Being Around People Must Go With NoFap or You'll Relapse

In my personal case, being around people doesn't really help me avoid PMO (in fact, I think people have the opposite effect on me as they make me feel lonely). That being said, I can totally agree that waiting at home until you recover is the worst move, simply because you need to focus on your goals and building the kind of live you can be proud of. Besides, recovering from porn addiction and masturbation doesn't mean you will abandon all social life just because you are uncomfortable dealing with other people.

I think friends are a great help when coping with emotional issues, still there has to be a real friendship for that to work. Otherwise, you might fall into "being alone in a room full of strangers", with people that doesn't care or is interested in you nor are you interested in them.

 

I think being around supportive people with congenial interests is a crucial part of recovery as well. For huge parts of my life, I've had no social life whatsoever for various reasons. I never dated at all and only extremely rarely would I hang out with any school friends. People thought of me as some quiet loner, a weirdo. I ended up developing a sense of resentment towards people in general and that exacerbated the problem. I would be shut up inside and I would feel lonely and detached. Simply trying to keep myself busy with reading, video-games, or whatnot, was not enough to keep me away from porn and then that addiction took off. Being around people will help you stay in touch with the outside world and allow you develop into a fully functional person. Of course, it will also mean less idle alone time you have for porn. Socializing is especially key during adolescence. I've learned this hard way.