Every success starts with day 1. It doesn't matter if the streak is short now because you need to start with 5 days to get to a lot more. Patience is very important. Also determination and keeping in mind that there is a day in the future when everything will be over. But be prepared because this addiction is sneaky. Things could be alright today but tomorrow the withdrawal could hit you really hard, the craving could get unbearable and this is when your determination is tested. I'm close to a month without searching or watching/looking at porn or porn subs. But I've had 3 days when I almost fell. I don't know if it applies to everybody but I feel that I had to follow a textbook approach with my addiction if I want to succeed. There is no room for even small mistakes. I can't count how many times I've relapsed after engaging in something "small and harmless". I had to remember that I felt better since the last binge, I had to keep in mind where I wanted to be. There is no place for an addiction in the life that I want to live from now on. This addiction dragged me down too much. Good luck, man.
I can relate to this situation so much. My strongest urges were coming while being frustrated, especially concerning my studies. I wasnt used to handling negative emotions without pmo. Therefore i congratulate you to make it through this. Be aware that it might happen again. Maybe you might want to think about what to do in these situations to deal with the stress. What also helped me was showering, especially cold, when i was just too tired to just keep working.Keep going faenoe
Faenoe, Glad you're back on here man - I'm the same way and feel like I have the most success when I'm active on the forum talking with others. Stress is a big thing for me that causes me to want to watch porn, but also specifically when things I feel just aren't going well in terms of dating/personal life. Perhaps maybe that falls under stress as well. Keep it up man!
DAY 18I was working on my end-of-semester project and got stuck on something. Immediately, I got hit by these extremely powerful urges to PMO.
I think that's great that you decided to do some cooking instead of just trying to get ahead, and that you posted here when the urges hit. All good signs of looking for a more sustainable path through life. It's like the say, your muscles grow when they're resting after the workout. If you never take time to rest, you'll just wear yourself down. Rest is as much a part of productivity as work. Addiction doesn't let us pace ourselves, but real life can be more sustainable when we do. Plus, cooking is a great way to get your mind off things and to do something good for yourself. I love cooking as a way to unwind from a stressful day.
Hey man, First thing's first, congrats on 40 days! You're doing great, keep it up. If you ever feel the urges, just hop on here, read these posts, and fight the urges. I read that you mentioned in an earlier post that you didn't actually want to stop looking at porn, you just wanted more. Totally relate to this man. I relapsed a few times after a good 30-40 days earlier this year and then I never felt like stopping either. I just knew I couldn't continue watching porn. It wasn't filling the void, it was creating it. So I'm so glad you took this step. Keep on continuing this path. I also have a hard time falling asleep. I've been miserable because of not being able to fall asleep especially since I am a man of structure and routine. It irritates the fuck out of me. But I've just realized that it is probably withdrawal (haha thanks to Jeks) and you just gotta find ways to deal with it and not use this as an excuse to relapse. So what I do is I push myself with workouts every day so I'm really exhausted by night. I avoid naps throughout the day (haven't had much success with this myself haha) and I make sure to study as much as I can so that I'm mentally tired too. So find ways to just tire yourself out haha, that's the best you can do. Slowly, this problem will fade away.Last, I'll leave you with this quote which has helped me these past 7-10 days. "A lot of the time you will find that motivation, energy, and focus come to you after you have begun." So if you ever find yourself procrastinating on a task, or not wanting to read for a class that hasn't begun yet, simply get yourself to sit down and do it anyway. But, most importantly, know that even if you fail after trying IT IS ALRIGHT. Addiction and withdrawal are difficult, so sometimes it is okay for you to not succeed at every task. Practice a little bit of self-compassion because just staying sober every single day is a big accomplishment itself.