When Porn Beomes a Coping Mechanism

Consider Before Consuming

Fight the New Drug

Ftnd, Shame, Sex, Education, Fightthenewdrug, Socialhealth, Social Sciences, Love, Compulsivebehavior, Habits, Research, Heart, Healthyrelationship, Metoo, Mentalhealth, Pornkillslove, Sexuality, Personalaccounts, Pornography, Brain, Healthyhabits, Relationships, Addiction, Health, Movement, Facts, Health & Fitness, Sexualhealth, Communication, World, Vulnerability, Consider, Science, Nonprofit

4.7 • 762 Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ryan Ridgway is a mental health educator and former addiction support specialist from the UK. In this episode, he talks about his 20-year struggle with pornography use, OCD, and substance abuse. He explains how porn became his main way to cope with stress and mental illness, how that habit slowly took control of his life, and what recovery has looked like since. Ryan also discusses the connection between porn and self-esteem, body image, and mental health, and why honest conversation about these issues matters.

Episode Resources:

Article: Watching Porn May Be Negatively Impacting Your Mental Health
This episode is sponsored by Relay: CBC Listeners get 40% Relay in November with code FTND40
Follow Ryan on Instagram

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Transcript

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0:00.0	We've heard from so many people who say they've tried everything to quit porn, filters, blockers,
0:05.3	restricting access to apps, even flip phones, only to fall back into the same cycle. Because the
0:10.6	real battle isn't with your browser. It's with what you're feeling. That's the problem Relay is
0:15.4	designed to solve. Relay helps you spot the triggers behind your urges and connects you to a community that actually understands what you're going through.
0:24.0	Instead of fighting this alone, you get accountability, tools, and real-time support when you need it most.
0:29.6	And that's not about shame. It's about building a life where you don't need porn anymore.
0:34.4	And right now is the best time for you to try it.
0:42.4	For our No Poor November campaign, Relay is offering a free 30-day trial to our listeners.
0:49.3	Imagine going a whole month without porn. It's possible with real accountability and support backing you up.
1:12.6	Head to joinrelay.com slash consider and start your 30 days for you today. In today's episode of Consider Before Consuming, we hear from Ryan Ridgeway, a mental health educator and advocate from the UK. Ryan shares how porn became his way to manage stress and how
1:18.4	OCD and self-esteem played into his addiction. Once he realized how those patterns were affecting
1:24.3	his life, he began the process of recovery. Now, he's helping others
1:29.8	through awareness, education, and support. With that, let's jump into the conversation. We hope
1:36.1	you enjoy this episode of Consider Before Consuming. Ryan, thank you so much for joining us on Consider
1:40.9	Before Consuming today. I'm really looking forward to get to have this conversation with you and share this with our listeners. Can you start by telling us a little bit
1:47.6	about yourself and the work you do in the mental health field? Yeah, so 10 years ago, I was the
1:53.7	deputy manager for our National Health Service in the United Kingdom, got close to mental health
1:58.3	teams, branched out on my own to teach mental health first aid,
2:02.3	mental health support, and that's got into areas of addiction support as well. I am a former
2:07.9	Samaritan. That's like our crisis helpline in the UK. I teach our main mental health charity
2:14.9	in the UK. But the thing I think that qualifies me the most is I've had my own
2:18.9	journey with mental illness live with it from about the age of 12 earliest memory and it was only
	...

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