Using humour to help reboot?

I have a general idea, but (disclaimer) I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not. I'm not a psychologist.

You could rationalize how silly the whole concept of PMO is. If you look at it as dumb and silly, instead of (or as well as) seriously harmful, then killing the addiction should seem less intimidating.

 

I sometimes smile at the absurdity and variety of triggers that affect me.

For example, there's this South Park episode (the only TV series I really enjoy) called "Crème Fraiche", where Randy Marsh, a common family father, secretly masturbates to cooking shows he watches on TV. The food is making him horny, and the way he acts on it is depicted so accurately that it makes me think of myself when I watch porn. Thinking of this, I then became a little horny for porn myself when I watched that episode recently. But I was far from a relapse as I knew what was going on. In the episode Randy does not want to admit his addiction neither to himself nor to his wife, and his wife 'cheats' on him with an exercise device that very obvisouly resembles a sex toy with some artificial intelligence. It's hilarious.

If anyone's interested, it's season 14, episode 14 and you can watch (almost) all South Park episodes legally and for free here (but prepare yourself mentally so you don't relapse!) southpark.cc.com/ (Can't post the full URL as I get automatically redirected to the German site)

 

I think overcoming PMO is a serious subject. So seriousness is ok. However, when seriousness saps the joy out of life, humor is like a release valve. I use humor like this: My release valve used to be porn. When the stress built up, I would go to it for that dopamine rush. A lot of standup comedy is so mean-spirited or frankly, not that funny so it didn't always work. When I want to blow off steam, sometimes I'll go to youtube and watch bloopers from television shows like the office, or Big Bang Theory. The reason being, it's just a steady stream of people blowing off steam, and it doesn't hit any of my triggers. It hits a similar enough note for me emotionally that I can sometimes forget about PMO altogether when I watch them. That's how I use humor anyway.

 

Heya. I have always felt PMO came with a huge slice of guilt and anxiety. So of course it's going to get serious. However, most girls that I've been out with like to have fun. They get turned on by a sense of humour, but more importantly women like playfulness. If you can can kick into playful/humorous/fun mode then I would say that would be a fantastic antidote to the guilt and anxiety. I also think friends or potential partners often see through the act of trying to be lighthearted when you don't really feel it, so I think it's important to cultivate it in yourself while dealing with this PMO gorgon, so that when when you find yourself in a social situation you really can just be yourself. Approaching this with no humour would I think potentially be a disaster. Doesn't mean you don't have to take it seriously.