Do Porn Blockers Work For You?

Yes and No, better add that option too.

Blockers are an extra layer of protection that unfortunately can be bypassed in most cases when a strong urge hit. For me, blockers are just an extra step that makes me think of the action I am about to do. I mostly end up bypassing them or removing them when I get an absurdly strong urge.

I have streaks of 90+ days in which I did not use any blocker or safe search (it was during the time my addiction was at its infancy).

To conclude: It is important to have the will and correct mindset to not watch p@#n, only then will the blockers be useful. Still, to be safe get a strong blocker(s).

 

porn blockers are a must have

 

I'll relapse to anything so .. not really.

 

No, It does not work for me. Whenever I want to see porn I will find my way through it :c

 

No. I always went to my ps4, you can enter porn there and there's no way to block it, so it never worked for me. Also, I can always trick the blocker to access what I want... so the only blocker that needs to work for me is my mind... one day!

 

They are a great thing to have to stop any accidental viewing. As a solution to watching P itself, no.

 

They're helpful but no blocker is bulletproof.

 

There is different factors to how effective a blocker can be.

The blockers you are using.

The configuration you have.

How many devices you have.

In my opinion you can completely go out your way to make it near impossible to access anything that will cause you to relapse. There is certain blockers and configurations that can achieve this.

Then you could also get rid of your administrator privileges. You can have a system where you need to wait a certain amount of time to get your admin privileges back. So an hour, a day, a week etc.

You could have an air tight system but still have access to a few things, but it would still be a hassle to get around. But if you were desperate enough you could potentially find loopholes.

If you really wanted to make it impossible to access anything you likely could make it near impossible. But there is some risks to this. Potentially losing admin privileges altogether etc, and needing to completely wipe your computer etc to fix it. But there is a blocker where wiping your computer, or even a reset can actually cause your computer to fail to boot.

So there certainly is things you could do to make it near impossible to get around blockers and your configuration. But as I say they do come with some risks.

Another thing is it is much easier to do this if you only use one device you can access the internet on. So if you only use a computer and that is the only device you can access the internet on this works better. However if you also have smart phones and other devices this sort of thing isn't going to work anywhere near as good. As you will be able to access content on those other devices.

But again you could look at it another way. So for me I used to binge on hundreds of different content online, edging and binging for hours. So if I relapsed by ending up on a few images for 5 minutes, this is no where near as bad for me as what my behaviour used to be like. I would still see this as somewhat of a win, even though I am not 100% clean.

But some people don't see it that way, it's either 100% clean or nothing. But clearly if something like this did happen where someone was seriously edging and binging on hundreds of different content for hours on a regular basis, and then that changed to the very occasional relapse where they ended up on a few images for 5 minutes very occasionally, clearly this is actually massive progress. But again some people don't see it that way, because it still isn't 100% clean.

 

I have setup simple to bypass porn blocker (host file, dns) just to remind me to not watch porn when I forgot.
I tried complicated blocker but I take it as a challenge to bypass it and I always find a way, it was not healthy for me.

 

That's why porn blockers don't work for me. I feel compelled to circumvent them.

 

I use a whitelist on my iPhone (blocks every website on the net except the ones I manually added to my whitelist) and don’t own a laptop anymore. Works wonders for me, an absolute must and it reduced my relapses by enormous amounts, I’ve made gigantic steps since using those

 

No because I need a password for changing the whitelist and only my brother knows it. The other way is connecting the phone to a pc with iTunes and reset the phone, that also removes the blocks. But my brother knows about my NoFap goals and would make sure the blocks are always active

 

If you pay for it yeah. If its free no. Because everyone knows that money is more important than everything. So when you about to bust and you try and delete the porn blocker you put a random password on. You would realize that it isn't worth it. What i say is better than a porn blocker is to stay busy all the time. Stand more than you sit. stay active. workout everyday. And when you get urges change your position. Just some tips.

 

Both
I bypassed multiple blockers multiple times, once you start using blockers you cant stop using them. They sometimes create an illusion of progress. I am very very adicted to bypassing blockers for some reason. There is no blocker which is bulletproof, which is very sad. There is no software which you can just install and boom you ll never relapse . It doesnt work like that ,the internet was bulit for porn. It only helps when you are low on will power.


I went to the extent of removing my harddrive and booting with another one to bypass a blocker. So it doesnt work for me.It works for the majority of people I believe

 

Some times we need to be willing to give up aspects of our life that are not contributing to our wellbeing. Ps4 is ready made porn access.

 

For me, no. I also always found a way around it. However. It's also like a leash. It'll hold you back and train you not to use porn because its not accessible. Yeah, that can help in getting a few days into a streak but what about when P is accessible? Were you ever trained to no look when it was available. Maybe you're healed and you don't need porn but maybe you're not and you won't find out until you remove the leash.

And this is not me rationalizing why I shouldn't have a blocker. Ever since I removed my blocker, I felt in control. At first I did watch a little more often than when I had them on, but I started to develop self control. And if I managed to hold a streak it was because of myself and not software.

 

Another thing about blockers is do they have the ability to keep you 100% clean from artificial sexual stimulation? I know a configuration that could keep you literally 100% clean from artificial sexual stimulation. But the thing is there would hardly be any point in being on the internet, as the most you would have is the internet without any images or videos.

But something that kind of annoys me with some guys is they will think well if the blocker isn't keeping me 100% clean from porn and artificial sexual stimulation then the blocker isn't really working.

But is this actually true?

What if the blocker and configuration you have is causing you to live a much cleaner lifestyle than what you were previously living? What if it is like night and day what your behaviour is like now compared to what it used to be, all because of the blocker and configuration you have? But ok yes from time to time on the odd occasion you might end up on the odd safe search youtube video, the odd image etc.

See something I find funny is this persons behaviour is now nothing like an addicts behaviour. They might end up on the odd thing from time to time and it's no big deal. But their previous behaviour was like the behaviour of an addict. But because of the blocker and configuration they have set up they literally only ever end up on something very mild from time to time. Clearly the blocker and configuration is having a massive effect. But some guys see it as well if the blocker isn't keeping me 100% clean then it isn't really working. Are you actually being serious?

 

Pornography blockers are only as good as the system that surrounds it.

If you are white-knuckling your pornography addiction, it will work as well as the "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign in the 1980's. It of course doesn't work, our desire for sexual stimulation with porn and copulating couples and masturbating women is just too strong, and too ingrained a habit. (Note: I have had a 40 year history with PMO, just check out my journal to the left.) <----

I have in a relatively short amount of time gained an accountability partner (AP, there is a forum to find an AP if you don't have one). Recently due to other circumstances picked up a second AP, who serves as my CovenantEyes administrator. He found out when I uninstalled the software on my son's laptop, and checked in with me to see if everything was alright.

Rare is the person who is able to stop the porn and masturbation addiction cycle by themselves. You need community, you need other people, you need the healthy habit of bringing everything out in the open where it can be discussed. A spouse or SO to discuss your addiction with, the aforementioned AP, a therapist, a good friend: you need help from the outside, people you can talk openly about this. I have found personally that I no longer even need the IronWill app on my iPhone to keep track of the days and make the 'streak' a thing; I know the systems are in place and I will get to where I want to go - a better life in so many ways.

I am happy to pay the ~$200/year for the porn blocker. I am happy there is a first-line defense against all the familiar porn sites I used to visit, all the torrent sites I used to grab files from, and I have to talk with someone about why I am doing this willfully. Just the thought of going through all that is disincentive enough to shut off the desire to look at porn.

 

It depends. If you are really discipline then you dont need a blocker. It is all about discipline.