Cameron Staley<\/a> explained that porn consumption is often a symptom of an underlying mental concern.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople who struggle with compulsive pornography viewing tend to be less aware of their emotions,\u201d Staley said. \u201cIt\u2019s usually emotions that are preceding urges to view sexual images. And so emotions organize us for action, and we\u2019re always feeling things even if we don\u2019t notice those.\u201d<\/p>\n
After researching the topic for years, Staley found that the brain doesn\u2019t tend to behave in typical addictive patterns as if it were subject to substance abuse. He said instead of treating porn like an addiction, it should be viewed as a symptom of an underlying mental concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe antidote to (the) compulsive pornography viewing problem in many ways is to develop the capacity to get more comfortable with emotions and discomfort,\u201d Staley said. \u201cAnd learn better ways to manage emotions and create more space for those.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Staley sees it, that\u2019s what Relay attempts to do.<\/p>\n
Relay race against porn<\/p>\n
On the app, users can opt in to an online support group where they can talk to other users about their struggles with porn. Users can open up with one another about their progress and reach out to others when they feel vulnerable to relapse.<\/p>\n
The purpose, Rogers said, is to turn self-isolation into a team effort, which fits the company\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe name came about as an homage to my track background,\u201d Rogers explained. \u201cIn a relay race, you have to run individually. You\u2019ve run your own leg in the race, but, ultimately, the race can only be completed as a team. \u2026 It\u2019s a very personal and individual thing to try to overcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
An Idaho Falls Relay user, who asked not to be named for privacy reasons, said he had tried programs, apps and internet filters for years but struggled to find a solution that worked for him.<\/p>\n
Then he tried Relay.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the key factors in my success is being able to feel connection,\u201d the user said. \u201cYou really can\u2019t go through this alone. You have to reach out to others. You have to find that support.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Relay) This image depicts the Relay app’s user interface and shows the Red Flag feature, which allows users to reach out to members in their group for support.<\/p>\n
This sense of community is Relay\u2019s psychological strategy and is what shows results, said Joe Alto, Relay\u2019s director of growth and one of the clinical therapists who collaborated on the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cAddiction is the opposite of connection,\u201d Alto said. \u201cIsolation is what fuels addiction. \u2026 You need community and you need accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while Relay\u2019s focus is on the pain, the porn might just disappear with it.<\/p>\n
Note to readers \u2022 Dylan Eubank is a Report for America<\/a> corps member covering faith in Utah County for The Salt Lake Tribune. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps to keep him writing stories. This story is available to Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe often tell people that they don\u2019t really have a porn problem,\u201d co-founder says. \u201cThey have a pain…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[11357,4815,165,28920,35361,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-366978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-app","9":"tag-byu","10":"tag-mobile","11":"tag-porn","12":"tag-pornography","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}