Fantasy is just as arousing as porn?

The thing is this didn't always used to be the case for me. For instance I used to need porn to get and maintain an erection, I used to need porn and artificial sexual stimulation to remain aroused.

Where as something I am noticing more and more over the last while is when I masturbate without porn the thoughts are enough, the fantasy is enough, the thoughts and fantasy can be extremely arousing, even as arousing as porn. Like I said this used to be nothing like this for me. I used to think about the kinkiest stuff while masturbating and I had ed and was hardly getting aroused much at all. But these days the thoughts and fantasy seem to basically be as arousing as porn.

One good thing I find about this though is at least when I masturbate using my imangination it is over within about 5-10 minutes. Where as when I masturbate to porn and artifical sexual stimulation online it can last over an hour or even hours. A lot of the time resulting in an all day binge.

But something else that somewhat concerns me is what I was thinking about earlier when I masturbated. I was imaginaing this attractive female I have seen on social media in the past, and I was imagining I was having all sorts of kinky sex with her. Like I said this turned me on just as much as when I masturbate to porn. But the difference was this masturbation session was over in 10 minutes. Where as like I said when I masturbate to porn it can last hours and end up being an all day binge ext.

But I just feel like what I was thnking about while I was masturbating was somewhat porn fantasy. It was an attractive female that I have masturbated to in the past on social media. Imagining I was having all sorts of sex with her turned me on beyond belief. But I am just not sure how damaging this is for recovery?

I do feel like it is much better than masturbating to porn and artifical sexual stimulation though?

 

Well I was imagining social media images of this female I have seen in the past. But I have been highly aroused by these images in the past and have masturbated to these images in the past. It wasn't a pornstar or anything. But I feel like there is still a connection in my brain with it, and it remembers how aroused I was by that. I then just masturbated imagining I was having all sorts of sex with this female.

I feel like I am doing much better just focusing on not using any porn or artifical sexual stimulation at all, and then when I have done that for a while I was thinking I could also try to focus on not having porn thoughts or artifical sexual stimulation thoughts either.

I feel like even being off porn and artifical sexual stimulation long enough, or just having hardly any relapses on porn and artifical sexual stimulation, even if I have thoughts like this when I masturbate, I am still going to be seeing a lot of huge benefits.

But I somewhat think it is difficult to know what porn fantasy even actually is. For instance is imagining you bending an attractive female you know over and doing her doggy, would that constitute porn fantasy? Is imaginaing an attractie female you know teasing you and her undressing infront of you, would that constitute porn fantasy? Because if thoughts like this counstitute porn fantasy then this basically means you can't really have any sexual thoughts while you masturbate, as it would basically constitute as porn fantasy.

I masturbated for a long time before I had ever properly really seen porn, as I didn't start properly watching porn until I was 18 when I got my first laptop. I am 29 now. But back when I was in high school I remember I used to masturbate thinking about girls I knew, and let me tell you I thought about some really kinky stuff, and like I said this was before I had properly ever seen porn.

So like I said it is really difficult to know exactly what porn fantasy even is.

 

I do agree that the quickest way to recover from PIED is most likely not activating those porn pathways in your brain at all, or as little as possible. So even masturbating to fantasy will activate those porn pathways in your brain, if you have been a PMO addict for a long time and have developed PIED, then for someone like like this even masturbating to fantasy will activate those porn pathways in your brain.

So yes the perfect scenario and the quickest way to recover from PIED is don't activate those porn pathways in your brain at all. But lets face it, this is extremely difficult. Some guys do manage to do this for very long periods of time. But I would say most guys struggle to do this for very long periods of time.

I don't want anyone to be under the illusion that not activating those porn pathways in your brain at all for a long tim is the only way to recover from PIED. Which is what many guys on this seem to believe. It isn't actually true.

I don't think most guys plan on relapsing. If any guys do plan on relapsing then they definitely should stop doing this. When I say plan on relpasing I mean something like literally setting a date or time where you think right I am going to relapse on that date at that time ext. But lets face it, I don't think the majority of relapses happen this way. I think the majority of relapses aren't planned, the majority of relapses are unintentional. So guys get overwhemed with extreme sexual arousal, they might of seen something that triggered them online, they try to fight it, but the urge is too much, boom they relapse. Or a guy was under extreme stress because of his work, he started getting an extreme urge to PMO, he tried to fight the urge, but the urge was too powerful, boom the guy ends up relapsing.

I don't believe in situations like this guys actually want to relapse. I believe the urges to relapse are so powerful they take over and then guys end up relapsing. But then they usually always really regret it afterwards.

But say a guy used to heavily binge on PMO every day or nearly every for years. But then by doing nofap and pornfree this began to overall get less and less, so at first the guy was relapsing a few times a week, then a few times a fortnight, then a few times a month. You need to realise that this is good progress, ok it is not perfection, like many of the guys on this think is the only way to recover from PIED, which isn't true. But you need to realise that everything is adding up. This guy is getting longer and longer streaks, he is activating those porn pathways in his brain less and less, and also activating them at a much less intensity.

This might even take years for some guys doing this. But understand even if it does take years and you keep trying you will eventually get there. You will get to the point you are hardly ever relapsing, and it will just naturally come, because all those brain changes are happening.

Like I said I am not denying that the fasted way to recover from PIED is not activating those porn pathways in your brain. This is the fasted way to recover from PIED. But it is not the only way to recover. Yes the other ways will take longer, but you will eventually get there if you keep trying.

Never plan on relasping. Always aim to stop porn and artifical sexual stimulation altogether.

This is even what it says on yourbrainonporn

As stated, YBOP has only two “rules’ for a reboot:

1. Stop using artificial sexual stimuli, and
2. Do what works for you.

“What if I Can’t Quit Masturbating,” or “I Have a Girlfriend/Wife/Partner?”
Relax and focus on giving up porn. The last thing you want to do is to become so “anal” that you never attempt to give up porn. Check out this thread on The Orgasm Reboot: A New Approach, and this thread on a cult being developed around masturbation being unhealthy. The take away from both threads is that guys quit trying because they think they delude themselves that rebooting is all or none: “If you masturbate you have failed”. This is complete nonsense. Here’s one guy’s experience:

“If you are struggling, I would try to cut just porn out first. I found it too difficult to do both nofap and pornfree at first, but then I tried just pornfree alone. I found that my urge to masturbate slowly decreased to a healthier amount, and that I felt no reason to view pornographic content. If you can do both, go for it. But if you continue to fail after a few days, I would recommend this. It did wonders for me.

I agree with what this guy is saying. I honestly just try to focus on giving up porn and artifical sexual stimulation altogether. I do feel like this works better for me, and I do feel like it is working wonders for me.

I know what I am doing is taking longer to recover from PIED and porn addiction. But it is working. I can see and feel the changes and progress. Trying to go that all or nothing way does not work for me. It actually eventually causes me greater relapse and binges on PMO.

 

See I actually seem to be the opposite. I seem to be getting much more turned on by fantasy now. Where as when I used to PMO all the time I needed the porn to get and remain aroused and fantasy just didn't do it for me.

 

Just curious, but why do you need to reach the point you are never masturbating at all anymore?

Ok if your PIED just isn't healing from being completely away from porn and artificial sexual stimulation, and you're still masturbating then yes maybe you should try to give up masturbation as well for a while.

But if PIED is healing from giving up porn and artifical sexual stimulation then why must you also make it one of your biggest goals to also give up masturbation?

Something about nofap that does somewhat annoy me is how porn and masturbation are basically put in to the same category. They're basically as bad as each other. This is not true at all.

Like I said stopping masturbation as well as giving up porn and artifical sexual stimulation will speed up recovery, as it means you're activating those porn pathways in your brain less. But giving up masturbation is not mandatory, and it certainly doesn't need to be a life time goal.

Newsflash porn and artififcal sexual stimulation is the problem. Guys still recover who occasionally masturbate.

 

When I am on my laptop in my bed and everything is unblocked and I can access anything, and I go in to one of my relapse/binges, I feel the exact same way.

It is a nuclear blast to my senses.

 

I think that is the big issue with it. It literally causes severe seuxal dysfunctions that are difficult to reverse.