Doing a "Controlled Burn"

I have a great deal of respect for NoFap and I credit it for a lot of the success I've had thus far in my journey to end my PMO habits. However, I do feel it relies on a "Cold Turkey" approach which for a lot of us, just doesn't work and leads to constant relapses, failures and discouragement.

Another Fapstronaut thread here suggested a "stepping down" approach or even "scheduling" times to MO, making the intervals between sessions farther apart. I've actually been trying this since I restarted my journey and I'm not kidding, it's working...for me anyway. This may not work for everybody.

Now before you accuse me of over-rationalization please hear me out a moment.

People in the forestry business will do a "controlled burn" of dead or diseased wooded areas, in order to prevent the possibility of a greater fire hazard later. Starting a fire to prevent a fire.

In essence, this approach is fapping to prevent fapping. To clear out the porn addled regions of my brain, or at least keep the urges from spreading later.

I do feel in order to start though it requires at LEAST one week of no MO or PMO, this is the hardest part of course, but I feel it established a solid foundation to begin on.

Anyone who's read my other posts know that I refer to my addiction as the PMO Monster. A little creature that lives in my head that feeds off of the dopamine rush and in return fills my head with more and more cravings and rationalizations to do unthinkable things to get that rush. He keeps me dull and trapped, standing in the pathway between my ability to be the person I want to be and my brain. The philosophy is for me to starve him of PMO-induced dopamine fixes until he dies.

When you edge and PMO every day for hours a day, all you see anymore is the fantasies, rationalizing, urges and so on. I've lived in a permanent state of craving because I've been feeding it a steady diet of dopamine daily. Once I got a foothold in and put some distance from my last PMO session, I feel I've been able to compartmentalize the PMO Monster. Or caged him. He's still there, but I can actually SEE it trying to get me to do the things I hate that have been keeping me down.

So I MO. Usually in the shower. No more than 10 minutes or so. As I'm doing it, it's like I let him out of his cage, he runs wild in my head, for that 10 minutes, I feel I could do ANYTHING to get that rush. Watch porn, cheat on my wife, go to strip clubs, all of it. Nothing is off the table.

Almost immediately after orgasm, rationality comes rushing back. I think about how I can't even imagine that I could possibly do the things I was thinking of, it's amazing, it's like I put him back in his cage. But the key is to limit it to only that and only every few days or so, that's where the willpower comes in. NOT every day. Otherwise my head will get filled with dopamine and I'll be back to square one.

What I've been attempting to do is lengthen the interval between MO sessions, once every two days, then three, then four and so on, until doing it becomes a chore in a way. So far it's working for me. Yes I'm still masturbating, but at the moment, it's only 10 minutes or so every few days rather than spending hours EVERY DAY in front of the computer edging to fantasy women.

I haven't looked at a single bit of porn in any form whatsoever in 19 days and I don't even miss it. I'm feeling better about myself and a degree of confidence I haven't felt in quite a long time. I'm getting things done that I've been putting off for months. I really feel that going on this path, my compulsion to masturbate will diminish to almost nothing eventually.

Like I said, this is what's working for ME. Your mileage will vary of course. I hope I've explained it clearly enough to make sense. I'd really like some thoughts about this approach.