trouble
When Ovienrioba first started watching porn at 14—a habit she started out of mere curiosity by wading through whatever X-rated material popped up through a Google search—she thought it seemed strange and somewhat shocking. Apparently, it was the soft-core stuff, but for a virgin mind, you can imagine how startling it might be to watch two people fuck for the first time. Then she watched it again, and then again, and the original buzz she got from that initial round died out.
It did nothing for her.
So, she did what any addict does and upped the ante, going for more hardcore fare. The same thing happened with the nastier stuff that had happened with the tamer sex tapes. She got desensitized and had to reach for more crazier and crazier stuff.
By this time, she was masturbating around six times a day while studying at university, which obviously will put a damper on anyone’s studies. She could barely leave the house, and when she did venture outside, everything became titillating–even the most seemingly mundane activities from other men and women.
“The simplest things could set me off such as a girl unbuttoning her blouse or a boy taking his top off,” she told MetroUK. “Everything made me want more.”
Hmmm, these are pretty suggestive things to be doing in public. Many of us would probably feel a little hot and bothered if the subject removing their clothes were reasonably attractive, right? But instead of just getting mildly turned on and forgetting about it, Ovienrioba had to have more porn. She’d get excited and need to stop whatever she was doing to get her fix.
From Flogging to Vlogging
In February 2015, Ovienrioba posted a YouTube video confession about her porn addiction to help other women who struggle with the same relentless obsession.
“When I uploaded that video in February, I had no idea how phenomenal the response would be,” she said. “I received hundreds of heartwarming comments from women who had been going through the same thing for years. Lots of people don’t think girls can suffer a porn addiction but it’s a problem for both sexes. I hope I can help others out there–talking about your problem is the first step.’
Amazing Abstinence
Ovienrioba kicked her porn addiction to the curb after she became a Christian and confided in a good friend.
“Talking about it made me realise how much of a problem it was—you’re only as sick as the secrets you keep,” she reported. “As a Christian, you have to be quite controlled about what you let into your heart, in terms of what you see and do.”
It’s true that Christianity isn’t exactly porn-friendly, but in this case the restrictive nature of the faith helped Ovienrioba get out of her vicious cycle of porn and masturbation. To help abate her sexual obsession, she excuses herself when sexy love scenes pop up in movies or books.
“When I read some of the comments on that [my]video, it brings a tear to my eye,” she said. “People have told me how alone they felt with their addiction until they saw my video.”
Porn can be great to spice up your sex life or fill in the blanks when you’re not getting any, but unfortunately it can also be highly addictive, and for some, lead to sexual desensitization. While it’s not always a byproduct of sex addiction, it certainly is an accessible and convenient drug for those struggling with debilitating sexual compulsions. This is, of course, still subject of much debate.
One thing isn’t debatable–Oghosa Ovienrioba’s life went downhill while watching a bunch of fake-titted blondes get pounded up the ass five hours a day. If you think about it, it’s a royal waste of time that could be better spent doing more important things, like bingeing on American Horror Story.
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