How do I learn Healthy Coping Mechanisms?

Have you ever tried meditation?

 

Exercise more , stoicism .

When you exercise more you expend a lot of energy and better manage your energy that if not will lead you to boredom , stress and easy relapse

 

Exercise and company are the keys, I think. Depending where you live at the moment, it might not be possible to be around other people. But get out for a walk, or a jog, or a cycle - doesn't have to be strenuous, but out and about is best, away from the computer. Switch off your phone. If you aren't allowed outside where you are, throw open the curtains and open the window, make yourself exposed to the street so that you aren't tempted remind yourself that the world outside exists.

If you have a musical instrument, like me, you might find that music practice helps. or play some music and sing along, have a dance. Keep away from screens, keep active, and keep distracting yourself. Good luck!

 

All the above are onto something. I don't meditate in a secular or vague-spiritual manner, I pray, but a lot of the same benefits carry over.

Whatever you're doing to entertain yourself, movies, TV, games, etc, have little breaks often where you do physical activity. Imagine "commercial breaks" to whatever it is and then do push-ups or sit-ups or something. I have been playing a game with my girlfriend and I've been doing bicep curls after every time we each make a move. Soon I'll have to move onto another muscle, and so on.

In the moment of temptation, you will find yourself unable to think of better things to do. You can get a leg up on your demons by making a list beforehand of things to distract yourself with. List YouTube channels you like to watch, games you like to play, books you're reading or have been wanting to read, exercises you can do, chores you have put off, literally anything you can imagine that would occupy even a bit of time and have some outward benefit, if possible. If writing lines like elementary detention works for you, then it works for you.

Keep on the path, king. We're all beside you.

 

What is HALT?

 

Meditation is big when it comes to battling addiction. It’s like your brain lifting weights.
Your ability to not dwell on the urges mentally until they cause a relapse is a true super power in and of itself. I can’t recommend it enough.

Also, have you figured out why you got addicted to pmo in the first place ?
For most of us, there is a why and it usually exists somewhere in our childhood.
Discovering why you feel the need to use pmo as a coping tool can help make it a less attractive option.