I talked to a therapist and he helped me deal with my conflict with masturbation and pornography
And my medication helped me realize the feelings I had towards myself watching it were kind of delusional shame
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High libido for sex is ok not for porn. If you are an addict you are not moderating it. Ever heard sober alcoholic having become moderate drinker.
Porn changes your innate sexuality a bit. Way alcoholic builds tolerance.
Do you have history of manic episodes or SZA? Or family history of such?
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I dont think with sex which is a basic human built in mechanism that it should be stopped completely. It’s like having a food addiction and saying I gotta quit food.
It’s a different type of addiction from non essential like substances, kleptomania and other behavioral things that are not built in as part of natural human needs. Sex is a natural human need drive.
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Hypomania possibly but definitely no mania. It also seems to run in the family. My dad seems like he has problems with moderating sexual impulses and he’s not mentally ill. He may have BPD or NPD but no mania, psychosis or depression.
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I’m just speaking in reference to other people who have been diagnosed with sex addiction. They all said they had to quit it all together, at least for awhile.
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It’s a little different for me
You’re doing no harm or you’re not gonna die if you never have sex in anyway
But if you don’t eat for a day you’re gonna start doing harm and lead to death if you don’t eat again
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I don’t know. Since it’s getting late and the forum is kind of quiet I’ve been reading a little bit on the internet and some of the stuff I read said that if you are a porn addict and you quit altogether suddenly you may turn to other things to replace it, like binge eating, drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc, so I don’t know.
Maybe whether you should taper down or quit suddenly depends on your own individual limits on what you can do without replaciing it with bad habits. IDK. Just based on what I read, it may have to be an individual decision.
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Family history is strong component in such situations. Doesn’t matter mania/hypomania or SZA.
It is porn addiction not sex addiction. They are similar but not same.
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My sz symptoms started after I quit watching porn and self stimulation. I did it because of the energy.
But lookig back could have been a trigger for BP since testosterone buids up. Might be a reason I gof into mania, excessive energy.
If is an addiction to watch porn would be hard to stop it for good. Is best to replace that with something else.
Porn isn’t natural. It’s all a big act. It’s like they are mocking intimacy.
The problem is the accessibility where western governments have completely failed to make any sort of effort to let a citizen decide if they want acsess to it or not. This could easily have been put in place by demanding that the internet provider options to block adult content. In the meantime the best option is software like coldturkeyblocker for desktop and boomerang parental control for mobile devices.
In countries like China and Thailand they recognize that porn is not healthy and block it completely.
I honestly expected some people to come to porns defense. I expected a more fiery debate. It seems very lopsided against viewing porn.
Perhaps those that would defend it are embarrassed?
Since I have been looking on the internet on how to quit or reduce viewing when you have an addiction, I suppose that I can play devil’s advocate here and mention some of what I found on the positive side.
Obviously, excessive porn viewing is probably bad. Some research even shows that it “wears out the dopamine reward system”. It may stress your real life relationships and lead to unrealistic body image expectations. Also some claim much of it is misogynistic.
But other articles point out that in moderation it could provide stress relief and even lower blood pressure and improve the immune system. They also point to the possibility that it may destigmatize sex.
Obviously, I dont want to undercut the OP’s original intent to cut down or quit, I just want to balance out this thread a little bit.
So here is an article that seems pretty balanced:
It provides both the good and bad possible aspects of viewing.
I’m not saying whether porn is good or bad, just trying to offer a more balanced retort.
Porn in form that is today is a completely new thing. Minors can access it without much difficulty. Not so with things like alcohol or cigarettes. We don’t know how it will affect human society as whole.
We can survive alcohol, gambling or sex work. These are as old as humanity. Can destroy life of individual but not much effect on society.
Do you really think people in China or Thailand can’t watch porn?
The government blocks it. I’m not saying it’s impossible to watch it, if someone is determined to watch porn sure they will find a way. But such a policy of blocking it makes it much easier to abstain for those who don’t really want to watch it, makes the web much safer for kids, and it sends a powerful signal when society is collectively against it.
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I used to be frequent. I stopped due to the energy drain of it overall. I viewed masturbation as an everyday thing. Now its reward system. Have I earned it in my eyes? Usually once every two weeks now.
It’s a lifeforce I’m not willing to through away anymore. Energy is high due to this, and the odd dip into pleasurable indulgence doesn’t drain for I don’t abuse it.
To quit I’d advise avoiding anything that will trigger you going onto these sites. At least be aware what caused you to stumble upon sinking into the addiction. An example when I was stepping away and doing well I suddenly saw and “accidentally” clicked on an old porn link in my history and yeah was sucked in from there ha. Usually what abstains me the most is knowing where this addiction can lead me and how far it can set me back. Sometimes it’s as easy as taking a deep breath and saying “No. Not today.”
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I don’t get regular nooks off my gf which is fine. Porn is still a nice experience for me to watch it. Although many people wouldn’t respect the girls performing and showing their bits to everyone., personally I find it very interesting that a person has broken the barrier for themselves and is comfortable doing that.
In some ways it’s very respectable unless of course it was my daughter than I would be upset.
But there are barriers when it comes to sex and I think porn is a safe substitute in some respects.
When I watch porn I find it to be somewhat of a spiritual experience. I’m told to be a better man, more resilient to temptation but I’m grateful that I have such an attraction to women, having said that I realise I tend to be very unconscious and my feelings have got me into bad relationships in the past.
So self preservation and self improvement is always important, being in control of your self and showing discipline is correct because it’s all a fantasy.
Late 90’s I was about10 or 12 I was well into porn. Infact I was interested in girls long before that. Lots of children develop a natural curiosity because of how they process and interpret the fact that girls and boys are different.
Yeah
I do not say porn is bad, it can be very teachable except some extreme sick filmings. Porn can teach you a lot about genders and can make you somehow overcome shyness and be more bold sometimes.
Soft Porn and Erotica I almost belive are necesary to watch and learn, but I would not mix those with hardcore porn or worse
Keep in mind that coming off opiates hyper-awakens the senses for a time, including the sexual urge, while your brain readjusts itself, and that would include kratom. Just sayin’
I’ve been going at it everyday at least once for a year now.
There are benefits.
You can be addicted to sex even when never watching porn. I used to be like that. I was hypersexual due to Abilify, thankfully this stopped soon after I stopped the Abilify with the help of my pdoc. Addiction to anything is bad.
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