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why?
- Thread starter aboodos94
- Start date
DontGiveUp7
Active Member
Hey man, I completely know how you feel. But I promise you the longer you go without PMO, the better things will get. About 3-4 weeks in, I was completely hopeless and didn't know if I'd ever feel true happiness again. The things that helped me most with this was having an accountability partner I could confide in and talk about my emotions with, meditation, and **being around people and socializing.*** Socializing is in my opinion, is vital to your recovery because you are rewiring your brain to interacting with real people. If you want to talk, feel free to message me bro.
Keep fighting, you will make it bro. We are all here for you and are in your corner.
Keep fighting, you will make it bro. We are all here for you and are in your corner.
yesyes1234
Active Member
It's normal and one of the trades that make this an addiction: Hypersensitivity to porn and desensititation to everything else. Obviously, it's also a reason why it's so extremely difficult to quit. The old joy really comes back with the reboot though.
It will however probably take the strenght and dedication of quitting before it comes back. 90 days is usually the target on these sites but it might be longer depending on your situation. Where are you right now in the proces?
Agree with all the things DontGiveUp7 has said. Loving kindness meditation and mindfulness meditation are helpfull tools. Obviously it wont make it go away but it will make your immediate state of mind better and then progressively better and better the more you get into it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz7cpV7ERsM
http://www.mindful.org/the-three-minute-breathing-space-practice/
It will however probably take the strenght and dedication of quitting before it comes back. 90 days is usually the target on these sites but it might be longer depending on your situation. Where are you right now in the proces?
Agree with all the things DontGiveUp7 has said. Loving kindness meditation and mindfulness meditation are helpfull tools. Obviously it wont make it go away but it will make your immediate state of mind better and then progressively better and better the more you get into it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz7cpV7ERsM
http://www.mindful.org/the-three-minute-breathing-space-practice/
yesyes1234
Active Member
Here is a short oversight over the brainchanges that come with pornaddiction (from yourbrainonporn.com)
In simple, and very broad, terms the major fundamental brain changes are: 1) Sensitization, 2) Desensitization, 3) Hypofrontality, 4) Dysfunctional stress circuits. All 4 of these brain changes have been identified among the 25 neuroscience-based studies on porn users (See this page for a continuously updated list of brain studies) :
1. Sensitization ("A super memory of pleasure"): Rewired nerve connections cause the reward circuitry to buzz in response to addiction-related cues or thoughts. This Pavlovian memory makes the addiction more compelling than other activities in the addict's life. Cues, such as turning on the computer, seeing a pop-up, or being alone, trigger intense cravings for porn. Some describe a sensitized porn response as ?entering a tunnel that has only one escape: porn?. Maybe you feel a rush, rapid heartbeat, even trembling, and all you can think about is logging onto your favorite tube site. These are examples of sensitized addiction pathways activating your reward circuit, screaming, ?Do it now!? (Studies reporting sensitization in porn users: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
2. Desensitization ("A numbed pleasure response"): Among other changes, dopamine and opioids decline, as do certain dopamine receptors and opioid receptors. This leaves the individual less sensitive to pleasure, and "hungry" for dopamine-raising activities/substances of all kinds. Desensitization often manifests as the need for greater and greater stimulation to achieve the same buzz (?tolerance?). (Studies reporting desensitization in porn users: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
3. Hypofrontality ("Willpower erodes"): Alterations in frontal-lobe gray matter and white matter correlate with reduced impulse control and the weakened ability to foresee consequences. Hypofrontality shows up as the feeling that two parts of your brain are engaged in a tug-of-war. The sensitized addiction pathways are screaming ?Yes!? while your ?higher brain? is saying, ?No, not again!? While the executive-control portions of your brain are in a weakened condition the addiction pathways usually win. (Studies reporting "hypofrontality" in porn users: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
4. Dysfunctional stress circuits - which can make even minor stress lead to cravings and relapse because they activate powerful sensitized pathways. (Studies reporting dysfunctional stress responses in porn users: 1)
In simple, and very broad, terms the major fundamental brain changes are: 1) Sensitization, 2) Desensitization, 3) Hypofrontality, 4) Dysfunctional stress circuits. All 4 of these brain changes have been identified among the 25 neuroscience-based studies on porn users (See this page for a continuously updated list of brain studies) :
1. Sensitization ("A super memory of pleasure"): Rewired nerve connections cause the reward circuitry to buzz in response to addiction-related cues or thoughts. This Pavlovian memory makes the addiction more compelling than other activities in the addict's life. Cues, such as turning on the computer, seeing a pop-up, or being alone, trigger intense cravings for porn. Some describe a sensitized porn response as ?entering a tunnel that has only one escape: porn?. Maybe you feel a rush, rapid heartbeat, even trembling, and all you can think about is logging onto your favorite tube site. These are examples of sensitized addiction pathways activating your reward circuit, screaming, ?Do it now!? (Studies reporting sensitization in porn users: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
2. Desensitization ("A numbed pleasure response"): Among other changes, dopamine and opioids decline, as do certain dopamine receptors and opioid receptors. This leaves the individual less sensitive to pleasure, and "hungry" for dopamine-raising activities/substances of all kinds. Desensitization often manifests as the need for greater and greater stimulation to achieve the same buzz (?tolerance?). (Studies reporting desensitization in porn users: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
3. Hypofrontality ("Willpower erodes"): Alterations in frontal-lobe gray matter and white matter correlate with reduced impulse control and the weakened ability to foresee consequences. Hypofrontality shows up as the feeling that two parts of your brain are engaged in a tug-of-war. The sensitized addiction pathways are screaming ?Yes!? while your ?higher brain? is saying, ?No, not again!? While the executive-control portions of your brain are in a weakened condition the addiction pathways usually win. (Studies reporting "hypofrontality" in porn users: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
4. Dysfunctional stress circuits - which can make even minor stress lead to cravings and relapse because they activate powerful sensitized pathways. (Studies reporting dysfunctional stress responses in porn users: 1)
DepressedAndOut
Active Member
yesyes1234 said:Here is a short oversight over the brainchanges that come with pornaddiction (from yourbrainonporn.com)
In simple, and very broad, terms the major fundamental brain changes are: 1) Sensitization, 2) Desensitization, 3) Hypofrontality, 4) Dysfunctional stress circuits. All 4 of these brain changes have been identified among the 25 neuroscience-based studies on porn users (See this page for a continuously updated list of brain studies) :
1. Sensitization ("A super memory of pleasure"): Rewired nerve connections cause the reward circuitry to buzz in response to addiction-related cues or thoughts. This Pavlovian memory makes the addiction more compelling than other activities in the addict's life. Cues, such as turning on the computer, seeing a pop-up, or being alone, trigger intense cravings for porn. Some describe a sensitized porn response as ?entering a tunnel that has only one escape: porn?. Maybe you feel a rush, rapid heartbeat, even trembling, and all you can think about is logging onto your favorite tube site. These are examples of sensitized addiction pathways activating your reward circuit, screaming, ?Do it now!? (Studies reporting sensitization in porn users: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
2. Desensitization ("A numbed pleasure response"): Among other changes, dopamine and opioids decline, as do certain dopamine receptors and opioid receptors. This leaves the individual less sensitive to pleasure, and "hungry" for dopamine-raising activities/substances of all kinds. Desensitization often manifests as the need for greater and greater stimulation to achieve the same buzz (?tolerance?). (Studies reporting desensitization in porn users: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
3. Hypofrontality ("Willpower erodes"): Alterations in frontal-lobe gray matter and white matter correlate with reduced impulse control and the weakened ability to foresee consequences. Hypofrontality shows up as the feeling that two parts of your brain are engaged in a tug-of-war. The sensitized addiction pathways are screaming ?Yes!? while your ?higher brain? is saying, ?No, not again!? While the executive-control portions of your brain are in a weakened condition the addiction pathways usually win. (Studies reporting "hypofrontality" in porn users: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
4. Dysfunctional stress circuits - which can make even minor stress lead to cravings and relapse because they activate powerful sensitized pathways. (Studies reporting dysfunctional stress responses in porn users: 1)
Thank you - good post.
Are those 4 points hierarchical?
yesyes1234
Active Member
Do you mean in the sense that 1 develops first and 4 last? Good question. I don't think there has been established a precise model of how an addiction escalates. But it does seem like 1 and 2 are in some ways prerequisite to 3 and 4, since they are the effects that lure the addiction into the cycle. But it also seems like 1 and 2 go together, and at a point they all increase and reinforce each other. Just my impression.