Success for newbies

Addiction is very insidious

 

Meditation, goals, visualisations, time with family and friends, positivity, exercise etc

 

If I do these things I don’t get triggered. Only get triggered if l am feeling low, otherwise why would I get triggered. I think addicts don’t realise that they spend life in negative emotions, when you at out of that, there is no need for addiction.

The alternative is to try and avoid all triggers, but that will never work as triggers will always be around.

 

Prevention of weak moments by getting stronger is better than anything else in my experience.

 

Negative emotions are signals that there's something going wrong. If your life is miserable, you should feel miserable, otherwise, you won't do anything to improve your situation. I think that one of the most important motivators to quit porn for me is the fact that I have these emotions. It's not the emotions that make me relapse, it's the situations in which I feel these emotions.

So, I agree with you that "prevention of weak moments" is the way to go, but it's not about preventing certain emotions. It's like, "don't be hungry, lonely, angry, or tired" advice which I often hear in 12-step communities (Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, etc.)

 

I don’t think that is wrong to feel anger, shame, guilt etc. But minimising these helps recovery