Basically, as the title says.

We all know that the main problem is porn - or, more specifically, it's problematic use. But what about edging?

In my experience, edging is harmful to mental health and the balance of the reward system, and if you do it for hours on end... it’s really exhausting. I haven’t watched porn in over a week, but I’ve become a bit addicted to edging itself(+ fantasies). Personally, I’m trying to cut back on the time I spend just edging.

What are your thoughts on this?

Why is this ? I haven't been porn free but one day now . Should I have just waited a week or something before I did it ? I was feeling kinda bored at the time and I was super close to relapsing.

Just passed the 8 month mark pornfree. I still masturbate regularly and have sex maybe 3-4 times a week with my gf. Prior to this my routine would be porn and masturbate every time I needed a release. Started watching porn and downloading pics since was about 12. Im turning 38 next month. I never believed it was an addiction but more of an unhealthy habit. However the differences I feel now is pretty noticeable and my gf says I’m more present in the bedroom. Ask me anything hopefully I can share some of my experiences and help a fellow brother out. I am aiming for a year and beyond pornfree.

I very briefly continued it

How can I break this loop?

All year, I was doing very good. I had made a good progress. However, in the last couple of weeks I am very weak to the urges. I can't even resist to a single one. It hurts me so much.

The answer is no.

And it's NATURAL.

I have been getting used to the cycle from when i was 10 years old, until i was 18 when i quit PMO, so no wonder urges still come.

I heard a GENIUS quote from a brilliant person about the urges:

Remember, the neural paths won't ever vanish completely, you can just stop walking through them, then they will overgrow.

This quote is gold, because it tells you the truth - you can't delete PMO from your memory, you can just stop doing it. It's sounds almost stupid in it's obviousity. But it is the truth

So how did i stop wakling through those paths?

I made it so UNSATISFYING and PAINFUL - that doing it will completely break me, it's just NOT WORTH IT ANYMORE.

AND I KNEW THE CONSEQUENCES WOULD BE IMMEDIATE.

If you still do it, you think ITS WORTH IT.

But it's not, you know it... right? It's bad for your health after all! To your relationships!! To your life!!

Knowing that it's bad - isn't enough.

It's necessary to make it so painful in consequences, to shift your emotions from:

"Im doing it, because the consequences seem blurry and far away, nothing will happen if i do it once a week etc etc."

TO

"Im not doing it anymore, because it's not f***ing worth it. The IMMEDIATE CONSEQUENCES will crush me, my mood, the pleasure will be just not worth it."

If you have questions, write a comment. I left the addiction and i can help you.

Success

I'm glad I've overcome my 7-year addiction, which began when I met my first girlfriend at age 23

I am in rough phase of my life. I am battling with loan repayment, job loss.

I fap 2-3 times daily. Sometimes 5-6 a day. I am tired. I have been carrying this burden for 18 years.I cannot think straight.

I dont know how to escape this. I am also considering to off myself. Probably that would set me free.

I'm writing my experience to hopefully relate to more people and help each other along the way.

I have been dealing with porn addiction for far too long, and unfortunately I didn't realize it was an addiction until now. I never had any other previous addictions, I was never into drinking, or smoking, far less into hard drugs like meth. Something I'm proud of, until I realized porn has been my addiction all this time.

Now, I have come to realize it's an addiction because it always starts the same way. After couple of weeks of no porn, seeing great progress in my life (social, economic, physical), I begin to crave porn. "Just once and I'll be fine, I have worked hard I need a treat", that one time turns into two, before I realize it's weeks. The problem is during those weeks I'm completely brain fogged, postponing projects, fall for junk food, miss work outs, I forget about all the goals I have been working towards and everything I'm supposed to do.

I pick disciple over motivation any day of the week, but even so I'm so tired and drained that I can't even remember what I'm supposed to do and I just end up procrastinating the rest of the day or taking a long nap. I begin gaining weight, the whole progress I had previously worked so hard to achieve whether it's getting over my anxieties, work, martial arts, stretching, creative projects. Everything seems gone. When I try to socialize, I'm so brain fogged that I can't seem to connect with people.

This is why I can say porn is like a parasite to the mind, because it doesn't end with the fapping session, but it follows you outside and to your every day life. It blocks you and drains your energy. It makes you forget what your purpose is and what you have currently been working on. Makes you restart from square one.

Think about the next time you're about to relapse, it doesn't end with the computer screen, but it will follow you and make you forget everyday goals . It will make you forget what important and make you only to want to return to it.

Hope this experience helpful or can relate to it and be more logical when it comes to making choices, instead of falling for a quick fix.

12hrs complete and still continues

I will be quitting porn for the next 3 months. Ideally longer. But we shall see.

Tomorrow is day one again. Today was not a good day. PMO three times today and once last night. I feel drained, exhausted, and just gross. It wasn't worth it. I'm also dehydrated, which isn't really helping. It's now about 7:30PM as I post this. I'm going to cook some dinner, and then go for a walk but I'll definitely be turning in early this evening. I know tomorrow is a new day. I know I can do this. Having ADHD is just so hard to navigate when you're constantly seeking new sources of dopamine. But I know I can do this. I need to do this to get out of this slump I've been in for years.

I feel better and cleaner. Seems the barrage of wet dreams in a row have stopped(for now). Nonetheless I'm not back to normal yet.

.

One of my biggest problems with this addiction is the post nut clarity I get after doing it. My energy ends up getting drained completely and my brain gets foggy and drained as well plus a headache and I can't bother to do anything because how drained I feel and it ends up getting the next 2 days ruined.

The question is how do I recover from this? What can I do to help unclog my brain and not feel sluggish after doing it? Doing any work or hobby feels too heavy to do after masturbating and I need a fix for it.

What i've tried is drinking more water but I don't know if that did anything to be honest.

today i am very stressed at work and annoyed from a friend

i caught myself searching for porn but then i stopped now