Hey folks,
This is my first post.
While I have been masturbating to porn since I was young, and have definitely gone through some phases of really overdoing it, I feel that my situation is somewhat unique from many of the stories I've read on here. I consider masturbation the primary sexual addiction addiction for me, though I usually used porn when masturbating. I have experienced weird fetishes, increasing frequency, etc. but never fully lost the ability to just look at a sexy photo, or rely on my imagination or just on the physical stimulation. I also have never had any trouble having sex with other people. Ultimately, smoking cannabis has been the addiction I have struggled with the most, and attributed so many of the negative symptoms I've experienced on. Brain-fog, depression, lethargy, compulsivity.. I've spent over 10 years blaming all of these things on cannabis and failing over and over again to quit. When I do take some time off, I masturbate much more, I eat more, and I drink more. Sex with my girlfriend also factors into this general compulsivity/addictiveness. I feel that I often treat our sex like a drug (for example, feeling pretty grumpy if she's not in the mood and feeling like i need to go in the bathroom and jerk off.) I feel that this also factors into this assortment of dopamine hits that I've been chasing after my entire life. I recently didn't touch cannabis for 4 months and did not experience the benefit I was hoping for. It is likely because I did everything else a little bit more, and hardly did anything to really reset my dopamine receptors.
I really feel for all the guys on here who are experiencing really intense sexual symptoms resulting from their porn use. Though I am not experiencing this, I do feel that I have quite a challenge ahead of me. I have been chronically depressed for so long. I have bad ADD and generally can't get a thing done without stimulants. When I'm feeling alright, I understand just how much potential I have to be an excellent person, but I always feel sick, like I'm operating at 40% almost all the time. Social Anxiety has wrecked me since the days when I began masturbating, and now, at 28 years old, I'm fucking sick of it. I'm not smoking cannabis anymore, so I can no longer blame it on that. I've quit Facebook, which I've identified as another dopamine-chasing activity that wasn't serving me. I've begun a daily yoga practice (though I'm sure I need to bring in much more exercise than a half hour of yoga every day). Maybe most importantly is that I've actually succeeded in quitting masturbating. At least, I feel pretty solid in my resolve, and I haven't in 2 weeks. The thing is, I sleep with my girlfriend about every day. I make a point to not let it happen more than once a day, and sometimes we skip days, but this leaves me with some questions.
If I'm not trying to retrain my mind to be aroused by sex with a real woman, but rather trying to overhaul my dopamine system to address an overall "addictive personality," social anxiety, depression, ADD, etc. then will quitting masturbating be enough, or do I need to do "hard mode?"
How common is it for people on this forum reporting that they have to address other addictions simultaneously to achieve benefits to mood, attentivity, etc?
Thanks.
This is my first post.
While I have been masturbating to porn since I was young, and have definitely gone through some phases of really overdoing it, I feel that my situation is somewhat unique from many of the stories I've read on here. I consider masturbation the primary sexual addiction addiction for me, though I usually used porn when masturbating. I have experienced weird fetishes, increasing frequency, etc. but never fully lost the ability to just look at a sexy photo, or rely on my imagination or just on the physical stimulation. I also have never had any trouble having sex with other people. Ultimately, smoking cannabis has been the addiction I have struggled with the most, and attributed so many of the negative symptoms I've experienced on. Brain-fog, depression, lethargy, compulsivity.. I've spent over 10 years blaming all of these things on cannabis and failing over and over again to quit. When I do take some time off, I masturbate much more, I eat more, and I drink more. Sex with my girlfriend also factors into this general compulsivity/addictiveness. I feel that I often treat our sex like a drug (for example, feeling pretty grumpy if she's not in the mood and feeling like i need to go in the bathroom and jerk off.) I feel that this also factors into this assortment of dopamine hits that I've been chasing after my entire life. I recently didn't touch cannabis for 4 months and did not experience the benefit I was hoping for. It is likely because I did everything else a little bit more, and hardly did anything to really reset my dopamine receptors.
I really feel for all the guys on here who are experiencing really intense sexual symptoms resulting from their porn use. Though I am not experiencing this, I do feel that I have quite a challenge ahead of me. I have been chronically depressed for so long. I have bad ADD and generally can't get a thing done without stimulants. When I'm feeling alright, I understand just how much potential I have to be an excellent person, but I always feel sick, like I'm operating at 40% almost all the time. Social Anxiety has wrecked me since the days when I began masturbating, and now, at 28 years old, I'm fucking sick of it. I'm not smoking cannabis anymore, so I can no longer blame it on that. I've quit Facebook, which I've identified as another dopamine-chasing activity that wasn't serving me. I've begun a daily yoga practice (though I'm sure I need to bring in much more exercise than a half hour of yoga every day). Maybe most importantly is that I've actually succeeded in quitting masturbating. At least, I feel pretty solid in my resolve, and I haven't in 2 weeks. The thing is, I sleep with my girlfriend about every day. I make a point to not let it happen more than once a day, and sometimes we skip days, but this leaves me with some questions.
If I'm not trying to retrain my mind to be aroused by sex with a real woman, but rather trying to overhaul my dopamine system to address an overall "addictive personality," social anxiety, depression, ADD, etc. then will quitting masturbating be enough, or do I need to do "hard mode?"
How common is it for people on this forum reporting that they have to address other addictions simultaneously to achieve benefits to mood, attentivity, etc?
Thanks.