What I've noticed after 8 days of no PMO. READ

[Greg1994]

I'm on 8 days of NoFap. I have HOCD and am also an avid pot smoker. I haven't smoked in 5 day. What I've noticed is the following after just 8 days without porn and masturbation: - Clearer minded; no brain fog, my mind feels sharp. This may be due to the fact I haven't smoked weed either. - Feeling more manly, more like my real self - SENSE of humor; I don't know what it is or if anyone experiences this but my God I am funnier than I thought. I had all my friends laughing today constantly, I'm wittier, sharper to respond to people with good comebacks and not afraid to back down to someone if they talk down on me - Less anxiety; I feel as if my social anxiety around people has decreased already. -Eye contact; I can make good eye contact with anyone, I'm not afraid to stare you in the face and speak. When I was viewing porn I couldn't look at anyone in the face. I felt inferior to other men and had trouble maintaining eye contact with people. - Decrease in HOCD thoughts. This was extremely noticeable because it's the number one thing I have been trying to defeat. Porn was a big culprit in this as I believe watching so much of it caused me to have HOCD. I never escalated from straight porn to gay porn but I do have HOCD. I recommend to anyone to stop watching porn as all it does is give HOCD more fuel - Much hornier and attracted to real life woman. I don't know if this was because I haven't had sex in 9 days (I have a girlfriend) but I feel like I wanna bang anything with an ass and tits. God dam. All I can think about is eating pussy and banging girls.
What I have not noticed is any real strong erections. I think this is just because i haven't let myself really try to enjoy a sexual fantasy. I've kind of just calmed down with trying to fantasize and have been trying to keep myself occupied.
So so far after 8 days of NoFap I have seen improvements. If this the way life is without porn with room for more improvement than I am so down for the ride. I am never looking at porn again. Real life is so much better.

 

[grub]

I'm also addressing masturbation/porn and cannabis simultaneously.  Are there other activities that you find yourself having a compulsive relationship with?  (social networking, eating, drinking, cigarettes, exercise, etc?)

I had never heard of HOCD.  I just read a quick explanation of it.  It seems to me that this sort of thing wouldn't cause much anxiety without some degree of (maybe just subconscious) homophobia factoring in.  My life got a lot better when I stopped beating myself up over such things.  Sexual attraction is a continuum in constant flux.  I'm male and I've only slept with women, but I identify as queer.  I hardly ever see a male on the street and find myself particularly attracted to them, and yet I've experienced powerful emotional and sexual enfatuation for a male friend of mine.  I could have just freaked out about "am I? am I not?! what does it mean?!" but instead I just accepted it for what it was, told him, was rejected, and life went on.  Labels don't often empower us.  We experience whatever we experience.  Maybe this is not relevant to your experience at all, but I would be interested in your comments. 

I'm about two weeks into no porn/masturbation as well as no cannabis.  Less depressed but I still feel like I have a long way to go.  I'm wondering if I'll need to also quit drinking, having sex, and any other potentially compulsive activities entirely.  I'm even thinking about fasting, to address my relationship to food, which I'm sure factors into all of this. 

Will you be keeping a journal on here?

 

[Greg1994]

Your completely wrong about HOCD. I have no level of homophobia. Homophobia is being scared of gay people or the fear of gay people. HOCD is an mental disorder/anxiety disorder that involves INTRUSIVE thoughts about being gay. I have never had an attraction to a man in my life. I've slept with a dozen girls I'm 20 years old and have a girlfriend. I never can recall finding the male form sexually attractive growing up. I'm not homophobic in the least. I respect gay people and believe that they should marry and love and live life like anybody else. I would never go out of my way to harm someone who's gay or make fun of them. That is homophobia. I experience intrusive thoughts about gay acts that do not cause me arousal but stress confusion and depression. If I was gay they would arouse me but I have yet to be aroused by a man. Because of the way I react to the thoughts (fighting them off, trying to get out of my head) they return. When you have OCD you just have to let thoughts be and feel the anxiety without reassuring yourself. It is a terrible disorder to live with but since going porn free they have decreased in quantity and quality. I think you should quit porn and marijuana as they both are harmful to the brain