FAQ: 5 Must-Read Porn Addiction Books

When I was addicted to porn for 15 years, there were almost zero resources out there offering any kind of useful insight or support to recover from porn addiction. In fact, the lack of resources that I experienced during my recovery is what fueled me to create this weekly newsletter and a daily podcast. Thankfully, more resources are available today than ever before and I wanted to share with you a few that I highly recommend.

You'll notice that some of these resources are more directly tied to porn addiction than others, and there is a good reason for that. Sometimes the best resources don't necessary speak straight to the issue, they speak straight to the heart. If they heal the heart, they'll likely help the addiction too.

1. Your Brain on Porn by Gary Wilson This is one of the most important books written in the 2000s concerning this subject. The late Gary Wilson compiled vast amounts of research, data, and supporting evidence (stories) to create this incredibly eye-opening resource. While some of the studies are a bit outdated now, the findings and key takeaways ring true now more than ever before. Dr. Wilson was an academic and this reflect in his writing style. It is direct, straight to the point. The purpose of this book is not to entertain, it is to educate. This is an excellent read for someone who wants to better understand the adverse effects of porn and learn about research-based methods for recovery.

2. Unwanted by Jay Stringer There is a reason this book has been highly touted by virtually every single leader in the area of sex and porn addiction recovery. This book is a fascinating read detailing the discoveries made in a survey involving 3800+ individuals concerning their sexual behavior, interests and experiences. The ultimate takeaway of this book is that how you experience sexual misbehavior often reveals what is required for you to heal. The wounds, deficiencies and pain points that often drive our behavior and the kind of content we consume can actually reveal what is necessary for long-term healing and a complete recovery. Jay is writes with an artistic flare while communicating profoundly – just about anyone could read this book, enjoy it, and be majorly impacted by the content.

3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey I know this book seems totally out of place as this book was clearly not written for people struggling with porn addiction! However, if you dive deeper into the recovery space, what you'll see is that true healing is always undergirded by self-growth. In other words, one of the best ways to outgrow bad behaviors, patterns, and addictions is to develop yourself. The more you grow and heal, the more your behaviors will change. This book centers around some of the most critical paradigms and philosophies necessary to have success in any area of life, porn addiction recovery included. If you were to genuinely institute these 7 habits in your life on a consistent basis, your recovery process will accelerate. I highly recommend this book if your productivity has been squashed by a porn addiction.

4. Leadership Pain by Dr. Samuel Chand Again, not the most obvious choice for a list of book helping guys get free of porn but pay close attention. My greatest interest is in helping you become a better man – getting pornography is part of that process. My person conviction is that every single man is called to be a leader. Period. No exceptions. This book is about how to handle the pain, changes, and loss that come with leadership in a godly, manly way. If you can master the concepts in this book, you will manage your life with unbelievable levels of health, and you will outgrow many of your bad habits and patterns as a result. Porn addiction included. If you intend to lead anything your life – your family, your self, an organization, church, etc. – this book is a must read. It will validate your experiences while offering the tools needed to cope with the barrage of change and pain life frequently offers.

5. The Last Relapse by Sathiya Sam I can assure you, of the 5 books listed – this is the one I have read the most! This book was written with one goal in mind: To provide a system, principles, and tools for those who are seeking help recovering from porn addiction. There is no shortage of solutions out there, but often the secret sauce comes with a price. The goal of this book is to make my recovery system available to everyone and anyone that wants it.

This book was especially written for professional Christian men who have struggled with porn for 10+ years. If you fall into that category, you'll find a lot of the subjects in the book relatable and many of the solutions applicable.

If you're looking for more resources to help you recover from porn addiction, other authors that are worth researching include: Dr. Rob Weiss, Drew Boa, Doug Weiss, Andrew Bauman, and Eddie Capparucci.

Cheering you on,
Sathiya