... That they will overcome their addiction to PMO only to see it replaced by another addiction? I've seen alcoholics who get sober who replace the booze with drugs, drug addicts who get clean but then become a slave to sex, etc. Do you worry about this?
I don't worry about becoming addicted to other things once I have overcome this addiction. I will remain vigilant and try not to become overconfident so as not to relapse. I can see how it can be in our nature to replace one addiction with another. I personally am not worried about it. It is a good topic. Thanks for posting it. Stay strong!
Don't worry about becoming addicted to something else. If you can overcome this, and get past the hard 90, there is place in your future where you want to NOT use, more than you want to, and those addiction pathways are deadened. Also, beware, in the quitting phase your addiction will whisper lies to you, like, "if you quit me, you will just have to find another addiction to replace me." Don't listen to it. It lies.
A person can only have so much energy. If you give up an addiction you will need to fill that void with something else. It doesnt always have to be a single thing nor does it have to be an addiction but in any case the energy you dedicated to the addiction will have to go somewhere else be it negative or positive. For me when I quit smoking I started exercising and generally wanting to be more active. Now with NoFap I feel that i am way more active and can concentrate much better on things and more motivated to do stuff.
Well I've managed to cut PMO out of my life for almost 5 months now, and I haven't gotten any new addictions as a result so I'm not worried. I do smoke though and I actually find quitting smoking to be a lot harder than quitting porn. As of right now I have no plans to quit smoking because I fear if I do I'll fall back into PMO, and my priority is to give up porn for good. I'll give quitting smoking another shot when I'm fully cured of this.
Maybe its just manifesting itself in ways you are not aware of. I dont know. Quit smoking ASAP though that shit is seriously bad for you. Peace!
I look at porn addiction as the symptom, and not the disease. This helps me understand that I turn to porn because something else is wrong in my life - for me, I experience a lot of loneliness, depression, anxiety. If I focus on the symptom, and even if I successfully avoid porn, there is still the underlying disease, which may manifest itself as another addiction. If I successfully address the underlying issues - why I turn to porn - I believe that I won't need to turn to another addiction. This is what my study of addiction has taught me. My experience seems to suggest the same thing. I had eight months without porn and masturbation, and it just made me turn to other ways of dealing with problems in my life. For example, instead of watching porn I'd just watch hours and hours of television to distract myself from reality. I got rid of the symptom, but the problem was still there. Eventually, I turned back to relapsing.
So, serious question, how do you identify and deal with the underlying issues then? I don't really trust the so-called "professionals".
You treat your addictions as well as any upcoming addictions like you do with NoFap... and you fight ! Don't Give Up ; Don't Give In
@EmanuelLimas. True. My long-term fear of social situations and low self-confidence would count as an underlying issue in my case. Take away the behavioral addictions, and I'm better, but there is still work to be done. I would encourage anyone who has a long streak but is not seeing "progress" in their life to not be discouraged but instead consider taking on more challenges running concurrently.
I think identifying my underlying issues has been easier than dealing with them. Professionals definitely did help me - not by telling me what my problems were, but by challenging me to pay attention to my thought patterns and behaviors. I try to practice mindfulness. As far as dealing wth my issues, I don't know. I haven't figured that out. How does one live without the temporary comfort of addiction? How does one face the horror of reality without escape? I really hope that one day I'll figure that out and be able to share it with you. Or you can share it with me?
