I just want to stop.

During my reboots, their are two main principles I follow:

• eliminate all artificial arousal sources (like you said ppl on social media, sex/fetish paraphernalia, etc.)
• don't stimulate myself or have someone else do it, but direct my sexual energy in a positive direction (going to social events, dating, flirting, and if I'm lucky, cuddling, kissing, and giving oral sex)

Removing sexual stimuli is a common one on this site, but redirecting your sexual attention is not practiced very much by guys on this site, and I think that results in a lot of failed reboots. Point your sexual energy somewhere besides porn, and you're going to see great results.

 

Sexual energy is a kind of energy. And if you remember, "energy is nor created nor destroyed, just transformed". One of the keys to success, is to learn how to redirect that drives. Like karate says: use their strenth against themselves.

In my case, I noticed that i need to sleep less and i'm less tired than before i started. So I try to get up earlier, and do exercise everyday.

 

Idk if i have basic principles.. Although i have learned throughout this nofap journey that instant gratification with no work or risk involved is dangerous for the mind.

 

It's kind of hard to do any socializing or meeting any women during the COVID crisis. Can you offer any redirection ideas during this crisis?

 

If you're absolutely not able to socialize or date without fear of likely hurting someone because of corona, I actually suggest cutting your losses for the time being and trying to just masturbate once a week or longer without porn.

For me, staying out of my apartment and away from my computer, socializing very frequently, and expending your sexual energy with women in allowed ways made rebooting much less hard. I've been trying to do that since September, but my current reboot is the longest I've gotten. Mind you I've done two 90 day hardmode reboots in the past, both of which were followed by plenty of sex and relationships, so I know how to get through one and I know it works for me, yet I still have been having trouble.

Considering my personal health and the health of people that I see in places where Covid could spread, I am of the opinion that I am not going to let my addiction become worse if I could help ease it without putting anyone in danger. If you're not in that situation that's fine, but instead of risking intermittent binges (which can be just as worse as everyday use), cut your losses with infrequent masturbation or something else so you don't binge on porn.

 

No, this won't work for me. I've been able to stop watching porn and refuse to PMO for a month. I'm not letting that end that easily. As for your opinion, even perfectly healthy people have gotten Coronavirus. What are you doing to mitigate that for yourself? I'm also in a 13-year relationship. I'm a prostate cancer survivor and the surgery to remove the prostate and cancer has left me with ED ever since. My partner is post-menopausal, suffers from depression, and agoraphobia. We haven't had sex since my surgery in 2011. Her issues have cost her all of her libido. So, rather than watching porn and masturbation, I read books, I've been doing some political volunteering, I have a dog to feed and walk, I take care of my partner. I'm too busy for porn or masturbation.

 

To mitigate my own coronavirus risk I did a couch to marathon training regime for 2 months and I've been doing running and calisthenics 6 days a week for the last 2 months. I'm eating healthy shit and going outside a lot. If I do get coronavirus, I have a much better chance of not developing symptoms or dying than most people on the planet. Being overweight/obese and not having healthy lungs are the two biggest risk factors that people can control, so I cut five pounds in 2 months and still exercise everyday. Sitting inside, not getting any sun, and not using your body makes you more susceptible to die than anything I've been doing. The American standard of "perfectly" healthy is laughable in other countries, and is one of the reasons we have such high case and mortality rates outside of the elderly.

You asked for redirection advice, and you literally have a wife and pet. Some people live alone and go through their porn addictions alone their entire lives. People that now work from home, if they even have a job still, are gonna have drastically different paths dealing with porn addiction than those with partners and more stability.

YBOP makes it very clear that just stopping watching porn is not the only thing you need to do get rid of your addiction and get your life on a better path. You need to socialize. You need to have relationships. You need to take care of your body. You need to focus on things that matter. You need to satisfy your sexual urges. If you don't, your mind is literally starved and will make you hungry for stimulation and connection. If your brain remembers porn as it's main source of connection and stimulation, you're very likely to give in eventually.

Like I said, I am in a situation where I can keep myself and those I socialize with safe from Covid. For a few months, I was not in the same situation, and found myself relapsing constantly because I was just sitting in my house all the time without nothing to do. Instead of intermittently bingeing, which is proven to be potentially as bad as normal use, I decided to just masturbate with no porn frequently. It definitely did not help my healing, but it also prevented me from bingeing with porn, spending hundreds of dollars on sex paraphernalia, and other shit I used to do. For the time being, MOing frequently is a much better option for me, and could be some other guys.

That being said, I'm saying this as someone who went from not being able to have sex in any capacity because of PIED, watching porn 8+ hours a day, and spending thousands of wasted dollars on sex toys and equipment that i used to masturbate. I did a hardmode reboot for 90 days, started having sex, and 6 months total after I started my reboot I was fucking at full capacity. The 90 day hardmode reboot and consistent sex afterwards is the key to recovering from porn addiction. It just isn't possible for a lot of people right now, since we're all stuck inside in front of our computers all day. When I did my first reboot, I would only go to my room to sleep. Literally nothing else. Nowadays, I leave my room to get groceries once a week, exercise for an hour-ish a day, and twice on weekends when i see my friends. Rebooting is just not gonna happen.

 

Agreed but if you've read my other comments on this site, you'll know I'm a prostate cancer survivor who had the surgery to remove the prostate and cancer in 2011. I have had ED constantly since. Also, my partner has a lot of issues that has killed her libido. Having sex is not happening any time soon

I am not going to ever look at porn again and I am not going to masturbate before at least the end of February. I keep myself busy reading, taking care of my dog and my partner, doing some political activism online, and other things. I took a bad fall two weeks ago and the injuries I've had (nothing broken but a few sprains) have curbed any physical activity I can do right now.

See, that is the thing for me. I don't sit in my house with nothing to do. I wouldn't leave myself idle. Obviously you have to create and maintain your individual program of what works for you. It has been decades since I last bought any sex paraphernalia and I don't need it. You need to keep yourself busy to be successful in no pmo . As I said, in this program, you create it and you maintain it. I'm going hard mode.

Because of the aftermath of my post 50ate cancer in 2011, I have not been able to have sex. I don't get into the equipment anymore but my partner and i are considering toys. Nothing wrong with toys if both partners agree to add it to their sex repertoire. Finally, I don't live in a house or an apartment. I am currently living until the end of this coming winter, in an extended stay inn. My partner live in a room at this end. I admit I'm on my computer and online way too much but mostly it is the safest way for me to socialize is to chat with people online. Also, because of some sleeping issues I have that was keeping my partner up, she sleeps in the bed and I sleep in a pull out couch bed. I do not use my bed for anything but sleep. I leave the room only to walk the dog, go to the store or pick up dinner from one of a few places in the area. Otherwise, I am in our room. My partner and I are very high risk for COVID and we do not want it. I am 59 years old and my partner is 60. She is a heavy smoker although I do wish she'd give it up.