Distract yourself with another “addiction”.
People who have an addictive personality are impulsive. We act from a place of survival instinct and defense mechanisms, but we fool ourselves into thinking it’s out of our control. It’s actually not. We’re going to be just as satisfied being addicted to something else as we are being addicted to something not so healthy.
We can hunt for something else instead of sex. It’s within our power to do so but more often than not, we bend towards the habit that’s most comfortable. Finding another habit starts one thought at a time.
Fight the urge.
We need to ask ourselves, Is it taking away time from my life? For some guys, Grindr is harmless; it’s about as time consuming as any other app. But for others, it can totally distract them from their lives. It subconsciously pulls them away from friends, family and work. And, that’s when you need to take a step back.
Related: Grindr Goes Down and the Gays Go Crazy
Delete the app.
The first step truly comes after you delete it. Sometimes, you’ll need to delete it multiple times — don’t beat yourself up about it if you relapse from time to time. It’s okay. The simple act of hitting the “x” on your phone can be therapeutic — let it knock some sense into you.
If it’s too hard to delete at the beginning, start by putting a filter on the things we send. For example, make a rule never to send nude pics. You can have cool conversation. You might even meet for sex, but if you want to fully wean yourself off Grindr you need to do it in baby steps. Another example would be not to give out your number, never send a face picture, never send your name — whatever it is, give yourself a starting line to work your way out from.
David Artavia is an actor and writer from New York City. He loves living vicariously through his friends. Follow him on Twitter and Like his Facebook page.
