The Porn Epidemic – My NoFap Success Story

the porn epidemic nofap

The widespread use of internet pornography is one of the largest experiments on human sexuality ever undertaken. 

I’ve been using internet porn myself since its inception, and before that I had been using other forms of porn and it has been probably the most devastating things to my development as a human being that I’ve ever partaken in.  The purpose of this video is fourfold:

  1. Share with you my biggest weakness; the thing that has been destroying me my entire life.
  2. Educate young people about the serious damaging effects of internet porn.
  3. To inspire others to quit porn and start living
  4. To share with people what did and didn’t work for quitting pornography

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

Here’s the timeline for me.  The first time I ever masturbated to porn was at age 11 and here we are today I am 33 years old.  That’s 22 full years.  It took many years before I even realized it was a problem too.

porn addiction timeline | porn epidemic nofap1

I remember the first time I did it, it was at a sleepover for my buddy’s birthday.  A bunch of us were all in our separate sleeping bags in different parts of the room.  If you’re about 30 years or older you’ll remember the pay-per-view box.  The box was how people used to access pay-per-view.  I don’t even think his parents paid for pornography, somehow these boxes were easy to hack into.  It was suspiciously easy to ‘hack’ the porn on these things.  So that night we had free porn and it was my first masturbation experience in 1996 at age 11.  And it didn’t stop there.

Porn: From Magazines to Endless Novelty

From that point on the materials I used for masturbation included everything from the bra and underwear section in Sears magazines, to TV shows like Fresh Prince and music videos by Britney Spears and other pop icons.  When you compare these things to the content on today’s porn tube sites these sources are pretty mild, which is important to note.  I grew up before high speed internet porn came into existence, and for kids these days pornography is proving to be an even worse problem, which is why I wrote this article – so you can make an informed decision as to whether or not you want to go down this road or not and make porn a regular part of your life. 

12-17 year old are said to be the most active users of porn and schools are doing a terrible job at warning kids of the potential dangers of pornography use.  In fact I haven’t seen anything in the curriculum on this subject at all.  Since kids are not being taught this, I am hoping to reach a wide range of people but particularly a younger crowd with this information.

The Birth of Porn Tube Sites

The birth of online high speed porn tube sites was about 10 years after I began masturbating.  Before that online porn videos were accessible online but it was through a program called Kaazaa.  With these porn tube sites, a constant, unending stream of novelty is accessible at the click of a button.  As Dr. Gary Wilson has said, with today’s internet pornography, one can see more potential mates naked and having sex than our ancestors would see in many lifetimes.

Erectile Dysfunction: The Turning Point

Six years later, after the birth of streaming porn videos, I had an experience that finally made me realize porn was a problem in my life.  I was 27 at the time and I had met an 18 year old beautiful blonde Serbian girl in high school and we were together, getting to know each other – one thing lead to another – and while in the bedroom things did not go so well.  That was when I realized pornography was a problem for me and it compelled me to quit.  This appears to be the most common reason why men want to quit pornography.

That was my first serious attempt at quitting porn and we’ll get into the strategies I attempted and the various degrees of success I had and finally, what worked.

The Coolidge Effect

Without the Coolidge effect there would be no internet porn.  What you’re looking at on the screen is data derived from a mating study on rams. 

the coolidge effect | porn addiction timeline pornography nofap

When a ram was given a single partner, with each subsequent sex session, he began to lose interest, as evidenced by the increased time it took to ejaculate.  But when that ram was given a novel partner after each session, he would continue to fertilize the female rams within 2 minutes flat – over and over again.  As long as there was a novel partner given to the ram, in fact, he would have sex until the point of complete exhaustion.  That’s the Coolidge effect and it’s the same mammalian mating program running in the minds of humans and all mammals.  Pornographers know this.  This is why we have virtually unlimited novelty at the click of the button.  This is why modern porn via online video streaming is so compelling and why the drug of pornography is one of the most addictive and damaging.

Internet Addiction Brain Studies

Some people deny that internet or porn addiction is a legitimate addiction.  But as actor Terry Crews has revealed in an online video, who himself suffered for many years from a porn addiction, “if daytime turns to night and you’re still watching pornography then you’ve probably got a problem.”

internet addiction brain studies | porn addiction pornography nofap

The scientific literature agrees with Crews’ statement.  The above studies show that internet addiction, including porn addiction, is a legitimate addiction that likely affects millions of people.  Other potential addictions online include social media, where you have a homepage with an endless stream of novel content being published at random intervals.

“Constant novelty at a click can cause addiction.”
– Dr. Gary Wilson

‘Internet Porn is Killing Men’s Sexual Performance’

The breaking point for most guys, including myself, is erectile dysfunction.  A survey by the Italian Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine in 2011 found that internet porn is killing young men’s sexual performance.  And it is indeed erectile dysfunction that leads many guys to want to quit porn.

It’s from this desire that a phenomenon called NoFap has arose.  NoFap includes tens of thousands of guys who congregate among many forums and websites on the internet, including bodybuilding forums, health forums and nofap websites to motivate eachother and share their experiences.

The typical length of abstinence from porn, masturbation and orgasm (PMO) that men undergo while engaging in NoFap is 90 days.  The ‘benefits’ they experience are things that would’ve been there but were being suppressed by the addiction itself.  The results show anecdotally with thousands of different accounts from guys who don’t know eachother, from all walks of life, the impact pornography is having on people.  The benefits have been reported to be so fantastic that many guys think not watching porn has given them ‘superpowers.’  Once the addiction is removed from one’s life, the rebirth that occurs often seems miraculous.

NoFap Success Stories & Testimonials

“I’ve been to psychologists and psychiatrists for the last 8 years.  I’ve been diagnosed with depression, severe social anxiety, severe memory impairment, and a few others.  I’ve tried effexor, ritalin, zanax, paxil, dropped out of two different colleges, been fired twice, used pot to calm my social anxiety.  I’ve been approached by a few women, I guess due to my looks and status, but they quickly flew away due to my incredible weirdness.  I’ve been a hardcore porn addict since age 14.  For the last two years I’ve been experimenting and finally realized that porn was an issue.  I stopped it completely two months ago.  It has been very difficult but so far incredibly worth it.  I’ve since quit my remaining medication.  My anxiety is nonexistent.  My memory and focus are sharper than they’ve ever been.  I feel like a huge ‘chick magnet,’ and my ED is gone too.  I seriously think I had a rebirth, a second chance at life.”
– A male in his late 20s

“I feel like the next Sir Isaac Newton or Leonardo da Vinci.  Since I quite a month ago I’ve literally started a business, taken up piano, been studying French everyday, been programming, drawing… and have more awesome ideas than I know what to do with.  My confidence is sky high.  I already feel like I can talk to any girl.  I’m the same guy who took two and a half extra years to graduate from college because of procrastination and depression.”
– A male in his 20s

“A few words on how life is after almost a month without orgasm.  I am amazed!  I feel more confident than ever especially at work, with its many demands and stresses.  I have been able to keep lucid and cool, despite a heavy workload and pressure recently.  I manage to socialize effortlessly, while normally doing so is effortful for me.  In general, I feel as if the world at large is nicer to me; people tend to respond and interact positively with me.”
– Stan

Side Effects of Porn Addiction

Based on all these accounts of experiences from men who have quit porn and the symptoms that had been relieved after quitting, the side effects of porn addiction have become apparent.  Aside from Erectile Dysfunction, which is typically the prime motivator behind the desire to quit, we have a list of other common side effects of porn addiction.

  • Social Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Concentration Problems (ADHD)
  • Low Motivation
  • Performance Anxiety
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Low Energy
  • Low Confidence
  • Low Self-esteem
  • Irritability

You may have noticed that many of these symptoms are diagnosed by doctors and the person experiencing these symptoms is often medicated with anti-anxiety or anti-depression pills.  But according to many accounts, including one we just went over, quitting porn has for many eliminated all of these symptoms. So if you’re experiencing one or more of these symptoms, without any kind of pill or drug interventions, simply quitting porn could potentially eliminate all of these symptoms.

Porn Quitting Strategies: What Works and What Doesn’t?

For anyone who is trying to quit porn and having a difficult time like I was, I wanted to share with you what I’ve done to try and quit so you can see what worked and what didn’t. 

After my first experience with ED, I realized I needed some big changes in my life.  Here are the strategies I tested:

  1. Leaving country on work exchange program for 2 months
    I left the country to Costa Rica, in the heart of the jungle where, in exchange for 30 hours of work per week, I received food and lodgings for free.  This was undoubtedly a lifechanging experience for me.  There was definitely a period of withdrawal which was very difficult.  After about 3 weeks I met a girl there and we hit it off.  We bonded and spent a lot of time together, and a couple weeks later when we introduced sex into the mix and things went a bit downhill.  I began to feel irritable again because I didn’t allow myself a full brain reset. 

    When she left Costa Rica, things really went downhill quick because I returned to porn and no longer had a partner with which to enjoy the experience and physically bond with.  This experience was valuable and I ended up abstaining from orgasm, pornography and masturbation for about a month.
  2. Porn blocking software (Net Nanny, etc.) + WIFI blocking software on phone (AppLock)
    The next strategy I tested after returning was to block porn on my computer using Net Nanny software.  The goal of this was to block myself from being able to go to porn sites on my computer.  Additionally I installed a program called AppLock on my android phone, which would automatically switch off WIFI if ever I tried to turn it on and connect to the internet.  Furthermore, I removed data from my phone service.  In theory, these two strategies employed together would eliminate my access to porn and thus allow me to NoFap for 90 days and reset my brain to see the effect.

    What ended up happening was I found my way around the Net Nanny software which was basically by going into ‘safe mode’ and restarting and that in turn re-opened my access to porn sites.  The success of this strategy was limited and I ended up abstaining from porn for about a week or two.
  3. Living with friends who were successful + Walks everyday first thing in morning
    I dedicated to make another big change and live with a few friends who were successful and had their lives together.  It’s good to be around people like this when you’re trying to succeed because then you are inspired and in a sense pressured to live similarly.  They say you are the sum total of your 5 closest friends.

    Additionally, every morning when I woke up first thing, I would throw on some clothes and shoes and go for a 30 minute to 1 hour long walk.  Both of these were powerful strategies, and the walk in particular I found had a profound impact on me.  I remember feeling very good when stepping in the door after my morning walk.

    The success of this strategy lasted about a month. The irony was that after a month I was feeling so good that I ended up meeting a girl and suddenly I had a girlfriend.  Then naturally we had sex and that prevented the pleasure center in my brain from fully healing, and as the sex continued, I was brought back down to the low dopamine state.  And I ended up watching porn again too.  This strategy helped curb masturbation to porn for about a month, maybe a bit longer, before it failed.
  4. And finally, the NoFap strategy that worked…
    The final strategy I employed just a couple days ago.   Technically I haven’t yet succeeded, but I’m telling you it worked because it’s almost impossible for me to access porn after making these changes.

The Ultimate NoFap Strategy

The winning strategy that finally allowed me to quit internet porn is 5-fold:

the ultimate nofap strategy | porn addiction pornography
  1. Getting rid of home internet
    Having access to the internet in the home makes porn viewing easy, especially if you’re living by yourself or have a computer in your bedroom.  Furthermore, internet at home also makes it very easy to waste time with the many distractions that come with having the internet.  Once I got rid of home internet, I began going to the library for my online work, which allowed me to focus and accomplish more.
  2. Getting rid of my laptop
    After getting rid of my home internet, I began bringing my laptop to the library, but this quickly became a problem.  What ended up happening was having my laptop at the library gave me free reign to viewing porn sites.   As a result I would access and download a whole bunch of porn onto my laptop, then bring it home with me and masturbate to porn after my work was done.  This was not only a massive waste of time gathering porn, but also a waste of time viewing porn.  Additionally, it sometimes got in the way of me accomplishing the important things that were on my ‘to do’ list for the day. Ultimately I realized my laptop would have to go.  This has forced me to use public computers at the library, which block access to porn.
  3. Getting rid of cell phone data
    Obviously with data on a cell phone one can easily browse to porn sites.  So I got rid of data on my cell phone plan to ensure that browsing the internet or viewing porn sites was impossible.
  4. Getting rid of girlfriend
    Before quitting porn, I had been sexually active with a girlfriend of mine that I had been with for about 4 months.  The problem was she didn’t understand the necessity of me refraining from all types of orgasm entirely and wasn’t willing to not have sex with me for 90 days.  Since she wasn’t willing to do this so I let her go.

    Although I’ve lost a relationship that definitely had its benefits, I let her go without hesitation because I understand that me being my best self will help others be their best selves. I am excited to heal myself from pornography addiction once and for all.
  5. Getting rid of TV
    Finally, I listed and sold my television on classified ads.  When I had television, the way I used it was similar to a drug.  I never had cable TV, I am much more particular about the things I let into my mind.  The way I used it was, while at the library, I’d download a bunch of all the latest videos from the YouTube channels I am subscribed to, and I would waste hours not only gathering and downloading the videos, but watching them as well.  In that sense, I was using it like a drug, in a similar way to porn, and would get the same rush of dopamine from the prospect of all these novel videos.

    There is definitely some positive benefit from watching lectures and other informational videos, but overall I think this will make an enormous difference in who I am as a human being.  Watching television is a passive activity, and active brain activities like reading are much more fulfilling and for me personally help me learn things much more thoroughly.  My goal/new habit that I’ve been creating is to read 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours before bed every day.

“The road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom… For we never know what is enough until we know what is more than enough.”
– William Blake

Reducing Addiction Withdrawal Symptoms

Whenever you quit an addiction, you’re going to deal with withdrawal symptoms.  So I wanted to figure out if there was a way to minimize those and thus speed up the recovery process.  It’s important to know what the withdrawal symptoms might be, so here’s a quote from Andy, who also quit porn, and the symptoms he experienced:

“I have given up orgasms for about six weeks, and the withdrawal, as it turns out, was harder than cocaine, opiates, booze, or nicotine.  I spent a solid week weeping every night after returning from the university where I teach.  I couldn’t sleep, and I had almost zero appetite.  The thought of dating made me want to curl up into a ball and quit.  But here I am.  I feel free.  [Six months later] I have fallen in love just this month.  We are taking things slower than I’ve ever done before in my life, which is totally rewarding on all levels of my being!”
– Andy

Red Light Therapy for Addiction

Can red light therapy reduce addiction withdrawal symptoms and help people recover more quickly?  Here’s a 2008 study on the use of red light therapy for helping smoking addicts quit, published in the Journal of Chinese Medicine.

Low Level Laser For The Stimulation Of Acupoints For Smoking Cessation: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Randomised Trial And Semi-Structured Interviews

Journal of Chinese Medicine 86: 46-51.

Kerr, C.M., Lowe, P.B. & Spielholz, N.I. (2008).

Aim: to determine whether the application of laser acupoint stimulation to previously reported effective ear and body acupuncture points was successful in reducing the physical symptoms of withdrawal, so promoting a complete cessation of smoking.

Design: The method used was that of a double blind, randomised controlled trial and semi‑structured interviews. Adult volunteers (n=415) were recruited following a television appeal. After initial screening and application of inclusion/exclusion criteria the volunteers (n=387) were randomly allocated to either of the treatment groups A or B or C. Intervention: Three laser therapy treatments on days 1, 3 and 7 of the programme and one sham treatment on day 14 (Group A) or 4 laser treatments carried out on days 1, 3, 7 and 14 (Group B) or Group C with four sham treatments on days 1, 3, 7 and 14. Sham treatments used an inactive probe identical in appearance to active probe. 

Findings: Groups A and Group B participants achieved a higher rate of non smoking than Group C. Of the two groups, four treatments (Group B) was more effective than the three treatments (Group A). The differences in the non smoking behaviors of all three groups were statistically significant. Subjective data reported a lessening of withdrawal symptoms after laser treatment.

Conclusions: Laser acupoint stimulation can assist in smoking cessation by reducing the physical symptoms of withdrawal.

As you can see, red light therapy is effective for helping people overcome smoking addiction.  And since all addictions affect the reward center of the brain in the same way, it’s very likely that red light will also boast withdrawal reductions in people from all addictions.  This is why I am employing full-body red light therapy as a key component of my addiction withdrawal strategy using a powerful 600 watt red + near-infrared light therapy device from the EndAllDisease store.

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