I read this great book (well, heard...it was an audiobook) a while back called The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Great read. It breaks down in details the creation of a habit...but I've attached an image to give the gist of the idea... Dopamine is a mother _ _ _ _ _ _ because it's that neurotransmitter that regulates your "feel good" moods (hunger cravings, addictions, etc.) This XXX material that bombards our society has (if I may be so bold to say) screwed us up... Although it's likely nobody forced us to watch XXX material against our will or put a gun to our head to do it.... it's typically our own shortcomings. But it creates that missing dopamine we get to relieve a 'cue' (or trigger) when seeking the 'reward'. I'm curious to the following... A. what's the "reward" been for you guys in the past to watch/read XXX material? and.. B. what routines have you successfully replaced the consumption of such material with to produce to you the SAME feeling of reward? I've got to get some ideas on managing these cues/triggers with better routines that give me the same desired feel as if ....well... fappity-fappity-fap-fap-squirt.
