“I Started Becoming Scared to Leave My House”

David’s Life Came to a Still When Addiction and Anxiety Attacks Threatened to Rob Him of His Future

 
During that time, friends were showing me things on their phones. I became addicted to pornography, and that addiction was so deep in my life that it ended up like a rabbit hole. It gave me psychological problems. I started having anxiety attacks. I just felt inside of me like I was going to die.

I am an airline pilot; I had my job and my career. The anxiety attacks got so bad that I started becoming scared to leave my house. I couldn’t go to work.

I had what was called agoraphobia. It’s like a fear of having a panic attack. You become scared of losing control of yourself, and that fear starts to apply in every area of your life.

The psychiatrist told me I needed to take medicine. I was prescribed something for anxiety and a pill to calm me down when I had a panic attack. What I realized is that this medicine, when I started taking it, didn’t help at all.

So for me, going to work as an airline pilot, being in a plane, was impossible. At that moment, I opened my eyes and realized I needed help. I knew that the root of the problem was spiritual.

When I truly reached rock bottom, I understood that I needed to let go of my shame, of my fears, and I had to put it all on the Altar and truly seek God’s help.

One thing that frustrated me a lot when I started getting serious with God was that I kept falling. There were times when I’d be weak, and I would watch porn again. But that all went away when I realized that Bible verse that says,

… God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able… (1 Corinthians 10:13)

 
When I truly understood that verse in the Bible, I told myself, I have the power to do this. These are excuses, and I can be free from this addiction.

I had a desk in my room with a computer, a TV, and video games. Then, in that moment, I asked, “What do I need to do?” And my head looked straight at that desk.

I needed to let go of these things, of anything that distracts me from God, and I needed to focus on the Altar.

I got baptized, and since that day, I have never watched pornography again.

Little by little, I started getting the courage to leave my house and eventually go back to work. I no longer have panic attacks.

I never had a panic attack again. I do not have anxiety anymore, no anxiety attacks. All that went away from me.

My finances are stable. I have a stable job now.

The best thing is that I was able to beat that addiction to pornography. That was the worst thing in my life.

Today, I’m even married. I was able to have a relationship with one woman and be faithful to her. I’ve been married to her for almost a year now.

One thing that I’ve learned about pornography is that the world makes it seem like it’s normal. People out there tell teens that it’s okay; it’s normal, and that it’s part of a growing man’s journey. No, it’s not. It is an addiction that no young man, especially teenagers, should be playing with.

You don’t know what pornography will lead you to. So take it from my experience: don’t ever watch it.

—David
 
 
DISCLAIMER: The Universal Church advises not to dismiss medical treatment. The prayers, elements, and tools of faith are not a replacement for medical treatment but a complement/support to it. Please follow your doctor’s instructions along with using your faith in the Word of God.