Intentional Bifurcation

[Legend]

I've had luck recently attempting to separate P and O into their own two categories; making one the goal to quit and another a long term goal to reduce tremendously. I will be journalling my days here and welcome any feedback and ideas from all of you here. On the other side of this addiction isn't simply freedom, but endless joy, energy, motivation, and love.

Today is day zero.

 

[Legend]

I've found it's much easier to gain momentum and traction in recovery when we cut other dopamine stimulating activities out as well. It prevents a small chaser effect from occurring if you avoid sugar, social media (obviously), and sometimes even music and TV. The first few days I will stay off most electronics and watch dopamine closely to not only examine how bad the setback affected my mental state, yet also where recovery lies.

 

[TheOvercomer]

I completely agree  on cutting out other dopamine stimulating activities. Before being addicted to porn (or at least knowing I was), I was addicted to music and I didn't even know. I had my earbuds with me everywhere. I would literally wake up, put them in my ear and play music while I brush my teeth. Once I put 2 and 2 together, I realized I have to cut music playing down tremendously to help with porn. I am chronically addicted to porn and have flatline-like feelings even when I'm not abstaining. When I play  music, I feel a lot better, but then I'm more likely to play music for hours and do nothing else, and I'm more likely to relapse afterwards. I just need to cut music down and enjoy the present, because I've also realized I'm never present when music is playing. Best of luck to you bro.

 

[Legend]

Great attention to detail here. They are definitely correlated. Even simply flipping through songs trying to find one you like can spike dopamine beyond what our minds are used to.