I was thinking about this NoFap idea and then some questions popped up in my head. What about atheists or deists? Do they also benefit from abstinence? How can you measure this as you call it 'great motivation level' in people who reboot and know for sure that it is not a placebo effect? Please share your views. I wonder if there are any scientific papers that supports the case.
YourBrainOnPorn.com has many links to scientific studies on brain chemistry and PMO addiction. I believe there are several that talk about the brain chemistry 'normalizing' after a prolonged period of abstinence. That normalizing, more or less, is what causes the spike in motivation. It works for people of all faiths, or no faith.
It's definitely not placebo, and it doesn't matter what you believe in. It works differently for everyone and depends what you're going for, the main goal of Nofap is to stop porn and better yourself
Thanks. I think I know what You mean by normalizing. I'm guessing that most of us prefer spending time in healthy relationship, that is more like or closer to our evolution, over artificial fun. What happens today is pretty nasty. It's like a huge whole new business grew out from demand of people who could accually lost their true, desireable path. I agree it's not normal. It's probably true it's not placebo but it's also fine to do some research Thanks Sarah Walker and SuperFan. Stay strong!
That's just it, though. The primitive part of our brains--the part responsible for triggering sexual arousal--doesn't know the difference between a hot, sexual woman on a screen vs. a hot, sexual woman who's live and in the flesh. Gary Wilson calls internet porn a "super-normal stimulus" because it triggers our biological arousal in a far, far greater frequency and magnitude than natural stimuli ever could. It's also why you see people getting so conditioned to the 'super-normal' of porn that they have problems in real-life encounters. But if you abstain from PMO for an extended period of time, the brain starts to slowly work its way back to a balanced dopamine state. That's essentially the entire science behind NoFap and rebooting.
