The art of Self-Doxxing

Yeah, this is something I noticed as well and think the same as you about it. If you are going public with this and have your pictures on your account etc, there is no taking that back. It's out there. If people in your life find out, then you will always be that guy who has a problem with wanking too much.

 

I had my own face in my profile pic a long time ago (cue all of the comments and messages about how I'm triggering people by having my female face as my avatar... ironic given how many people are now upset that I have a man as my avatar).

At the time, I think my reasoning was that I didn't want to hide my problems and pretend they don't exist. Addiction thrives in secrecy and shame.

However, ultimately I feel it has been better to be as anonymous as possible, because I feel more comfortable opening up about difficult things that way. Back when my avatar was my actual face and my username was the same as on other social media sites, I did find myself holding back a bit from what I posted, which I think was ultimately not very helpful.

 

I have, however, been relatively open about my struggle with porn in my personal life. Not because I want to, really, and certainly not because it's easy or comfortable (it isn't). But because of what Will said. Breaking the stigma, for myself especially when it comes to women struggling with lust and PMO. Especially within the church, when I was growing up, nobody EVER talked to girls about lust or porn or masturbation. EVER. They only talked to boys about that, as if women don't have any sexual desires at all.

So while I don't feel comfortable talking about it, I'm not exactly keeping it a secret either, because I want to be able to help others. And I've actually had a few women in my personal life thank me for "coming out" about my struggles with porn, because they had that problem too and felt very alone and like they couldn't talk to anyone about it.

Heck, if I was braver I would probably write books, make videos, and become the face of females who struggle with PMO, because it's still so needed. But I hesitate to make my personal sexual history such a public affair.

 

The hell is she talking about, I just felt those changes a few days ago. I swear, sometimes I feel like the medical community is extremely bad at accepting new ideas. See the history of morphine, for example.

Anyways, I concur. I don't knock people for doing it, but personally, the only people I plan to ever tell is a woman I was in a serious relationship with as well as people I feel I can be very open with, like a best friend.

 

As someone who has a medical condition that most doctors don't know jack about, this is frustratingly spot-on. Trying to talk to a doctor about something they have never heard of pretty quickly highlights how absurdly arrogant they are. They just don't want to listen or even entertain the idea that there might be something that they don't know, so instead they just gaslight you into thinking maybe you're the crazy one because you aren't a doctor so they must know what they're talking about better than you. It's BS. I'm so sick of it.

 

No joke, in a meeting with a doctor about my condition, my husband asked her "is this something you think you could maybe learn about?" and she literally just straight-up said "No."

 

And then they turn around and wonder why there's people (who I'm not convinced are in the minority) who are skeptical of doctors. Seems to me that diplomas don't really have as much significance as some people think. And thinking that is what causes the ego-bloating you refer to.

This made me chuckle, that she gave a blunt "no". Hopefully you've found some way to treat/manage this medical condition of yours.

 

Eh, sort of. I do the best I can. But it really would be nice if doctors were willing to look into the actual medical research about it, so they could do the procedure for me that would fix my problem. But instead they just like to pretend it doesn't exist.

 

Always shop around for doctors, therapists, etc. There is so much variation. But it makes so much difference when you find a good one.

 

A few celebrities have publicly talked about their problems with porn/porn addiction, hopefully we see a few more "come out" and in time the stigma of speaking up about it will be lessened. Billie Eilish(musician) recently talked about it saying she's been addicted to porn since the age of 11 and how much it fucked her up(her words). For a long time she thought it was cool and progressive to promote porn as something positive but is now of the opinion that it's disgusting and extremely damaging. It's the first time I've heard a high-profile female talk about their issues with porn(from a consumer pov), hopefully other women will also speak out in time and then we may start to see some kind of societal shift as I think the message hits harder than it does when it comes from a man.

 

That wiki article is a scream. I think people with an agenda have seached through the forums for specific posts that support their views and ignored the rest.
There is plenty of ignorance to be found in these pages. But there is wisdom too, and free discussion. People change their minds, people grow. It's the opposite of a 'fascist', fixed mindset censoring all opposition. Not everyone is even anti-porn, but only anti-addiction.

I think there is scepticism in the mainstream media about all-male groups that meet up online to vent their feelings anonymously. (Nofap is neither all male nor entirely anonymous, as this thread proves, but that is how we are seen)

 

Oh trust me, I have seen several doctors. Shopping around only served to make me feel more and more hopeless that every doctor in my town is useless and dismissive. I even went outside my town as well. Problem is, I can't afford to keep paying to see doctors just for them to do absolutely nothing and essentially tell me I'm dumb or crazy.

But anyway, this thread isn't about that, so I'm sorry if I went on a tangent. I didn't expect so many people to respond to my tangent.

 

Kudos to you matey. You make very valuable and insightful contributions in this community.

 

As if your original post didn’t scream “I’m a pussy” this one certainly cleared all doubt.

 

Posting one's own picture can be a liberating action, especially when it comes to these types of problems, since they like to hide in secrecy. Being out and open with your issue can also be a way to deter someone blackmailing you or trying to hold something against you.

With all those benefits being stated, there can be negatives as well. If you are a single person who is independent and has no obligations, then I don't see a problem with posting your real photo. However, if you are married, in a relationship, or have other duties where others depend on you, then you should exercise prudence when posting your real photo, since it's not just you who could be negatively impacted by that choice. It would be important to speak with your partner, spouse, etc before posting your real face or other personal proprietary information.

One must also beware of social engineers.