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.
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.
makes sense, thanks!
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.
I saw this online a year ago and couldn't figure out if it was normal or culty.
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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.
Ok. Do you think quitting masturbation is a sustainable goal?
Yes, I've done it before.
I'm not touching that one good luck with your goals comrade
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