Anyone who's had depression/anxiety want to share their stories? Alternatively, you can take the poll. I am hoping this thread could be an encouraging or empowering source of information for those who are dealing with mental health issues. You can join in even if you did not specifically have depression or anxiety, but any other mental health concern such as OCD or manic depressive disorder. Thank you for all of your input.
Urges are not that different to me to dealing with my depression. I had depression for 20 years or so when one day I suddenly realised that it was the depression itself that had messed up my life. It was not my Mum Dad Authority Figures or anyone else it was the depression itself that had done the damage. It is the emotion that is at fault not the people. When I did this I was freeing myself from the depression. As soon as I see it arriving now I do something to free myself from it. The earlier I see it the more it works easily. I was like Hulk Hogan pointing at the depression itself saying that it is You who have done the damage and I want nothing more to do with you. It is that heavy felling of low energy and sadness that is the enemy for me. Today I had it for now I am no longer afraid of it and I knew it was there so I just read my spiritual readings and it was gone. It was the same with urges. At first I had to go for a freezing shower to free them whereas now if I know that I am not my urges and are prepared to leave go of them I free them like I free depression. I think urges are harder to free than depression. The two of them are just emotions.
I'm glad you recovered from such a long time spent in depression! Congratulations, that is no easy feat. DannyCool, when you initially realized this, did it feel painful, good, or neutral?
It felt good. I would like to hear how other people did it too please? It sounds like people use various methods to help.
@DannyCool thanks for the response! Yes I would love to hear more from others! Please if anyone has experiences and tips, it could be of so much help to those of us who are still struggling.
Quitting PMO, and the victim mentality have HELPED Im not out of the woods yet. But Im sure I will be.
Victim mentality is when you always think that you're a victim and you never take responsibilty for your own problems.
I have struggled with crippling depression and anxiety my entire life. I was depressed because I felt I didn't belong anywhere. I'm an outsider. One day I realized that I am just an introvert that disagrees with society, and there is nothing wrong with me. I started looking more closely at the way our society in the USA functions, and it occurred to me that everyone else lives a life of nonsensical ignorance. I accepted that I will never fit in because I will never lower my standards enough. I also accepted that I need society for now and that I just need to clear my mind and put my talents to use blending in with society until I no longer need to participate. I realized that a month or so ago, and have felt much better since. Find the root of your depression and anxiety if you can, then address it directly. Maybe you have no mental problems, and are just different. Maybe they label you mentally ill because they do not understand or wish to understand you. Doctors live in their closed little world of widely accepted knowledge. Anyone who strays from the standard teachings is usually shunned from that little community. Plus, doctors get massive incentives from pharmaceutical companies to prescribe their drugs to people. This will often lead doctors to prescribe drugs where common sense, or deep reflection may be all that is needed. I really hope this helps you a bit. Just now getting over my anxiety and depression. Hope you will too.
Thanks for sharing I agree with you that mainstream doctors have massive incentives to pump people up on drugs rather than deeply look at the real patient. Good for you finding the root cause of your depression. Keep on going! Edit: Also, I hope you find the place where you feel you belong (whether it's out and about in a more fitting society for you, or alone in your house or on a mountain-top somewhere ). You might like a book called Quiet by Susan Cain, it's about the unique strengths of introverts. Just a suggestion in case you're interested.
Thanks for the kind words and the book suggestion. I'll probably order a copy and give it a read. I still struggle at times, but tell myself "there's nothing wrong with me". That helps alot. I think my ideal place is in my own future home, surrounded by the people I love and trust. I've been getting out and searching for more people like me. Found one yesterday. An old friend on the exact path I am, but quite a few years ahead. Very lucky there. How are you coping with things? What do you currently or have tried?
No problem, I hope you enjoy it if you read it. Oh how awesome!! I'm glad you found a friend like you and on the same path. That kind of friendship is invaluable I hope things go well with that person~ I also hope you get a home and the opportunity to be surrounded by people you love and trust. That sounds like a fulfilling ideal. I'm sorta coping but still struggling a lot. Seeing a naturopathic doctor has helped me because she's treating my low thyroid hormone levels and teaching me how to eat healthy and gluten free. I'm pretty sure that the main cause of depression for me is too much MO, which I've been doing since before puberty. I'm hoping to see my depression disappear once I've quit for a few months. Thanks for asking I hope you continue to find your pathway.
Hey want to share my story I lost my self confidence while doing my 3rd year of graduation I am a reserved guy and an average student in studies I had the problem of PMO and I felt guilty and had more backlogs due to these problems of pornography and masturbation......PMO was an outlet for frustration and stress and I felt guilty for my actions felt weak and faced a lot of criticisms in college and I discontinued my college and was in depression and stress days went had unlimited WiFi and started PMO again consulted a psychiatrist days passed and went to gym and got a interest after some days started working out and I lost 20pound I am obese like 242 pounds at that time so came to 222pound I did not feel like doing PMO joined the same college and the medication with psychiatrist has been around 1 and half years now I am clear in my thought forms and mind I am doing final year of graduation and relapsed after a 49days reboot this record is my longest streak now yesterday started to reboot today is reboot day 2 and I am a newbie to nofap.....I feel happy to share my story and thanks for starting this poll.....meditation and exercise helps a lot in rebooting from PMO.
I am not having anxiety I was taking medication for that and my effort is 70percent to recover from depression and stress the medication was just 30 percent to remove the chemical imbalances the more change you can find in yourself is the journey to self realize where you're going wrong.......
I've been on a journey of healing when it comes to anxiety and depression. I've been focusing on my mind and body and have opened up to accept my soul as well. I still have challenges but I'm learning to manage them and not have them control my life.
Your experience reminds me of my first love. She showed a few signs of a PMO addiction. Never really noticed it until now. I'd be interested in knowing how you became addicted. For me, I grew up around a lot of sexual stimulation. I watched whatever I wanted on tb from a very young age, and realized how good orgasms felt. My childhood was pretty bleak, so it was just something to keep me busy. It escalated until I realized I was addicted about a week ago. My new friend and I get along great. We have decided to fix our body image issues together and finally start pursuing the things we want in life. We have spent close to 10 hours walking around the park and talking in the past few days. Just walking for miles, discussing things and making sense of things. It's been very helpful so far. We encourage each other to get things done and stay focused. Been a really great help. What's its like being a woman addicted to MO? Do you experience alot of the same feelings and responses as alot of the guys on here? How do you fit into society? I know that I shy away from society when I get off too much. Mostly out of shame or something similar. Do you ever feel that? Thanks for your thoughts so far. I wish you well on your journey. Its always good to see people tackling their problems instead of running away.
Wow, I think we became addicted for similar reasons. I led a very restrictive childhood. I started MOing at age 7 and I loved it. It was a free source of pleasure when I frequently felt under-stimulated and repressed. I'm not 100% positive, but I think the main reason I became addicted was just because of boredom. Other than that, I was previously a pretty happy kid. That's great that you and your friend have started working out together. It's awesome to have someone that can help spur you on in good habits! It sounds great to find someone that you can talk to for 10 hours straight as well Being a woman addicted to MO doesn't seem to be much different from what the guys on here experience, from my point of view! I have all the same issues, except perhaps less physical manifestations, and probably worse mental/emotional ones. As for fitting into society, I grew up with major social anxiety (probably from the MO). Like you, I feel the need to withdraw from society (pretty frequently, in fact). It may be shame...it's because interacting on their level is so exhausting and scary for me that a lot of the time it doesn't even feel worth it. I know once I've quit PMO, socializing will no longer be such a burden, and it will become more enjoyable. But yeah, the general symptoms of PMO for me are: lethargy, numbness, lack of motivation, all kinds of anxiety, low stamina, brain-fog, weak pelvic floor muscles, feeling miserable all the time, and just overall feeling that I'm only living at 10-20% of my full capacity. I'm pretty sure a lot of you guys can relate? Thank you for sharing with me your thoughts and your journey! I wish you well, also, and I'm very glad to see that you are progressing and finding your own path. Keep journeying on!
