Struggle: 2 months without PMO, but fantasizing overly and lack of energy

Hello everyone!

I'm addicted to porn since 2008. In 2015 I reduced MO, but only in the last two months that I stopped with PMO.

The situation is: I am fantasizing overly and I'm with lack of energy.

I'm not GOIN FOR IT, actually I started in fact on THINK OF IT. However, it's as if my brain was in need of porn (and I do not want to masturbate).

What should I do to resist?

As you help others and share from your own experience you can realice you are strong person and you've got a progress.
When you help others you forget being stuck in your own problems and you want to take care others.
Stay strong!
Let me know if I can do anything for you.

Hi @nopornranger
I have got a similar situation to you. I'm two months into a 'hard reboot' but I'm still fantasising a lot. Perhaps even more than I used to in the bad old days. You've made me start to wonder if I need to stop this.

Before the reboot, when I was addicted to porn for 12 years, I also fantasised. Back then, the only way to get hard without porn (I occasionally resisted due to guilt) was a full-on fantasy daydream. That's when I thought I was getting too old, thinking my dick had stopped responding to my touch due to age.

During the reboot, I initially thought fantasising inside my own mind was OK, as long as it was not about porn scenarios, and as long as it didn't end in masturbation. These fantasies can go on for ages and I rather enjoy them. They are not about porn, and they are mainly 'vanilla', but they are certainly not featuring my wife. I've avoided masturbating, but I do get hard.

Bummer. Maybe I ought to stop. I wish there was some clear guidance...

Used to be a subconscious problem for me too. I advice to redirect your thoughts to something else or distract yourself with ANY little activity when you find your thoughts wandering off to P fantasy. In my experience fantasy is merely a lifeboat the addicted brain tries to cling on when it's been cut off from it's source of extreme dopamine high (which is watching P). I know it can feel very painful to cut off your P related thoughts but THAT IS the very sign of a pure recovery. It took me a couple of weeks of withdrawal after eliminating fantasy but when you're rid of fantasy, you will barely even have spontanous thoughts of fantasy entering your mind.

Keep strong!

From what I understand, your brain cannot distinguish between images on a screen and images in your thoughts. This basically means that fantasizing is still providing a dopamine rush to your brain. Certainly not as powerful as actual P but it is not helping you. I struggle with this as well and to me it is far more difficult than simply not watching P. It takes a lot of discipline to control your thoughts especially when you have intense cravings. Work on it and over time it will get better.