Why Relapse Makes Me Depress And Anxious ?

Instead of using adaptive behavior (doing things that directly improve a problem) to handle your depression and anxiety, you are using the maladaptive behavior (doing things that don't directly help to improve a problem) of PMO. So when you are feeling anxiety and depression in your life, instead of working on resolving those problems directly, you escape for awhile via PMO. While you are using PMO, you are able to forget about the anxiety/depression and this allows you to feel numb for awhile. After you finish PMO, since you did nothing to improve your anxiety/depression, you feel the full weight of them once again. Part of reboot is about learning to replace maladaptive behavior with adaptive behavior. If you were to quit PMO for a length of time, and instead work directly on reducing and eliminating depression and anxiety, you would find it much easier to abstain from PMO. This is exactly what I did. Anxiety and depression are great fuel for addiction.

I'm really sorry to hear you're having these struggles. I know firsthand those emotions are very uncomfortable. Best of luck in getting better and better. I'm pulling for you!

 

I started off by going to my doctor and explaining about my anxiety. She wrote me a prescription for 10 therapy visits, which I went to. I read the books "When Panic Attacks" and "Feeling Good" by David Burns, which helped me understand how the way I think directly affects the way I feel. So by working to change the way I think to think more accurately and eliminate distorted or inaccurate thoughts, I've been able to first reduce anxiety and depression, and eventually eliminate it.

There are many things that happen in our lives that can lead to us experiencing depression and anxiety. You may need to find the roots of these problems in your life in order to begin addressing it. A therapist can be of great help with this. Or the books that I mentioned.

 

Anxiety and depression can be quite serious. I've seen friends live with low levels of depression for months until they suddenly reached a crisis point, and everything unraveled. Better not to wait for that point.

Please make an appointment to see your doctor.

 

How long does this feeling last bro i need ur advice pls

 

I can relate to the feelings of depression and anxiety. For me I think part of it is the shame of knowing I am an addict and that I failed yet again to kick my habit. I normally find if I am having long periods where I do not use porn that I feel a lot better. Having a solid relationship also helps but I find you have to be careful here also. That relationship can become a crutch you use to support yourself. If the relationship goes then you can easily fall into old habits. You really have to get to a point where you are solid on you own. I think a big part of this is developing high self esteem. Many of us do not realize, but we do not think very highly of ourselves and this in turn leads to anxiety, depression and addiction.

 

this is an old thread, but ill put my 2 cents. Its important to acknowledge the fact that increased anxiety and depression is largely chemically, hormonally, and physically induced after relapse. I've heard people say things like "People can feel anxious after a relapse because of the conscious awareness that they failed a streak."

That may contribute to a small part of it, but that's far from the case mainly.

I'm no expert, but the chemicals and hormones in your brain and body are out of whack when you relapse. The severe side effects and symptoms/feelings that occur after relapse are too extreme to be just a thought. Its physiological.

I'm not sure what, but there is something that is done in the brain/body that is triggered after pmo, and for someone who does it too much, it causes severe negative side effects.