Dopamine detox

Very good thread! Thanks for the information, NF!
I think @IAmLegion once did a "dopamin detox".

I think it was an electric impulse to the reward center of their brains.

 

I read and i looked for some studies and videos about dopamine, and i'm pretty interested too.

The main problem, i think for most of all, who is doing NoFap, is that we barely can replace the time we spent on fapping to something that is at least, satisfying like , masturbating.
Yeah, maybe, if you're a gamer, well, i used to be, you can switch your energy easily from masturbating to playing videogames, but it is really better than fapping?

Dont get me wrong, if all we do is replace, one addiction, with another, we're stuck at the same point,
so maybe, our dopamine receptors may get back to work better when it comes to sexual desires, we may start to find attracting even a , not good lookin girl, lets say a 6/10 , and our "little big boy" may be happy we did catch her eyes on us , in that way, we replaced succesfully our "impulse" to fap, to something, "REAL", the real desire of a girl.

Its good to practise, not just good, but strongly recommended to work on ourself , on our self improvement, together with NoFap, as we have the need to improve as man,
to get back to what a man has to be, to get back having our desires, desires to make the court to our dreamlike woman, our dreams, to do what we like the most, either a job, hobby.

So in the end, factory reset, its something we should try to do, have you heard or any of you heard of Dopamine Fast?

 

Wise man!

 

This is telling:

[Quote:]

Scientists believe dopamine does not equate to pleasure or enjoyment. Instead, dopamine fuels our sense of wanting, seeking and craving. Dopamine is primarily released just before we engage in an activity that makes us happy, such as before we eat our favourite desert or before we have sex.

The final reward or feelings of pleasure arises due to the release of chemicals known as opioids. These are opiate-type chemicals produced in the brain. For instance, an opioid release occurs when we orgasm or once we’ve eaten a great meal. Even the relief we feel when we drink water involves opioids. Essentially, opioids make us feel satisfied to prevent our seeking and craving.

Seek more than we are satisfied
However, our dopamine system is stronger than our opioid system. This means that we seek more than we are satisfied. Seeking is more likely to keep us a live compared to sitting around in a satisfied heap. In summary, dopamine compels animals into action. This is why scientists refer to dopamine as the ‘seeking circuit.’ Dopamine provides the motivation for us to pursue our wants and desires.

We receive a bigger burst of dopamine when we look at foods containing a bigger proportion of sugars and fats. This is because these foods are most likely to keep us alive when we are threatened with starvation. This is why you believe you are full until the waiter offers you that chocolate pudding. The anticipation for that pudding is fuelled by dopamine. Dopamine surges thus override feelings of satiety.


You can read the full article here:
The Ulltimate Guide to Overcoming Internet Porn Addiction

 

One of dopamine's functions is helping us learn what rewards an action will lead to. It's not the reward itself but the thing involved in anticipation.
It reinforces behavior and motivates behavior.

My personal thoughts on this although just speculation:
Dopamine motivates us to M for a "reward" but for most of us it's not just the O that we seek.
As long as we're browsing/M'ing we're away from our real problems, the loneliness etc.
Which is why we don't just O to the first video we keep watching, persisting, for the perfect video.

The thing is somewhere along the way PMO became the problem.
So the thing that might even cause the most discomfort is quiting PMO.
And our way of coping with discomfort? PMO.

Detoxing will involve both changing habits, discontinuing PMO, fixing everything that caused PMO in the first place.

I've told myself for years that the easiest way to fix this would be a monk retreat for a few years, which is probably never going to happen!

 

What are your thoughts on serotonin and oxytocin?

 

Yep. I mean never heard of the dopamine fast no.

But switching addictions is all too common.

Polyaddiction can take on many forms.

Some people might even say there are positive addictions like running or something.

 

I don't think that is easy lol

 

Yeah, you're all right.
Replace one addiction with another i mean, its not fine, not at all
I mean, having an addiction is not good , either be PMO, play videogames, browsing internet/YouTube, eating too much, drinkin alcool, stay a Whole afternoon viewing tv series on Netflix.
Anything, anything which make us stay focused on for more than 60 consecutive minutes, without having the will, or the power to turn it off and do something else, its an addiction. Anything that has a power on us, that distract us from the real world, the real problems, are addictions, so we have to be careful, all of rebooters, on choose what to do, to replace the time wasted on porn and similar.

We're mostly, afraid to change, afraid to look and face our problems, because its easier to hide in all these craps, that makes us feel better, yeah for what, few hours? then the rest of the day? we may feel empty, that void, that cant be filled by anything. Its soo much easier to fall in these addiction, which turns into habits and it takes just 1 minutes or less, to decide and do something we may regret for the rest of our lives.
Me? i regret, a lot, the day i switched to transgendered person videos then escalated to videochat with guys , while i was masturbating.
i Felt really really bad, ashamed, confused even for a bit of my sexuality, but i know, i know damn well, that i like and Always will like girls, no single doubt on that… i just… needed something, you know, different, strong, stranger, and this is the proof of what porn does to us, it makes us believe or want something we even didnt think about, when we had a ,clear mind, when there was no FOG on our minds.

A reboot, is the only and best way but only if we improve as man, and not just by removing porn in our lives, because thats what most of us did, its what i did, to shut down only and not replace the time with something useful, thats how i switched again to games, even if i never beed addicted to it, but you know, you gotta find ways to pass the time in 24h right?

A dopamine detox, a detox of anything that makes us addicted to these things that give us "fake pleasure" to fill the hole in our lives, to shut down our inner voice, our thoughts, that tell us that we're failing at life.
We have to listen to these voices, we gotta understand that our thoughts are not US, they dont OWN us, yeah, we gotta listen to them, in silence, face it, admit there're problems then we can go find a solution, because hiding in other addictions, its not the way, hiding in fear, pain, its NOT the way.

We gotta listen to ourself, talk to our inner-self,
we can make it
we can win this fight
whatever it takes

 

We're really looking at the core of behavior and attachment here. But the things you can do if you want "dopamine detox" are not new for us. We know already what is healthy and what is unhealthy and potentially harming ourselves.

But what I find also important to mention here: be careful with your "dopamine routines". I mean when it comes to porn, I'd say, yes! "Abstinence is the best medicine" (I just saw a thread with excactly that name on the front page). But we can't just stop every behavior that gives us high dopamine spikes. First of all, not every of those behaviors is necessarily unhealthy. Moreover we need to exchange habits. We can't just dry our system out from dopamine. That's not going to work!

What is a healthy habit? I think it's not only about what we think our higher self should do or what is listed in the "self-actualization habit list". It depends very much on HOW we practice a certain behavior and how attached we are to it.

 

When I listen to a lot of music on yt I literally can feel the dopamine rushing through me. Nevertheless it's quite a harmless activity compared to pmo or endless internet surfing. I know that I can lift my mood that way, but when I loose the control to stop it soon enough I get pretty much depleted of dopamine.

Also - have you experienced this? - at some point the temptation to have "even more fun" will set in. With dopamine it's a little bit like with alcohol: it can trigger you plus it lowers your self-control and rationality.

 

From my own experience after being PMO-free for over two years now, it goes fast getting to high dopamine-tolerance levels from PMO but it takes a long time to detox from them since the levels those habits induce are huge and stepping the tolerance down is thus a gradual process.
But, there are many habits, practices and routines (but NoFap) that you can apply into your daily life in order to speed the curing-process up a bit:

-Getting some proper sleep/recovery
-Regular exercise (both cardio and strength) since it will flood you with needed endorphins
-Meditation since a balanced psyche and mind will help your focus and ability to manage your emotions
-Reading books for at least an hour every day (not Newspapers, sports magazines or similar since those will only stimulate you for the moment and are sometimes filled with negativity and toxic subconscious undertones)
-Surrounding yourself with positive and uplifting people while ditching the toxic ones (or at least spend as little time as possible with them if they are part of your family)
-Keeping a healthy whole foods diet containing as few processed foods as possible. Fast carbs, white flour, wheat, margarine and several vegetable oils should be kept to a minimum and preferably not consumed at all.
-Avoiding added sugars, refined sugars and artificial sweeteners as much as you can. Sodas, pastries, cakes, chocolate bars, cookies, ice-cream, etc should also be kept to a minimum and definitely not being something you eat daily.
-Keeping the caffeine at moderate levels (which is why I don't drink more than two cups of coffee per day)

The latter three have probably helped me the most during this process since processed foods, added sugars and sugar overall are heavily linked to dopamine and dopamine-tolerance. By just consuming more than a few teaspoons a day, your body (especially your liver, skin-, nervous and muscle tissue and cardiovascular-system), brain and psyche get really disrupted and affects your mood a lot. I remember those days in my life where I consumed the most sugars where the days I also felt the most depressed and blue for sure.

Keep in mind that NoFap should be looked at from a holistic perspective and not as a single self-improvement habit where you only stop fapping and don't change or improve anything else regarding your current habits and lifestyle. You should try becoming your very best version in every area of your life, no matter how hard, painful or insurmountable it might feel like right now.

 

Absolutely agree.
I have more or less the same goals, after nearly 4yrs 99% PMO free.
Get sleep/rest
do yoga
hike a hill near town
get fresh air
walks
drink enough water/tea herbal
not more than 2 coffees per day, not later than 12:00
read books (difficult one)
less scrolling on the phone
meet real friends
skip alcohol, cigarettes
don´t panic to be boring, or be bored
first time in life living alone, confrontation with myself
Do music, listen to live concerts, mainly classical
write in notebook handwritten
let time just pass without meaning or special sence
I don't play computer games, but definitely addicted to phone, social media (fb/ig)
tinder is next big thing to skip, still difficult
Don't eat till the stomach is completely full, leave 25% empty
Skip junk food, sugar and salt
Don´t lie to others and to yourself

For some that may sound like a life of torture, boredom and no joy. But I love once in a while let go, not to be too dogmatic.
Just don´t lie to yourself, that you have an addiction under control. Isn't that what every alcohol addicted does: they say alcohol has no power over me.
I want to be able to look myself into the mirror. And if there is something that I don't like about myself, not to skip the confrontation

 

Thanks for adding good content @Angus McGyver and @The sun is the limit !
Although...

I sometimes wonder, am I the toxic person?

Eating sugary sweets is my crucial daily habit to calibrate my mood.
(I don't do fast food, sodas or artificial sweeteners - at least)

@NF SINCE BIRTH I wonder, how can I even survive without music?