How long until no longer addicted??

In my opinion,we who watched porn for so much years will be addicted whole life,being PMO free is great but it doesn't mean we are not addicted.

 

I don't like this way of thinking. It tells the patient that he has to struggle and fight his addiction, and even after great achievements, he is never cured.
But sadly, thats how phychology works in this day and age, and it has a reason to work this way. Same with alcohol and tobacco. Even a single glass is a relapse, even after years of being sober. Which is ludacris to say that since, that means the only way to prove that you are cured is to not drink or smoke well ever. If someone was just labeled alcoholist (for eg me) who doesn't have cravings for alcohol (I think i was 2 times tipsy in my life and thats it) I couldn't even be "cured" since its most likely eventually (maybe after many years) i will relapse on an occasion its rude not to drink or something. Like on a toast or any cultural event.
Its a crazy way of thinking, and it decourages the patient.

However it has a reason to exist in this way. If you ever get addicted to something that means you are capable to get connected to it easily against your will. I would say, "even after being cured, you are highly vulnerable " . Thats why, you should NEVER try to return to that old habbit. (since even though you got """cured""" once you are still more vulnerable than the average.)

Its a very deep and complicated theoretical question. All I know is, when I lose all urges for good, I will no longer call myself and addict. However I wish not to return ever.

 

To me, the problem lies on the usage of the terminologies. There are many perspectives as you know. It will sounds harsh, but to me someone will never be 100 percent cured after he/she developed an addiction. But that doesn't mean they can't be clean afterwards. Failures are still around. But so do hopes. We choose which path we're into. That's the responsibility each one has. And believe me, I'm one of the worst of the PMO addict. But that doesn't mean I give up trying to be free. I prefer the terminology "clean" rather than "cured". To me, "clean" sounds more humane and realistic.

 

Definitely not with you here Buddy. Why should someone be addicted to it his entire life? When you are able to get addicted to something (bad), you're also able to get out of that cycle and leave it behind.

 

I have read the power of habit and I would say that we are addicted for life.
It really impressed me the story of a woman who was addicted to playing at casino(if I am remember well)and after losing all her money and even all the money of her family she couldn't stop.Then she moved from her house and basically changed alla her life .But after many years the casinos still sent her invitations so she eventually returned to this addiction and again she lost her control.
She also tried to get her money back because as her doctors said she couldn't control herself,the addiction was controlling her.
So yes the addiction changes our brain permanentely.Of course after many months we will not feel the urge to watch porn or mastubate but if we fall again back then it will always be tough to stop

 

Thank you RareFlares for your elaboration. I want to add something. When I wrote "will never be 100 percent cured", I don't mean if someone can't be clean 100 percent at all. This is purely subjective of course. In my opinion, "cured" is referring to the state of the brain, which is the "pre-addicted state". Let's say we can't reset our state of brain to the "pre-addicted state", we still can function normally in real life and keep ourselves clean for the rest of our lives. Like I said above, this is a matter of terminologies usage. I call it "clean" but "not cured", others can call it anything. Regardless, whatever you call it, we're on the same journey. Best of luck!

 

Liked or not it is my opinion,feel free to disagree,it's the way i see this.Everyone is different,nobody is same.
Why i think that at least for me,is because you can be PMO free for example 2,3 or 5 months.You can have no urges and feel great,but one relapse will give you porn flashbacks,craving for porn and masturbation,in few words after so much successful days just once doing of PMO or MO can set you back too much,for me it sounds like addiction.Same it goes for higher streaks,you can be PMO free even 1 year and when you relapse you need to fight with stronger urges for some time,until some number of days pass.No matter how long you are free from PMO,you will always have a triggers,relapses.For all your life you need to fight and give your best.When i take in mind that some people watched porn for years or even decades,i think that person is addicted for a life,but addiction under control.
As i said it is my opinion,nobody needs to think like me,feel free to disagree buddy.

 

When i say still addicted i mean not fully recover,why?Because if you watch porn and masturbate for years or even decades everyday,how can you ever forget that?There is no way to be like new,we watched to much porn,masturbate to much times,only we can do is to fight,not for a month or a year,whole life.You will always have triggers and of course relapses will happens from time to time.Just because you haven't PMO in some time it doesn't means you are healed.It says enough for me.
As i said in post before it is my opinion.

 

I get your Point of View. And yes, you are right nobody can ever forget what he went through before Rebooting or finding out about the NoFap Community... How you ruined your Life with this addiction and that it is a part of your Past and will be Part of your Life. You are definitely right about that.
Of course you cannot actually be like a new Person, but you can cure yourself from this addiciton, because for example many Fetishes are gonna be Porn-Induced, fighting them also deletes Triggers from your Brain System aswell the Urge to watch that weird shit. In my opionion you can get 100% free of it, but it will just take a very long Time. Otherwise if i saw it like you do, every alhocol or drug addict would never be able to recover and even more People on this World would end up like extreme Shit.

Not fighting your Opinion, i accept it i am just saying my Point of View don´t get me wrong.

 

If you have relapsed multiple times then you understand why it is safer to label yourself permanently addicted. It's just a label but more importantly a reminder that if you dabble again, even a little bit then you can be sure that the shit will inevitably hit the fan. You don't however need to spend your life dwelling on the fact that you are labelled an addict.

 

Thank you for understanding me buddy.I agree with that porn induced fetish disappear after some time and how times go forward you have less and less triggers,true.That is one part of recovering,even less triggers but it never stops,to be more precise i meant when i said addicted for lifetime=never totally free, you can have a good recovery but you have never 100% recovered. What does that 100% means? As far as I understand it means that you will never watch porn again in your life and you will never masturbate again,there is a chance to slip back in old habits that will sabotage you too(every relapse brings back porn flashback,dopamine rush and desire for more), considering that we are just humans and that we are not perfect I think it is not possible.If you overcome any addiction,not matter is it porn or alcohol or drugs,it is not nice to play with them or to think that you are totally healed,because you still can burn once again.
I will tell you my story,my best streak was 269 days without PMO hardmode.I think that i got healed totally,guess what?I relapsed after almost 9 months hardmode streak.After that i didn't make longer streak than 44 days since then.
Anyway,nothing against your opinion i respect it,we just think different,that's all,nobody is same