How long does it take to get better????

Timeline for healing.

 

I am so impressed with what you have accomplished so far. Did you ever think you would get to where you are? I hear you pain ... loudly. Primarily because I can't see the light, I can only hear my fear.

 

There's no timeline to fit all but from the scans of addicted brains one can see that it takes 35.6 weeks of abstinence on average (range 26.4–44.9, sd 6.2) for brains' gray matter volume to return to baseline, 70 weeks being the worst case scenario-> May 24, 2019 I'm nearing 44.9 weeks of hard-mode and would say I'm still not completely out of the bush. Cravings for P and MO are gone, but underlying issues (depression and anxiety in my case) and anhedonia are still not addressed completely. I've been addicted to compulsive MO for 25 and to binge PMO 17 years. I don't think 3 months of abstinence will do it, if you were addicted for 17 years. It was not until I decided that PMO ( and also MO) is off the table for good that I started to break out of addiction cycle. Before it was few days to few months of abstention followed by full blown relapse, self-guilt/shame and repeat scenario for 2 decades. I truly believe that there is no middle ground of us long term addicts to break free. You have to decide to let go of your addiction for good no matter how hard it gets. Accept the pain and suffering in advance, that way it'll be easier to endure the suffering when shit hits the fan (physical withdrawal plus underlying issue(s) resurface).

 

Hmm ! I don't believe that 3 to 6 months are enough to rid the addiction, and it has happened we have a thousands of examples

 

It's not, good 6 months if you're lucky. Brain scans show that 6 - 11 months is needed on average and 16 months in extreme cases for gray matter volume in frontal lobes to regrowth to baseline.
Here's URL to the full study:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0059645

 

It's take some time dude.

You need to practice the good things, re-educe your soul, spirit and body to practice goods things and no PMO.

But it will be easy for you.

 

I admire your jurney!

Nevertheless, the study concerns cocaine users. I am sorry to say that either you shold add another study that shows an equivalence between P-addiction and Cocaine-addiction brain damage or you are misinterpreting scientific data...

Edit:

For those interested, @Fenix Rising provides some relevant studies in his next post.

 

You guys saying it will be 6 months or more are going to de-motivate the newcomers. Because lets be honest, who is going to refrain from edging for 6 months straight? Who? The Dali Lama maybe?

 

There has been no similar long term brain-scan recovery studies conducted for addictive compulsive behaviors. BTW given study has included cocaine/heroine/alcohol addicts, not just cocaine addicts. But given the fact that gray matter volume reduction in prefrontal cortex was found with people suffering from addictive compulsive behaviors, specifically with compulsive sexual behaviors and given that all addictions/ACBs are basically deep learned behaviors, driven by the same brain mechanisms, transferring highly dopamine rewarding and often repeated task from prefrontal cortex to mid-brains (Mark Lewis: The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction Is Not a Disease / Michael Kuhal: The Addicted Brain) we can mutatis mutandis assume that similar or less time is needed to recover from daily PMO binges as it is needed to recover from substance abuse. Knowing that dopamine release is much higher with cocaine/heroin/alcohol then during orgasm, we can hope that recovery time from PMO will be shorter. We can't be sure, but it's the best thing we've got right now. Granted porn addicts might be preconditioned with lower striatum volume in the first place, studies haven't excluded that option yet, but that's less likely scenario of the two (and much less desirable one as it would mean porn addicts have no hope in beating addictive compulsive behaviors which is empirically not true).

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/1874574?utm_source=Silverchair+Information+Systems&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=JAMAPsychiatry:OnlineFirst05/28/2014#Discussion
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5324617/

 

A lot of people here, myself included. I'd love to write down that all you have to do is endure 90 days and you'll be out of the bush, but that's simply not true for people suffering from addiction. 90 days is a good start, but far from being enough if you're an addict.

 

It could take more than 2 years if you're really severe. I've seen people with 2 years plus on this forum.

 

I'm nearing the 90 days mark and I'm deep in a flatline. If you started young, prepare for the long haul. This is not to discourage you, this is so you know precisely what's ahead and can prepare accordingly. Don't let your guard down, and don't drop your resolve. Remind yourself every day, or every hour if needed, why you're doing this. Realize that this is the most important decision of your life.

 

You will still see recovery within the first 90 days, and in particular you will likely notice that the urges reduce in intensity.

Where the longer term is concerned, many of us were using PMO to basically hide from uncomfortable feelings, stress, emotional pain, anxiety etc. A big part of the long term recovery (maybe not for all) is dealing with those issues that they were avoiding. Each person is likely to have different types and levels of issues which will take varying lengths of time. The longer term abstainers are all seeing a similar pattern in this respect. Have a look at the PAWS thread for more info.

Best of luck my friend

 

Thanks for answering and specifically the references. I am interested in (real) science about this topic but just getting into it.

(I am a chemists and have access to scientific materials, yet I will not spend all my leisure time searching P-related materials but still interested in finding truth/myths abot this topic).

 

Appreciate these words. Im EXACTLY the same, deep flatline and have ED but I was never really addicted to porn or fapping (atleast thats what I think) but the sad reality is that I liked porn more than having real sex... the most annoying part is that many girls are coming down my path since I reboot. Yesterday I kissed with a girl at a party, during kiss my erec was growing slow didnt get more then 60% (normally 100% within 10sec) she's really into me wants more soon im afraid..

Today day 89 and I feel that between day 30-60 I had some moments that I was getting horny again, but after day 60 im back in the worst flatline ever. Maybe 1-2 times per week I dream about porn, thinks this means porn deeply messed up my brain.

When I review myself I think overall recovery is now around 20-30% its going in the right direction but mannn its a tough road bro

 

Our bodies are different, someone needs 3 months and other need 6 months. It depends years of addiction , hours you spent and alone or has a good relationship such as family, gf and friends..

 

You can do it

You can do it! every time you fail you start again and gradually bit by bit you go for longer until eventually you stop using PMO altogether....it's an addiction like any other that you have to wean yourself off. The pay off? Freedom!! More energy, better relationships, not being a slave to porn