Hi. I'm new here.

Hello--

I'm a 21-year-old male from the Midwest who lives in NY. As per the title, I'm new here, and I've been addicted to porn for the better half of a decade, probably. I'm very introverted, and being around people or developing the social circles which are really necessary to do something like breaking an addiction is something that is very difficult for me. I don't really like being around people, but being by myself is usually when I'm most susceptible to relapsing to porn or masturbation, be it either at night, when I'm having trouble sleeping or simply feel exhausted from being around others. I've tried to make this journey on my own, and got about two months in (in part due to a girl who I was dating at the time) when my work on the matter fell apart--at least in part due to how I handle stress, but have been thoroughly unsuccessful in recovering since then.

I am, however extremely intelligent and competitive, but also both extremely stubborn and lazy. I haven't really had to work that hard to achieve anything, but I also haven't really had to work to overcome an addiction before either. Breaking this habit is something that I haven't really had any success with, mostly because I've tried to do this on my own, and I sorely need someone to walk with through this.

As far as motivations go, I'm a Catholic, and tend to view porn and masturbation as being particularly detrimental to the state of my soul. One of the reasons that I need to break this addiction to porn is, classically, because of a girl. I don't want to ruin my shot with someone as amazing as this girl is because of a cheap, artificial substitute for intimacy because I haven't been man enough to control my own desires. Hopefully, with your help, I can become a free man.