Introduction

Hi, I am a 21 one year old college student who would like to be a better person. I do not believe I am addicted to porn, but I do believe its place in my life is has caused me great stress and sadness. I've rarely been successful with engaging with women. I believe I watch porn because of the lack of relationships I have with women, to feel the void of loneliness. But it doesn't feel the void, as after watching, I feel trash. I feel like a loser, and my lack of success with woman further compounds these negative thoughts. I don't know how to go about stopping, as I've tries many times. I;m hoping that this time will be different. I hope that this community of individuals can serve as inspiration for me to be better.

 

You have come to the right place.
Acknowledging the problem is the 1st step

 

Hi. Welcome to forum!

Make sure you crate a personal journal thread in Reboot Logs section and blog there on a regular basis. As well as just generally be active participant in various forum discussions. I recommend this to everybody new here because it's the major thing that helped me when I was first starting. Just lurking on forums, reading and learning is great. But it usually is so much more powerful to engage. It helps to keep us motivated and accountable when we are active part of community. And keeps this in front of our minds so we don't forget about importance of it and slip away in our old habits. Sharing is also therapeutic. This is a major reason why AA meetings work so good. But that was developed before internet era. These days we can get most of the same benefits online through communities like this. So don't underestimate the power of active participation.

I would also like to suggest you to look into mindfulness meditation. It has helped me personally tremendously. It takes a while to get good at it and notice results, so you need to be consistent with it, but once you do it's very powerful. It has been used by sages for thousands of years to deal with various issues of the mind. And in recent decades the science is also catching up to what ancient sages have know for centuries. Meditation these days are widely used as very effective tool by psychologists for treating addiction and by neurologists for supporting recovery of the brain. It is a great exercise for the brain the same way as jogging is great exercise for the body. Check out this Ted talk, it gives a good idea of what's it about when it comes to philosophy. As far as practical side of it there is this awesome smartphone app called Headspace for guided meditations to get you started.

Wish you lot's of strength and success in your reboot journey!