So I recently watched a vid with nofap advice (posted by matt van gee on YT), and one of the tips i personally found most useful was to view the addictive urge as a separate consciousness. He gave examples of some of the numerous tricky ways that the brain uses to convince/influence you into a relapse. Being able to relate to these examples has definitely helped me in identifying when the brain is trying trick me, so maybe we can all help each other by pointing out more of these wicked schemes. What are some of the ways your brain tries to trick you? To start off, one of the tricks my brain uses happens when I'm procrastinating because it tells me "you can't focus well because you're too stressed. You should just de-stress first with a quick PMO since meeting your deadline takes priority over some reboot. Once youre done, you can restart your reboot no problem." When this happens, I sometimes can't think straight and succumb, but it really is a trick because I end up in a PMO trance for hours, and the relief only lasts a little while before the urge kicks back in, even stronger than before! And if I succumb multiple times, I end up with a bad brain fog too!
Hey Chumin, I've heard of that method before; It originates from the book Breaking the Cycle, By: George Collins MA, Andrew Adleman MA. In the book they state to think of your addiction as a separate entity, as a small, scared young child. You have to learn to separate yourself from that addict and to remind it that everything's going to be okay without pornography. It's a great book that really explains the roots of most pornographic addictions and how attachment and the way you are raised can influence this addiction.
Ohh i see, I didnt know it was already a well established method, its a really good one! And idk if its in the book too, but another thing worth noting from matt's vid is to treat the recovery like a game against the imagined entity, and to also give it a name.
I don't quite remember if they stated the part about treating it like a game, But I definitely remember the book saying to give it a name. They stated most people used names such as loner, loser, addict as a way to persuade one to no longer continue to let that entity control them.
I don’t know if I’ve yet caught my brain trying to trick me per se, but I’ve noticed that if my urges start later in the week, say around Thursday-Saturday, I get these incredibly persuading thoughts in my head that say “Eh, go ahead and do it, and start fresh on Monday and do it for real this time!” as if the day of the week I start my reboot makes it any easier. It honestly feels like the devil on your shoulder. Because, as someone who grew up around addicts of all sorts, that “one last time” never is one last time.
I'd say that totally counts as your brain trying to trick you. Its making it sound like a relapse is inconsequential, as if your next reboot is any more real than your current one. Go ahead and give it a name, talk to it like it actually is a devil on your shoulder, it might help. I think of mine as a lil demon I call Asmodeus, and he an sly little fk~
Yea, i named mine Asmodeus after the demon of lust, and the thought of being under his influence really puts the fight in me lol