Brain damage

Exactly what was said here.

I would not go as far to say that the brain is DAMAGED.

Chemical and hormonal imbalances yes but to say brain damage is pushing it in my opinion.

Your body has auto healing system let it heal stop PMO completely try go for 90 days monk mode , go to gym , meditate, eat foods rich in necessary nutrients such zinc magnesium d3 etc and you will recover eventually.

Read success stories it will lift your spirits!

Stay strong!

 

Hi! Brain damage due to PMO is a real thing, and don't just wait a fixed number of days to recover, because an addiction and its consequences that have formed up in years can't go away in months. This is what many people miss out, they think they will be fixed on December 4th, starting now, at 7PM and they eventually give in.

 

Every person is different.

Our bodies are different our lifestyles are different our diets are different.

Some may recover sooner than others. It's great to encourage people rather than discourage in my opinion

 

I don't believe you can damage your brain with PMO. Sure PMO causes chemical and hormonal imbalances (primary dopamine D2 deficiency, cortisol and adrenaline elevation, Zn deficiency etc) and gray matter volume reduction in frontal lobes and thus reduced self control, but so does other compulsive addictive behaviours and drug abuse. I contribute this to how our brain work. Brains are very power consuming organ (especially frontal part of the brain where self control and rational thinking takes place) so in order to reduce power consumption brain moves all often repeated behaviours from prefrontal cortex to our midbrains (behaviour becomes a habit), thus reducing the need for bigger gray matter volume in frontal lobes to save on energy. Once you enter abstention and actively fight your urges you reactivate prefrontal cortex (lots of thinking and willpower is needed to weaken midbrain neuropathway connection). Abstain long enough (6-11 months in most cases 15 months in most extreme cases) and gray matter volume in your prefrontal cortex will regrowth to baseline (pre-addiction time). Any addiction = deep learned behavior, nothing else. It can be unlearned as it has been learned. Thanks to neuroplasticity changes to our brains can be reversed to full extend. The only problem is that deep learned behavior will stay with us albeit in dormant state if not practiced for the rest of our lives so we'll have to stay observant/vigilant to not wake up PMO pathway again.

Here are some studies and lectures how addictions work and how it affects ones brain: May 23, 2019 , May 24, 2019 , Jul 2, 2019 , Jul 14, 2019 , Jul 15, 2019 , Tuesday at 4:59 PM , Sep 13, 2019

 

Here are my posts on the topic if you want to explore neurology behind brain - addiction connection further. I studied the topic a lot. You have to know your "enemy" first in order to be able to beat him:
May 23, 2019 , May 24, 2019 , Jul 2, 2019 , Jul 14, 2019 , Jul 15, 2019 , Tuesday at 4:59 PM , Sep 13, 2019

 

I'm sorry if it sounded discouraging, I did not mean it to. Though, my previous reply really is encouraging in a way that it persuades people to keep going forever, because fixed days are a psychological treshold that once reached, the motivation is not the same anymore and excuses show up. We need full motivation for the rest of our lives.

Sorry about that again, I'll revise my writing before I post something next time.

 

I'd say " be ready to quit pmo now or suffer a longer consequences".
I used to pmo heavily during 3 years before finding nofap. 4 years later, I finally reach 14 months harmode. Why I decide to take it more serious now? It's because each time I go on a streak, the pain of withdrawal symptoms get harder and last longer than the previous set. My brain is in the reboot process and that's the hardest thing I ever endured in life. And the biggest issue was I lost track of life since the start of 14 months till this day. Do I make progress? yes but they seem so slow and each month I notice a small improvement.

 

are you a pakistani or indian ?? anyway don't blame your country..coz there are 1000 ways to recover by sufficiently using all the limited facilities..we just need to explore and experiment ourselves..i'm a 23 yr old indian guy.i also had the same thinking before sometimes..it's not our country or family the real reason for our mental imprisonment..we ourselves are..we just break our chains and self imposed limitations and explore and thrive for a change in your life..try to improve yourself everyday..i'm sure you'll become a successful person very soon

 

Extreme cases can go beyond 15 months of getting recovered. I, myself consider one and the way I see this reboot going right now, I doubt 15 months will set me straight.

 

I believe you have to draw a line in the sand somewhere and ask yourself what you have to change to get better. I preach over and over again that abstention alone isn't a cure for most of long term PMO misusers. No one enjoys PMO binges so much that it would do it for decades, knowingly destroying himself down the road. No drug is that good.

 

There's definitely underlying issues in almost every pmo addict. However, when you were pmoing heavily and long, it becomes difficult to quit completely especially the fact that you unaware the effects of excessive porn, masturbation and orgasm. There were a 9 months heavy user case in this forum, it took him 18 months to get rid of PAWS.

 

I agree with you completely as I've been one of them myself. But what exactly are paws? Most of people describe them as feeling fatigue, having brain fog, problems with concentration anhedonia, low moods, suicidal thoughts, being all stressed out. Aren't all these symptoms just manifestation of deep depression and/or anxiety? Maybe I'm a bit "lucky" because I suffered from severe clinical depression and social anxiety before I developed compulsive binge (P)MO addiction and I can compare both states. To be honest, they both felt the same to me. Taking active steps to fight depression and anxiety also lifted my "PAWS".

 

Being in PAWS make you unable to enjoy life the way you want to(anhedonia due to brain fog). It's a result of quitting an unhealthy lifestyle or habit as your brain trying to reach its balance state, and it caused all kind unpleasant symptoms just like you mentioned some of them. Also it kills your sex drive and take times to repair your dopamine receptors and your sexual organs if you're like me. PAWS is the transitional state to start working on your projects, your goals and ambitions, or confront your life's issues. One can sometimes have depression or anxiety in life. But paws make things worse to start working on those problems.