I had a slip up earlier so I had to reset the clock. Hell I even got a rubber band on my arm I snap myself with to take my mind off it. Technically I'm over 24 hours but I'm counting earlier as a relapse so it's hour one. I'll try and provide updates daily with how I feel. Hopefully posting on here will give me a sense of responsibility.
If this isn't a bit, rolling back a habit that's got you on the hedonic treadmill is a good thing.
Moderation is very helpful, as is forgiveness for coming short of your own self-established expectations.
The most important thing is to avoid letting that intent slide into some weird reactionary cult bullshit like NoFap.
100% in earnest. My goal is to abstain without all the no-fap brainworms.
A good piece of advice for any addiction, especially when you're addicted to something that isn't necessarily harmful:
Don't get depressed if you "break a streak" -don't think about it that way- just focus on the average. No reason to feel like shit if you do it, and you will, just try to create another gap. That's most of the weird nofap brainworms right there. Also I'm sure you're not doing this for some kind of mystical self-improvement, you just want extra time back and for some kind of chafing to heal lol
Agreed. The evidence I've read showed that feeling 'guilt' is overwhelmingly more likely to make you fail in forming or breaking a habit. Guilt is a boo-hiss emotion, take pride in the achievements you do make.
I wish you the best. Remember to accept any setbacks that happen instead of diving head first into "fuck it, start over" impulses.
Thank you. I've been around addiction for a while so I know what the look out for and what my triggers are. Admittedly today has been rough tho, but the first few days of sobriety always are.
For the record I'm 100% serious, this isn't a bit. Also I'm not in some reactionary no-fap semen retention cult or something.
I get quitting pornography, at least exploitative pornography, but what's the point of quitting masturbation? It's a normal, healthy human activity, what's to be gained from stopping that?
even normal activities can be harmful in excess. spinach is good for you but too much causes kidney stones. modern porn is designed to hold your attention, offer specific stimuli, and keep you clicking from video to video. the big porn producers want you to masturbate multiple times a day so you need harder and harder stuff to get the same thrill, bringing you to pay for content. this makes a natural activity so much more addictive. quitting a porn addiction requires a serious step back from masturbation, as ur brain will associate masturbation w porn. porn is a legitimately harmful addiction that leads to erectile dysfunction, body dysmorphia, premature ejaculation, a distorted view of sex, objectification of women, etc.
porn isnt bad in general, but they way porn is made today is harmful, not only to the user, but to the actors as well. there is an amazing short read that is adapted from a nicotine addiction book to help ppl quit porn: https://read.easypeasymethod.org/
i didnt even read the original nicotine book, but i used this method to quit porn and nicotine simultaneously. i have been nicotine free since last October! and i have been doing a lot better w porn, save for a few relapses, but it was something i needed to read since i was very addicted to porn and didnt even realize it. surprisingly it’s harder to quit porn than nicotine
i know, i mentioned the association ur brain makes between porn and masturbation. that means masturbation becomes habitual and an extended break from both is necessary to end the addiction
Can't seem to remember or find where I heard it but Allan Carr's easy way to quit smoking is non-evidence based, not recommended by professionals, and a way for him to shill his expensive classes when people fail. I believe this was due to the physically addictive properties of nicotine not being considered legitimate by his method, so it may hold more weight for other addictions. Thought it was worth a heads up just in case!
Edit: was this episode (act one) of this American Life.
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/806/i-cant-quit-you-baby
I heard somewhere that about half of nicotine withdrawal is the low blood sugar, so if you gain like 15 pounds on a diet of candy bars, it'll be a bit easier to quit
Yeah these are the physical aspects of addiction that Alan Carr deems illegitimate. He says the physical dependence on nicotine is just a mild inconvenience and 99% of it is in your head, so your not allowed to use nicotine patches/gum on his program.
oh shit lol. i mean, did he advertise it as scientific? i thought it was a mindset thing. it worked for me
and how effective are these medical professionals at getting ppl to quit? my dads been smoking for over 40 years and his doctor just offers a weak, “you should really quit”
I think Allan carr is like proudly anti-science lol
I'm also talking about experts in addiction specifically, I've seen similar experiences of family doctors not really working with people to help them quit their addiction.
It's like any of the less effective methods of quitting something addictive, it's going to work for people, sometimes a lot of people, but there are more successful, safer methods out there.
If this helped, awesome! If it's all you have access to, give it a try! This "easy method" has a lot of black/white thinking that may lead people to be discouraged to try anything else if it doesn't work for them and they fail/falter in their addiction, which is the biggest issue.
Another great example of this is alcoholics anonymous. There's other ways to quit alcohol with higher success rates, it has lots of negative aspects like the religious part of it, but it's very common, may be all you have access to (or what you're being forced into by the state), and has also worked for plenty of people.
Just thought it was worth a heads up to someone seeking help, there may be other options you wanna try first.
modern porn is designed to hold your attention, offer specific stimuli, and keep you clicking from video to video. the big porn producers want you to masturbate multiple times a day so you need harder and harder stuff to get the same thrill, bringing you to pay for content.
One of the things I fucking hate about capitalism. Addiction and unhealthy excess mean more sales, so every single industry wants to hook you to the point of obsession, whether that be porn, gambling, video games, sugar...
Not saying I'd expect them to, but if Pfizer comes out with a really quick-acting, cheap, painless anti-alcoholism pill, essentially EVERY alcohol business on Earth would instantly nosedive and close its doors. Literally 85% of alcohol is consumed by alcoholics. 85% of what they do is victimize addicts, and making booze for the rest of the population is a niche market.
https://read.easypeasymethod.org/
I saw this online a year ago and couldn't figure out if it was normal or culty.
I have a really hard time even just getting off anymore and it's not worth the effort or trouble. I know if I go back I'll end up watching porn. I'll deal with the wet dreams.
Congrats, comrade. Keep in mind that a relapse isn't a failure. Every moment you spend consciously abstaining from an unhealthy activity that you would otherwise have been participating in is a win. Don't let a few minutes undo days, weeks, months, or years of effort.
Good luck, is this inspired more by worries about addiction to the act itself, or addiction to pornography / moral opposition to pornography?
Little bit of that. I found myself getting into extreme stuff that left me disturbed and uncomfortable, so I wanted to stop it all.
That's what happens when you spiral down that pipeline.
First it's clean your room! Then it's maid porn, catboy porn, then fully automatic autoerotic mass production porn.
then fully automatic autoerotic mass production porn.
That's where you choke yourself, right?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoerotic
Autoeroticism, the practice of becoming sexually stimulated through internal stimuli
Erotic target location errors (ETLEs), a class of sexual interests in which sexual arousal depends on imagining one's self in another form, such as an animal, child, or the other sex
The choking yourself thing is auto-Asphyxiation
I was going off posting the wanking farm on his public twitter feed and having his daughter go "too much dad".
I would never joke about the whole choking thing. RIP Robin Williams. If it's getting to the point where you're chasing the dragon on something, and are self aware about it. Then yeah stepping back is a healthy thing.
Robin Williams? I thought he had a bad reaction to some treatment for a chronic illness and ... umm.. self terminated.
David Carradine went out that way though.
You're right it was an earlier movie of his refrenced in the reports I was remembering
cw suicide
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/robin-williams-autopsy-confirms-death-746194/
___After searching through Williams’ iPad, which was near his body, Investigator D. Harris found only web browsers open to information about medications. A sweep of his iPhone revealed no texts or messages that indicated he was suicidal.
“There were no reflective devices or pornography near the body” the report says. The investigator says he “frankly asked” if Williams had any “history of autoerotic asphyxia. Mrs. Williams stated that he did not.” However, one person interviewed said Williams had worked on a movie years earlier in which his character’s son accidentally died by autoerotic asphyxiation. That person added that “the scene was very difficult and emotional for Williams” and he may have researched hanging during filming.
Fuckin hated that movie too... got about half way through it before i had to throw in the towel.
Sounds like a good plan. If you need some accountability, me and my guys could help out.
Just get on 100mg spiro and 4mg estradiol and the desire completely goes away, plus you'll look cute in cat ears
This is a joke btw good luck
plus you'll look cute in cat ears
is about how I'd look lol but thanks.
Honestly something I've been considering myself. It's pretty much the only addiction I have, well aside from maybe caffeine. It's tough.
If you're doing it for you cause you think it's the right move for you, I respect that. Be vigilant with yourself, but more importantly be kind to yourself, you're ultimately doing this for some personal betterment, so be nice to you.
It takes guts to commit to quitting anything but don't let this post and affirmation give you too many of the brain chemicals and let you slip up. Good luck comrade. I don't have the same problem but I can relate as quitting weed seems impossible
ty! I quit drinking. I got over that. The next most addictive thing I do almost daily that's easiest to quit is porn. I'm working my way up to quitting smoking as my final goal.
The smoking is tough. I quit a whole bunch of times. I've got just over a year nicotine free now. Hoping I can really make it stick this time
I find not smoking is a lot like being on a diet, if it's not in the house it's much easier to abstain from cravings.
But, similarly to how i handle diets, how do you stop yourself from seeing all the signs for weed stores and just popping in for a sec? Like how does one build up the baseline of willpower that most people seem to have where they don't just immediately give in? I luckily never started smoking cigarettes or i guarantee I'd be smoking packs a day by now lol
I'm very proud of you for quitting something, that takes a lot of effort. If the rubber band works for you, by all means keep going, but do be careful. I'd hate for you to replace one vice with another. Maybe I'm being overly cautious though.
Trying to replace it with something healthier rn like reading.
Good luck! The Volcel Police will be assisting you and standing by to ruthlessly crush any suspicious activity near your vicinity.
- Show
The VOLCEL POLICE are on the scene! PLEASE KEEP YOUR VITAL ESSENCES TO YOURSELVES AT ALL TIMES.
نحن شرطة VolCel.بناءا على تعليمات الهيئة لترويج لألعاب الفيديو و النهي عن الجنس نرجوا الإبتعاد عن أي أفكار جنسية و الحفاظ على حيواناتكم المنويَّة حتى يوم الحساب. اتقوا الله، إنك لا تراه لكنه يراك.