otanerferguson
Active Member
Hi roark,
I am intrigued by reading about an Italian man and these issues. How porn is destroying cultures who for millennia have been known for their sexual energy. You know, we in the rest of the world see Italians as some sort of super men and we look up to you. Virile, refined but rugged at the same time with a love for food, life, good design and of course women. I am Guatemalan and so much admire Italian culture in every sense that I got engaged in Modena to my Guatemalan girlfriend while traveling. And to think that cheap digital video cameras are bringing all of us down is just incredible. And so stealthily too, 'cause in my case it never even occurred to me to link ED to porn. It's just counter intuitive.
Anyway I applaud your journey and soon you will be fully back living la dolce vita, I am sure!!
I believe that the flatline is a very physical response. I imagine the addictive behavior being like an arm wrestle between the increase in stimulus coming into the brain and the brain trying to control that input to protect its circuitry by numbing your dopamine receptors. Both sides are pushing hard, and with escalating stimulus in one direction, you got even more desensitization pushing in the other direction. When quitting porn, I see it as one of the arm wrestlers just giving up and exerting no more pressure in one direction (the stimulus). The other guy ends up exerting too much strength to the opposite side and banging both hands on the table with tremendous force. That's your flatline. Until that guy slowly lets go, neither will be able to lift their hands.
That's my caricaturized view of it
Keep on going, I will be rooting for you (and myself)
I am intrigued by reading about an Italian man and these issues. How porn is destroying cultures who for millennia have been known for their sexual energy. You know, we in the rest of the world see Italians as some sort of super men and we look up to you. Virile, refined but rugged at the same time with a love for food, life, good design and of course women. I am Guatemalan and so much admire Italian culture in every sense that I got engaged in Modena to my Guatemalan girlfriend while traveling. And to think that cheap digital video cameras are bringing all of us down is just incredible. And so stealthily too, 'cause in my case it never even occurred to me to link ED to porn. It's just counter intuitive.
Anyway I applaud your journey and soon you will be fully back living la dolce vita, I am sure!!
roark said:Do you think this is the flatline? I don't feel depressed at all, quite the opposite.
Yes, no libido, but that was expected: I was only turned on by porn, now remove that...
I believe that the flatline is a very physical response. I imagine the addictive behavior being like an arm wrestle between the increase in stimulus coming into the brain and the brain trying to control that input to protect its circuitry by numbing your dopamine receptors. Both sides are pushing hard, and with escalating stimulus in one direction, you got even more desensitization pushing in the other direction. When quitting porn, I see it as one of the arm wrestlers just giving up and exerting no more pressure in one direction (the stimulus). The other guy ends up exerting too much strength to the opposite side and banging both hands on the table with tremendous force. That's your flatline. Until that guy slowly lets go, neither will be able to lift their hands.
That's my caricaturized view of it
Keep on going, I will be rooting for you (and myself)