App Helps Men Overcome Porn Addiction, Created by Mormons
▼ Summary
– Jamie developed a compulsive porn habit that escalated to five daily sessions and interfered with his emotional responses, especially after his father’s funeral.
– His partner confronted him about his addiction, leading him to admit the problem, seek forgiveness, and temporarily move out while renouncing porn.
– Jamie began using Relay, an app designed to help users stop watching porn through therapy videos, journaling, group sessions, and urge management tools.
– Relay was founded by Chandler Rogers, who was motivated by his own addiction and aims to provide a solution, particularly for Gen Z users.
– The app has over 110,000 downloads, primarily male users, and partners with anti-porn advocacy groups for initiatives like the “November Project.”
Finding freedom from compulsive pornography use is a challenge many men face in today’s digital environment. For individuals like Jamie, a 32-year-old Michigan engineer, what began as adolescent curiosity evolved into a consuming habit that dictated his daily routine and emotional state. His story reflects a broader struggle where temporary relief through explicit content ultimately deepened feelings of isolation and distress.
Jamie recalls scheduling his entire day around opportunities to view pornography, sometimes engaging in the behavior five times daily. His journey started at age twelve, but the severity of his situation only became apparent following his father’s funeral three years ago. “I didn’t shed a single tear,” he remembers. “I’d lost the ability to experience happiness or sadness normally.” During this period of grief, his pornography consumption intensified dramatically, merging with mounting anxiety and depression until he found himself confined to his room throughout the day. The only sensation that felt real to him was “that rush of dopamine” from intense porn sessions, though these moments were consistently followed by profound emotional crashes that included thoughts of suicide.
The breaking point arrived last March when Jamie’s partner discovered the extent of his behavior and confronted him angrily, accusing him of deception and emotional infidelity. This confrontation shattered his world. Recognizing he needed help, Jamie admitted his addiction, pleaded for forgiveness, temporarily relocated to his mother’s home, and committed to quitting pornography permanently. It was during this vulnerable period that he discovered Relay, an application developed by two Mormon university students designed to help individuals “take back control from porn, one day at a time.” After Jamie vowed to his partner that he would never view pornography again, she agreed to give their relationship one final opportunity.
Relay offers a structured approach to overcoming pornography dependency through therapist-led video content, daily journaling exercises, live group discussions, and specialized tools for managing intense cravings. Participants can monitor their progress and support one another’s porn-free streaks using a “Live Milestone” tracking feature. The program aims to help subscribers, who pay $149 annually for complete access, address root causes such as loneliness and past trauma to reduce the likelihood of relapse. With more than 110,000 downloads to date, company statistics indicate that 89% of Relay’s user base identifies as male.
This month, Relay joined forces with the anti-pornography advocacy organization Fight the New Drug to launch “the November Project,” a new initiative encouraging people to abstain from pornography. The campaign has already attracted 28,000 participants.
Chandler Rogers, Relay’s 27-year-old CEO, describes widespread pornography consumption as “a modern epidemic.” His motivation for co-founding the application in August 2021 emerged from his personal struggle with what he characterizes as a years-long addiction to explicit material. Rogers, who studied at Brigham Young University where he met both his co-founder and chief of staff, acknowledges his own repeated failed attempts to quit. “I tried to stop at least 100 times,” he admits, “and could never go more than a week without turning back to pornography.” His vision focuses on providing his Generation Z contemporaries with tangible resources to break this cycle.
(Source: Wired)