Guys, Newbie, I made it 10 days and then relapsed today. How long does it take for your anxiety to go away. 30-60? I think I can use this as motivation if I know there is light waiting for me when the urges are overwhelming.
I understand the reason for your question, but there is no specific answer that could be given. It depends on so many factors. For example, does your anxiety predate your porn habit. Abstinence from porn is not a cure all for other ills.
Well, yes and no. My habit started when I was 11 and I don't remember ever being without fear and anxiety ( it's like heat that radiates out from the center of my chest and rarely goes away). Alcohol used to help but as we all know "fat drunk and stupid is no way to go through life" so I realize now I use porn as medication.
In which case, you are using porn and masturbation as a coping strategy, as many of us do. So, when you deny yourself that strategy, your anxiety levels will rise. Consequently, in addition to abstinence, you must find beneficial ways to allay your anxiety (without using food, drink, sex etc). This is easier said than done, but it is possible.
Not to hijack the thread but if anxiety did predate PMO habits, will NoFap fix it ? (Considering testosterone hadnt reached max level back at the age of 11, and it should be max now)
As previously said, there are a LOT of other factors to consider when it comes to anxiety. Anxiety is a very complicated condition that stems from numerous, compounding roots. Trust me, I've studied this my entire teenage and adult life and have run the gamut of having extreme anxiety to the point I couldn't even buy stuff in a store because the act of purchasing an item in front of a cashier would make me red, sweat, and freak out inside with anxiety, to another point in time where I was the center of focus at parties and talking to women flawlessly. There are a LOT of factors to consider but I will say nofap does take a "chunk" of a percentage out as one of the many factors that add up to causing anxiety. It doesn't mean that eliminated nofap will cure it 100% but it'll be a big step to fixing the problem. Everyone's story of eliminating anxiety varies from diet changes to emotional trauma, etc. Different steps are needed for all of them. The biggest changes for me that near eliminated my anxiety to pretty much 0 were these things: nofap, eliminating caffeine, eliminating gluten, getting proper sleep at the same times every day, fixing and maintaining my posture through lifting weights, and getting enough sunlight every single day. These things did not all happen at once, but instead one by one and they all took a "chunk" of my anxiety away. I turned my life around from being unable to hang out with friends anymore, having a curved back and forward-hanging head, sweating and getting red at any sort of social interaction to having many friends, being approached by people for conversation and vice versa, having a straighter and confident looking posture, and at times, actually looking FORWARD to a social interaction with pretty much anyone and it causing me to get a boost of energy. I do feel it necessary to add that PMO, like any other "quick fix" ruins your body's natural ability to learn and cope with such situations and will ALWAYS make the problem worse shortly thereafter. Whenever I tried to use PMO to treat my anxiety, it would ALWAYS, WITHOUT FAIL, make the anxiety ABSOLUTELY WORSE. Changes take a lot of work, but it'll change your life. Everything that's worth it comes with hard work and discipline at some point in time or another. There isn't much cheating that.
Check this out: http://www.nofap.com/forum/index.php?threads/why-does-anxiety-come-and-go.54859/#post-399746
