Marriage: Helping Your Husband Battle Pornography

So, your husband is into pornography and you found out. Well, you’re not alone. This battle with the lust monster is a rising problem across the entire societal grid. With the proliferation of sex sites on the Internet resulting in growing accessibility with total anonymity, the problem is only going to increase. Statistics tell us that 35% of all Internet usage is pornographic, and that as many as 50-60% of men have struggles with various levels of unhealthy sexual preoccupation often online.

Regardless of whether porn is becoming more mainstream – even accepted in some circles within marriage, the truth is that most wives feel compared, inadequate and less drawn to their husbands who need porn. For the men, this two-dimensional sex actually serves to neuter them and causes them to become less attracted to their wives. Porn brings problems to marriage.

Of course, none of this news makes it any easier for you to accept. You will naturally be devastated by the news of your husband’s involvement with some form of pornography sexual distraction. Whether it is online, at clubs, on the phone or beyond, there is a huge sense of betrayal and a breaking down of trust. Whether your spouse has been involved physically with another person, or emotionally and mentally through pornography, the violation feels the same. Your reaction could range from disbelief, to disgust, to anger. You wonder, “How could he do this to me?” You likely have no desire to be with him sexually, and you may want to leave him altogether.

First Steps

The first thing you need to work through is your immediate response. Your strong feelings are both understandable and justified. At the same time, you need to be very careful that your reaction to your husband does not create more problems than you are already facing. You have both a right and a need to express whatever you are feeling, but you need to do it in a way that will not complicate your recovery as a couple. Be honest about your hurts, share openly about your disappointment, but realize that lashing out with damning accusations and attacking, harsh words only makes things worse.

Your initial reaction will likely be impacted by the way in which you found out about the issue. It makes a difference whether your husband openly disclosed his struggle to you, or if you had to discover it and thus ‘he got caught’. Obviously there is more credibility indicated in a person who is willing to admit it before he is found out. On the other hand, sometimes God has a way of forcing the discovery to push a person to deal with their porn problem. Regardless of how you found out, the problem has to be dealt with. As long as your spouse is willing to be totally honest about their battle now, you can work together to overcome it.

Sometimes wives say they’d rather not know if their husband has pornography issues. Yet the bottom line is you cannot be close as husband and wife if there is a cloak of secrecy around these personal struggles. True intimacy requires complete honesty. Although there is some real hurt that you are going to have to work through, you need to accept that resolving the issue is still the path to closeness. Many couples have successfully worked through pornographic addictions. It is possible to recover something precious between the two of you!

How Much Do You Need to Know?

You need to have complete freedom to ask your spouse the questions you need answered to be settled in your heart. If you are doing it to get more data to become vindictive and bitter, then don’t ask the questions. But if you desire to understand what he has faced, and you intend to forgive him and find peace in your own heart, feel free to ask some questions. Try not to make it personal saying, “what’s wrong with me?” there is no good answer there. Try to have any discussion in a non-judgmental, non-punishing way. Your husband is likely already feeling plenty of guilt; what he needs now is to know that you are still on his side. He needs to know you still love him though his actions are unacceptable.

Your Needs, His Needs

As you face this battle together, you and your husband need to be aware of one another’s needs. You can help your husband by sharing openly with him what your needs are at this time.

Your biggest need is likely to rebuild the trust in your relationship. There are no shortcuts to this: it just takes time. Complete transparency is critical on his part, whether it’s about past indiscretions or subsequent failures. Likewise, you need to be totally open about your feelings. Since the emotional aspect of love is a woman’s highest priority, a reconnection towards friendship and intimacy is paramount. Rebuilding the relationship must happen in growing measure as you seek to re-engage in your sex life.

Next, you need to talk honestly about your sex life. Where are the gaps? Is it frequency? Variation? Interest levels? Mutual or one-sided? Explore and grow together.

Furthermore, with the knowledge of your spouse, it would be wise to have an outside advocate to share your struggles with. This is a private issue that shouldn’t be shared with others, but to have a chosen friend, counselor or someone who has faced this with their husband is critical. They can help you work through your feelings and frustrations, validate your emotions, and coach you through the right course of action.

Lastly, you need a commitment from your husband to work through his battle with pornography and do all that it takes to get the help that he needs. He must get help beyond you; he must break the silence and be accountable, whether to a counselor or another friend or pastor. They must ask him the tough questions as he faces his lust battle. It is unwise to have the wife be the accountability person. You have a relationship to build. You can’t be the ‘cop’ and his lover too! Let someone else be the one that holds his feet to the fire.

Though you may not feel like meeting your husband’s needs at a time like this, the fact is he does need your help to conquer this addiction. Above all, he needs your unconditional love, as well as your forgiveness. He needs to know that the slate can be wiped clean, and that you won’t hold this against him for years to come. Nothing will strengthen him more to move to freedom than knowing you believe in him and are standing with him to fight the battle.

It would be very helpful to understand the complexity of pornography to the male’s psyche. Although some women struggle with sexual addictions (even in seemingly milder forms like romance novels and soap operas), it is predominantly a male issue. Listen to your husband and try hard to understand. Read at least one of these excellent resources: Every Man’s Battle by Stephen Arterburn, Pure Desire by Ted Roberts, and Men’s Secret Wars by Patrick A. Means.

Finally, while you are working with him to overcome his problem with pornography, realize that your husband will still have sexual needs. I know you are hurting and the last thing you may want to do is have sex with him since he has been unfaithful to you. But you do need to be willing to re-engage in some sexual activity, as a sign of your love and commitment to him. This will help ensure that your husband isn’t further tempted to go back to pornography as a substitute for healthy marital sexual relationship.

Why the Void?

In some cases a man’s problem with pornography is born out of his own issues. Many men started when they were younger and just never tell their wives about it. Yet, in some cases, pornographic involvement is his response to other problems in the marriage. Honestly assess your relationship and determine whether it is healthy and whole. Are his sexual needs being met? Are your sexual encounters as a couple satisfying and frequent? A husband’s pornographic addiction cannot be blamed on the wife, because he still has to make choices himself. However, a husband is also made very vulnerable to temptations when there isn’t regular sexual intimacy in a healthy, secure relationship. So it may be that there is a void that he is looking to fill with pornography because of the struggles of your relationship. Now DON’T BLAME YOURSELF but you may need to make some adjustments as a couple so that you have both a healthy relational balance and good marital sex.

I would urge you to go for help as a couple to make sure that you’re headed in the right direction. This might be the best time for you and your husband to reach out in faith to the God who created your sex life. Why not pray together about your problems? Conquering the lure of pornography is very difficult, and you will both need to ask God to help you through this. Working through to forgiveness with your spouse is a wonderful source of stability for your relationship. Why not try to braid God into your marriage as equal partner, especially with this problem.

Many couples have succeeded in overcoming pornography and have found a healthy balance in their marriage again: a marriage that they love being part of. Instead of being the end of your relationship, let this be a doorway to a new level of intimacy that you never thought possible.

© Dr. Dave Currie – September, 2010