A WOMAN has revealed how her secret porn addiction at 13, left her ‘sexualising family members’ and watching content for five hours a day.

Arleny Abreu Quintero, 19, was introduced to porn by a school friend but began excessively watching it during the COVID pandemic.

Arleny Abreu Quintero became addicted to porn aged 13 Credit: SWNS

Arleny says her addiction led to her sexualising classmates, teachers and family Credit: SWNS

The community builder from The Bronx, New York, said she would watch content until 6 am, which altered her brain chemistry and left her sexualising everyone from her classmates to family members.

She was addicted for two and a half years before getting into a healthy relationship at age 16 and putting her energy into starting a clothing brand.

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Arleny now raises awareness about porn addiction on her social media channels.

She says: “There were times when I was on Pornhub for five hours straight.

DEAR DEIDRE
Sex addiction has controlled my life for 25yrs… I’m exhausted & want to change

ONLY MAMS
I watch porn daily before school pick-up – it makes me a better mum

Arleny has since made videos of herself to watch instead of porn Credit: SWNS

She would watch porn for up to five hours a day, sometimes until 6am Credit: SWNS

“It changed the way I viewed reality; I would have such a sexual mindset.

“I would sexualise my classmates, the teachers and even my family at times. It was so disturbing and uncomfortable.

“I felt so much shame about it.

“I feel like my mind has healed now. But it’s not the same as it was before. It changes the chemicals in your body.”

Arleny began watching pornography at 13 years old, after being introduced to it by a school friend.

“She said it was something that she did a lot, and that made her feel good, and I was curious”, she says.

Intrigued, Arleny decided to look it up on the internet herself when she got home, and remembers feeling a “pleasurable experience” after watching content on Pornhub.

She then began to watch porn every now and then, until a few months later, in March 2020, the Covid pandemic hit.

Arleny began watching more porn during the COVID pandemic when schools were closed Credit: SWNS

She says she feels “amazing” since quitting pornography Credit: SWNS

“I suddenly had all the time in the world, so I started watching it every day”, she explains.

As schools were closed due to the pandemic, Arleny had the freedom to watch pornography whenever she liked, and she began watching it for up to five hours in a row.

“It was a way for me to feel some type of connection during the pandemic, when I felt isolated”, she says.

“I just wanted to feel loved and wanted to feel seen.”

She would mostly watch porn at night, before she went to bed, and would often find herself still watching it at 6 am.

When schools reopened in September 2020, Arleny found herself feeling constantly exhausted due to her late-night pornography sessions.

She would constantly be having sexual daydreams about her classmates, teachers and even members of her own family.

“I felt so guilty about it; I knew it wasn’t normal”, she says.

“The instant gratification isn’t good for your brain. I would find a video and not even watch the whole thing; I always wanted something better and better.”

Due to her shame, Arleny didn’t tell anyone about her addiction and began to feel “disgusted” by her actions.

“I became aware that this wasn’t good for me; I was trying to fill a void and escape from a deeper root issue”, she says.

Two and a half years after her addiction started, when Arleny was 16, she decided to try and quit watching pornography, as it was no longer making her feel good.

“I was getting no sleep and feeling disgusting. I’d had enough of it, and I knew I needed to change something”, she says.

Signs you are addicted to porn

There is no definitive or formal definition of ‘porn addiction’. 
It is not a clinical diagnosis and is given only a mention in the World Health Organisation’s ‘compulsive sexual behaviour disorder’ description.
Classification of what constitutes an addiction to porn addiction has been contested.
Therefore, experts prefer not to use an ‘hours-per-day threshold’ to diagnose porn addiction.
They say consumption is considered problematic if it interferes with daily life.
Psychotherapist Dr Paula Hall, who set up The Laurel Centre for sex and porn addiction, says: “The International Classification of Diseases document [maintained by the World Health Organization] says it needs to have caused significant distress in your life for at least six months.
“If it’s fun and not causing any problems in your life, it’s probably not an addiction.
“But for someone who has ­developed an addiction, it’s not fun any more.
“People know in their heart of hearts, ‘I need to get a grip, and I can’t’. That’s when it has become a problem.”
On the NHS page ‘Can you become addicted to sex?’ it says sex addiction is “any sexual activity that feels ‘out of control’.”
Some say those with porn addiction neglect self-care and responsibilities, socially withdraw, potentially engage in illegal activity or other addictions and live a ‘double life’, seemingly fine to others.
Other issues include porn-related erectile dysfunction or a general lack of sexual desire in real relationships.

Around this time, Arleny entered into a relationship with a boy and began to feel guilty about hiding her addiction from him.

But the affection she was getting from her relationship made her drawn to pornography less and less, and she found she was now only watching it occasionally.

She also started her own clothing brand and was able to channel all of the energy she had put into watching pornography into that instead.

However, due to her addiction, she found that she was unable to achieve orgasm from sex with her partner.

After purchasing a vibrator, Arleny was able to train herself to achieve orgasm without watching pornography.

“I just got creative, as I knew cold turkey wouldn’t work for me”, she explains.

However, she still got urges to go back to pornography, so she decided to film herself naked so that she could watch these instead.

“This allowed me to reach climax in a way that felt like self-love”, she explains.

Since quitting pornography, Arleny says she feels “amazing”.

“I’m in a great relationship now, and it’s allowed us to have a much deeper connection”, she says.

She shares advice for those struggling with similar addictions on her TikTok channel @arlenyascends.

“I advise people to look at the root cause of what you are seeking, and what void you are trying to fill”, she adds.