A woman who was watching four hours of porn a day says finding God helped her overcome her addiction and has now taken a vow of abstinence.
Nineteen-year-old Gracelyn Sorrell said she was just 14 when she first stumbled across a pornographic image on social media, which sparked an interest in looking at adult websites online.
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Gracelyn, from Chicago, says that she also used porn as a source of comfort and to escape the grief she felt after her dad died in 2013. However, she says that looking at X-rated videos online ultimately left her feeling guilty and empty; as well as having a negative impact on her schoolwork and grades.
Her addiction got so bad that by 2016 Gracelyn was spending four hours a day looking at porn and getting only three hours sleep a night.
"My phone was the easiest way I could access porn," she said.
"I could sneak around and do it in the afternoon when I got home from school and my mum was at work.
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"I had my own room and my older sisters and brothers were usually at work.
"After everyone went to bed I would turn off the lights and watch videos, sometimes until 3AM.
"I was watching about four hours of porn every day, one in the afternoon and then three or four hours non-stop at night.
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"When I watched the videos it gave me an adrenaline rush. It was like insulin to me, I needed it.
"I was finding a place for my soul but it was an impure space.
"The porn and masturbation was never fulfilling. It was always a chase. It was dehumanising. I felt guilt and shame afterwards
"I lost my focus on my schoolwork because my addiction was always on my mind.
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"I was always so tired because I would stay up until the early hours of the morning watching porn. I was very stressed out.
"I grew up in a Christian household. I basically grew up in the church my whole life.
"I felt like I was leading a double life because I was this Christian girl in school but secretly I was addicted to this drug of sin.
"When I went on vacation with my family I was stressed because I should have been enjoying Thanksgiving with them but in the back of my head I was thinking, 'I just can't wait until night time when I can watch the videos'."
It got so bad that eventually Gracelyn broke down and told her mother, who recommended she reach out to God to ask for help. She also began to keep a journal and deleted all apps that might tempt to start looking at porn again.
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Gracelyn continued: "My mum was so supportive and she told me we had to pray about it. From that moment on I started journaling. I forced myself to have self control.
"When you're addicted to something, it is all you can think about. You have this powerful urge to watch. But I dedicated those urges to my journals and bible worship.
"I didn't have professional counselling but my mum has a lot of experience and is spiritually in tune with God."
But like any addiction, it hasn't been easy to conquer. Gracelyn added: "I have had relapses. Not many, but I have had times where I just couldn't fight it.
"Some nights in bed I would cry afterwards and feel sorry I failed again.
"I slipped back into it for short periods of time.
"Whenever I had a relapse I confided in my mum. She was never judgemental.
"I felt like that transparency helped me get back on track. I haven't relapsed since 2016."
Now the teen works as a public speaker and travels the US sharing her experiences with others, she's also an advocate for abstinence and has vowed not to have sex or even kiss before marriage.
"I am waiting until marriage to kiss and have sex. I always say it was my impurity that made me pure.
"Right now I am not looking for a relationship. I believe it's up to a man to find a wife so I'm not searching. If he comes into my life then great."
Gracelyn believes that politicians need to do more to make sure young children are protected from porn, adding that a lot of it is 'dehumanising'.
"My advice to anyone going through this would be to keep on trying and turn to God.
"Confide in someone close to you about what you're going through.
"Be transparent and find that safe place where you can talk without judgement.
"Get out of your bedroom and verbalise it.
"I think access to these sites should be blocked, or at least blocked until a certain age.
"The videos are dehumanising especially to women. It's not healthy to watch. I wish it could all just be taken off the internet for good."
You can find out more about Gracelyn's work here.
Featured Image Credit: SWNSTopics: Interesting, Addiction, US