cold turkey vs a gradual descent

I can only assume you already know the answer to this.

If a cocaine addict came to you and asked whether the best approach for his/her recovery would be cold turkey or recreational use, what would you tell him/her?

 

Porn, you would need to go cold turkey. Masterbation on the other hand, is easier to quit by staggering. I started MO ing once a week, then once every two weeks, then once a month. And so on....it worked for me. You could just as easy go once every 3 days. Its up to you.

 

Never thought of it like that but it has really helped me. I have been trying to go cold turkey both porn and masturbation, which has been very difficult and resulted in me relapsing by also watching porn. Have decided to now go no porn, whilst still allowing myself to masturbate, then remove masturbation later on.

I remember @Captain B describing how he went no porn first before doing no masturbation as well and it seemed to have worked for him!:

http://nofap.com/forum/index.php?threads/over-100-days-of-nofap.18284/

 

Back when I was fapping, I would stand in the corner with a tissue and my eyes shut and fap as quickly as possible. Its so boring that I soon stop wanting to fap.

 

I disagree and believe that M is totally unnatural and it's addictive nature and tendency to be abused and turned into an evil industry is hard evidence.

Married sex doesn't addict you but allows you to love and function better and isn't perverted in nature.

Go cold turkey dude. The Beatles did it.

 

Hahahaha! Yeah I foresee this happening...

Where have you read that? I want to know about that it would be good motivation for me! Can you link me?

 

It is a relative answer, people are different.
I have switched between the two methods, each one have its pros and cons, each one helped me in a different manner, and for me the two methods complete each others.

 

Their song "Cold Turkey" was about them getting off heroin.

 

Ah wow okay, thought you meant The Beatles being nofappers. But that's also cool! Thanks!

 

I've known heroin addicts and ex-heroin addicts and I'll tell you that the ones who quit cold turkey were more successful.

Methadone is a really bad drug too, it's more addictive than heroin but clinics use it because it's easy to synthesise. Methadone doesn't work to cure an addict but to give them an unadulterated opiate to satisfy their withdrawal symptoms while the patient is counseled through their addiction.

The ones who break free from their addiction are the ones who legitimately want to break free. Cold turkey is painful but it enforces the fact that you are stronger than the drug.

 

"Cold Turkey" was not a Beatles song. It was written by John Lennon and released as a single in 1969 by the Plastic Ono Band, including Ringo Starr.

John Lennon's personal assistant in the late 1970s (Fred Seaman) said that Lennon confided in him that the song was actually about a severe case of food poisoning suffered by John and Yoko after eating Christmas leftovers "cold turkey". Lennon thought people would laugh at him if they knew the truth about the song's origin, so he said it was inspired by his recent heroin withdrawal.

 

Go cold turkey. It's better to bite the bullet and get it over with. When you try to ease out of an addiction it's easy to get stuck in a comfortable spot that isn't as bad as you used to be, but a lot worse than you could be. Don't settle for slow results and mediocrity, stand up and be the man everyone wants to be.

 

Not by the Beatles, not about drug withdrawal.

Oh my gosh hahaha!!!

 

I have tried quitting MO cold turkey no less than than a dozen times and always failed. I was only successful after tappering off.

Now, ive quit weed, drinking and eating sugar before, and all those I quit cold turkey no problem.

 

@Diesel74 can I ask, did you quit P by tapering off or by going cold turkey? And how did going tapering off on MO work out for you? How did you go about it?

 

Im not really the best guy to talk about porn addiction. I was never really that into it.
Masterbation on the other hand...The longest I knew I could go without MO was one week. So, I decided to fap once a week using the method above (standing in the corner) . After about 6 weeks I was fully aware how aweful I felt for a couple days after I fapped. So, I went two weeks, then once a month, and made it six months without. Now Im back to once a month but since Ive been having occasional sex, I may not need to fap at all.

 

Honestly, I believe it depends on every individual. If your goal is to quit forever, then cold-turkey is your answer. You might as well try the slow, yet really tricky approach, but I wouldn't recommend it.

 

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It is more than just an anology at this point, my friend.

Dr. Nicholas Nissen MD, made 5 videos about porn use for the *** app, which is a porn filter, tracking, learning, and quitting app. If you haven't watched them already, then check it out in the learning section of the *** app, under, "Expert speaks on porn addiction".


The second video is called, "How porn acts like a drug". He talks for over 14 minutes about how porn use is a lot like drug use, specifically like cocaine and heroin.


First of all, it's like cocaine because the stimulating neurotransmitter called dopamine is implicated in both cocaine and porn use. Unlike what most people think, dopamine isn't the pleasure neurotransmitter. It's not so much about pleasure sensation, as it is the "go get it" sensation.
Dopamine is also implicated in cocaine use.

Porn use and masturbating follows the same stages as natural sex, in the brain.
When you're clicking between videos or other pornographic content, going from one thing to the next, that is like the foreplay component of sex. You feel excited, nervous and tremulous, empowered and curious. That is the dopamine. Same thing happens when you begin consuming the pornographic content.

When you reach your climax that is like heroin. Heroin is a form of opioids. In the body we have natural opioids called, 'Endogenous Opioids' aka... Endorphins.
Endorphins stimulate your brain the same way heroin does. It creates the 'Aahh' sensation, that release, the euphoria that comes with your orgasm.
So masturbating with or without porn leads to that.

I recommend you watch the entire series of videos Dr Nicholas Nissen MD did for ***. They're very educational and can help you a lot.

So you can see how masturbating, with or without porn isn't a healthy habit. It acts like a drug in your brain, weather you're using porn or not. So, when you do it, you're more likely to do it again and again... and again. And you're more likely to do it in larger quantities.

Knowing the science behind this addiction is beneficial to quitting.