30yo - tried quitting before, serious this time. Trying to turn life around.

thebat

Member
Hi there,

I'm a 30yo old man with a long history of PMOing. I believe I began watching porn when I was 12-13 years old, so that makes it about 18 years. I've known about the bad effects of porn and compulsive masturbation for several years, but have only once made a serious effort at quitting. Lasted about three weeks. That was several years ago. I've made many half-hearted attempts after that, mostly not making it more than a week. Lately I have experienced something of a wakeup call, as I have found myself jacking off to some pretty extreme fetish stuff, the kind that makes me feel sick afterward, and which does not at all fall in line with my sexuality. Girls with dicks and that sort of thing. As a result, I have once again become very much aware of how strongly I'm addicted and how far I have deviated from someone who has a healthy, happy and normal sex life. I want to fix my brain. I want to have a genuine sexual interest towards normal women again, something I have been completely devoid of for so long that I hardly can remember what it feels like.

On top of the fetish stuff, I have pretty much all the usual problems that come with being strongly addicted to PMO. I'm generally shy, insecure and unassertive around people, especially women. I struggle with depressive episodes, am generally lazy, easily irritated and in a bad mood. My mind is "cloudy" much of the time. I lack self-dicipline in general. I often start things that I never finish. I remember a time when I wasn't like this. A time when I was lively, confident, assertive and easily approachable. I want to experience that liveliness again, without a PMO-induced cloud numbing my emotions and senses.

Despite being 30, my experience with women is quite modest. I'm not entirely inexperienced with women, but I have not really ever been in a serious relationship in my life. It's been several years since I have been even to a date, not to mention having any sort of sexual or romantic affair with a girl that wasn't someone on the computer screen. I won't go deeply into the reasons behind this here, possibly later I will, but suffice it to say that I have my demons of the past to deal with. I don't trust other people in general, have difficulty opening up to others and while I have no trouble communicating with other people at work for instance, I struggle to form deeper relationships with them. I want to turn things around here. I want to start seeing women again. I want to reconnect with my old friends. I want to rip down the wall I have built around myself during all these years. I sincerely hope that quitting PMO will at least help me in this effort.

And then there is alcohol. Oh, how I just love drinking alcohol. Almost every weekend I drink (not socially, but mostly alone at home, except for some special occasions), not to the point where I'm totally wasted, but enough to completely destroy any traces of self-dicipline for the next couple of days. Of the many times I have tried quitting PMO, I've lost count how many have failed due to me succumbing to my desires on a day after drinking. Well, I guess I'm just gonna drop the booze right here along with the PMO. I mean what could go wrong? I guess we'll see (3 weeks sober right now btw, an achievement by my standards!). I started drinking when I was in my teens. During those years I drank socially, to have fun with my friends like most other people do. During my 20's, something changed. Drinking became a form of escape for me. Escape from all kinds of negative emotional states, escape from all kinds of insecurities, escape from all kinds of challenges that life happened to throw my way. No more. That shit needs to stop, completely. I've decided to quit drinking altogether, not even a drop, not even at social settings.

So, in a nutshell, my goals are:
-To cease PMO, completely and absolutely. First milestone will be at 1 month. Then 3. Then 6. Then a full year. I will make it this time.
-To quit drinking, completely and absolutely.
-To take back control of my emotions, of my thoughts and actions. I want to feel confident, assertive and in control. I want to build mental fortitude.
-To start rebuilding my social life. Start casually conversing with women in everyday life, to make myself more comfortable with them. Start dating when I feel I'm ready.

Phew, that turned out longer than I expected. Well, I think that's everything for now. I will be checking back every now and then and intend to update at least once weekly. If I relapse, I will make an update and then immediately start anew. Keeping a public journal of this sort is not something I'm accustomed to, but hopefully it will help me in my process of healing. At least it gives me the sense that I'm now accountable to more than just myself, as I have stated these goals of mine here publicly.

Ok, that's it, till my next update! Day 1 begins now.
 
Hey dude. Sounds like your starting a difficult journey. Very similar to mine. I think one thing you also need is something to replace alcohol and porn if you can. Perhaps taking up a new hobby or sport, although I know often it is difficult to think of something you enjoy or are brave enough to do when your self-esteem is low, just sign up for something. You are taking a lot on at one time. Look forward to hearing how it goes.
 

thebat

Member
Thank you for your response Finallytakingcontrol. Yep, it's gonna be difficult. I agree that I will need something to keep myself busy. Although it's been relatively smooth sailing for now, I know I'm gonna hit trouble sooner or later. Usually when I get into a depressive episode, or something stressful comes up in my life, that's the time I'll become very vulnerable to crashing. I've learned that the hard way. But yes, boredom and lack of direction are really bad states to be in as well. Good thing is, I'm about to start new studies in a month or so and as my plan is to keep working part-time at the same tame, I should have something to put my time in. I'm also planning to get back to the gym after 2 years away from there. I've been doing meditation 20 minutes daily for some time now, I've done it before, but never really consistently. I will do it every single day this time, no exceptions. It seems to help controlling my mood swings and improve my general mental well being when I do it regularly.

I'm almost done with day 3. No urges of any sort yet, have even been able to keep any sexual fantasies out of my head. But it's never hard at this point, tough times lay ahead... But I'll be ready for them. I'm also on my third weekend sober now. Coming back home from work today, for a split second I did consider stopping at a grocery store and buying couple of beers for the evening, but instantly refused that thought and kept going. Feeling pretty good. A bit tired, as I have not slept very well lately (staying up very late has been another problem for me, since my teens). Will be working on that as well. Further updates to come...
 

thebat

Member
Still going strong, day 9 will be in the bag soon. Haven't had any urges to speak of, not yet at least. Haven't peeked any of the usual porn sites, have been able to keep any arousing thoughts away almost completely. No wild dreams, not even morning woods (then again, I haven't had them in years, I expect them to return too). But I know I will need to deal with those later. Been having a lot of brain fog recently. Not being able to think clearly, forgetting things and just generally feeling "off". Some moderate mood swings too. I guess it's just withdrawal, and actually the last two days have been better. I've felt pretty confident actually. Still haven't had any booze either, tomorrow is going to be a battle in this regard, I can feel it. But I will hold the line, I won't touch that shit. So yeah, doing pretty good so far, but lot of work to be done still. I'm fully aware that it's going to get harder at some point.

Unfortunately this forum does not seem to be very active these days. I still plan to keep making updates on my progress here, but I'm thinking of starting another journal on another site that seems to be much more active than this one.
 

thebat

Member
Relapsed.

Got drunk on Friday, and instantly masturbated on Saturday while hungover.

Made it to a month without drinking and 17 days without PMO. Things I noticed during this period: I had some pretty wild mood swings, felt very low on week 2, but got much better after that. I was quite assertive at work (in meetings, while socializing etc.), but I strongly feel that I have not yet but scratched the surface.

So, here I am again, on day 1, going at it again. I must abstain from drinking completely, it is imperative that I do. Yesterday was a reminder of just how completely the after-effects of drinking will wreck my ability to control my own behavior or thoughts. Being hungover always comes with being more horny than usual, and this combined with the lethargic feeling and non-existent mental fortitude, relapsing at PMO is a certainty.
 
yo man, i hope your thread is still open and i thank you for sharing your story.

i feel very close to you in some points (pretty extreme fetish stuff, generally lazy, easily irritated and in a bad mood. My mind is "cloudy" much of the time. I lack self-dicipline in general, and instead of your drinking experience i choose myself weed) and i can really undestand how you feel and how difficoult it is.

i'm just in my third day, so just started but i believe we can do it !!
i really feel your story and i hope to read back from you.

 

Andi

Member
You drank every weekend? Thats not a problem. I drank almost for twenty years every evening. Also never to the extreme, like loosing total control, but still every day. I am happy now that I can quit the drinking during the week. Makes me feel much better. But alcohol will always be in my life on a moderate level and that is OK I guess.
 
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