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What happens when you resist all addictions, coping mechanism and dopamine spikes?

Discussion in 'Porn Addiction' started by CompleteSeed, Dec 7, 2014.

  1. CompleteSeed

    CompleteSeed Fapstronaut

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    What happens when you stop all addictive behaviour?
    You stop PMO and now you have huge cravings (withdrawals) HOWEVER you don't replace these cravings with anything. I'm talking no addictive begaviour what so ever. No compensation with sugary sweets, exercise, tv, substances or anything else.

    What would begin to happen to you, would you begin to become like a zombie with no purpose, drive no reason to do anything? Would you become mindless and in the moment?
     
  2. KrmGrn

    KrmGrn Fapstronaut

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    Nope, I'm eating healthy, not drinking caffeine, not eating junk food, exercising. I feel great. I feel the opposite of a zombie. I feel happier, more energetic, calmer, my mind seems clearer... only good things.
     
  3. CompleteSeed

    CompleteSeed Fapstronaut

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    Thats great to hear :)
    Does this mean that you don't suffer from cravings, sleep disturbances, anxious behaviour and general disruptivity and the like from the abstinence? How long have you been abstaning?
     
  4. CompleteSeed

    CompleteSeed Fapstronaut

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    Just to update: I have been reading a few scientific dopamine and addiction based articles. One of particular interest talking about rats being over-indulged in fatty foods and then when restricted to these food refusing to eat "normal" rat food for 14 days!

    Upon this I stumbled upon a fantastic blog that resembles in part yourbrainonporn and I must say the answers to this question appear to be with in the scope of the blog post.

    I am enthusiatic to begin reading and thought I'd share!
    http://www.reuniting.info/blogs/gary
     
  5. KrmGrn

    KrmGrn Fapstronaut

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    Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

    I still have sleep problems, but I had sleep problems long before giving up PMO. So I think it's a separate issue.

    I don't really have any negative withdrawal symptoms right now. There are still times when I'm going a little crazy with urges, but they pass and then I forget about them. Most days it's not a big deal. Early on I would have some crazy sexual dreams and stuff like that, but that's it.

    I gave up caffeine a few months ago and that has made a huge difference for me with my anxiety. The withdrawal symptoms for kicking caffeine were way worse for me than kicking PMO. And I do yoga and meditate which really helps with depression and anxiety and negative moods in general. Yoga is pretty amazing for that.

    Keep going, man!
     
  6. CompleteSeed

    CompleteSeed Fapstronaut

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    No worries :D

    Fair enough. I too have mostly just expereienced wild dreams and heavy urges but I was never into the psychological aspects of porn so much. I just recognise that my absolutely most significant coping mechanism is PMO and wonder how I would survive without either watching PMO or engaging in other equally as satisfying activiies (e.g. gaming).

    Cheers man! what' your oppinion on yoga and/or as apposed to meditation?
     
  7. KrmGrn

    KrmGrn Fapstronaut

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    Yeah, PMO was also my main coping mechanism as well. The cool thing is now I don't feel like I need it or any other coping mechanism. But believe me before I gave it up I never thought I'd live without it.

    In a lot of yoga classes, they work in a short sitting meditation. But yoga in a way is itself also a form of meditation. Some of the teachers at the yoga place I go to refer to yoga as a "moving meditation." Even though you might be in a challenging pose, working your muscles, you're still focused on the breath. So it's like an hour of meditation where you're focused on your breath, but also doing these poses. And so you get a lot of the same benefits as meditation, but also a good workout. It improves strength, flexibility, mental stamina, focus, posture. I always feel good and kind of a zen-like high after yoga classes. And I feel more confident but in like a relaxed way. The benefits are pretty great.

    If you're interested, I'd suggest taking an easy beginners class to see for yourself. And always go at your own pace. There are some days where I can keep up and some days where I can't. But it doesn't matter, you're still improving and getting the benefits. And don't get discouraged at first. It takes a little while to get used to putting your body in those weird positions and learning what the common poses are. It also really improves other exercise... A lot of pro athletes (Wayne Gretzky was one of the first) do yoga because it improves so many other things mentally and physically.
     
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2014
  8. monkotto

    monkotto Fapstronaut

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    good question. i think the opposite would happen (opposite of becoming a zombie). you would become a calm and fulfilled person. no hurry and no anxiety. not driven by any compulsion.

    until 18 years i was like you described above. with 18 years drugs and alcohol started. afterwards porn and hookers.

    the time until 18 was purity - everything - i mean every emotion was real. a crystal clear mind and absolute no anxiety (never any kind of depression).

    pure and healthy life without any fear.
     
  9. CompleteSeed

    CompleteSeed Fapstronaut

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    Hey monokotto yeah I agree. Your calm and fufilled is the equivalent of my mindless and in the moment comment (bad wording I know!). I guess to you would have to use external and internal motivators to manage to abstain from PMO as apposed to coping mechanism (if your don't include any healthy/unhealthy coping mechanisms).
     
  10. CompleteSeed

    CompleteSeed Fapstronaut

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    Hey KrmGrn that's great! Gaming and PMO used to be my methods, several years ago I quit gaming and now I am quitting PMO. It kind of feels like I will have nothing left once I have quit both my major chilhood endevours! but I know this is an important step to in-fact being fufilled.

    I'm definantely interested in yoga. What have described sounds fantastic I am after an exercise that can challenge you to focus whilst providing relaxation/meditation.
    Just to add another to the list Kelly Slater is a big fan of yoga.
     
  11. KrmGrn

    KrmGrn Fapstronaut

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    Ha. Well, there you go!
     
  12. ciaorikki

    ciaorikki Fapstronaut

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    Apparently a lot of healthy foods, almonds and advocados for example, trigger a dopamine response. There's no escaping your fundamental brain chemistry.

    I think we have to accept that we as humans are dopamine addicts. It's just the levels that our brains are used to which is the problem. Excessive use of anything requires more and more of it. Once we rid ourselves of these unhealthy sources we'll gravitate to healthy sources which will still trigger a dopamine response, albeit most likely a smaller amount.

    We always want to feel good.

    So an interesting question would be what would life be like if dopamine didn't govern our behaviour? What would we do if specific actions didn't act as stimuli to trigger a chemical reaction in the brain encouraging us to repeat those actions? I wonder if we would feel the same lack of motivation we did at the height of our pmo addiction
     
  13. CompleteSeed

    CompleteSeed Fapstronaut

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    Yes that's a very interesting question and I wonder if you can train to resist the governance of dopamine but if that would in-fact be healthy. I guess that's what I am worried about, removing coping mechanisms and simply engaging directly with the dopamine cravings until your brain realizes that you won't satiate them and then what happens after and is it healthy?

    I'm not at all lost on the thought of beneficiality it resembles to me a similarity to the process of letting go of the need and judgement of all thoughts and feelings and fully accepting onceself and emotions. Your simply satisfied with life yet still have goals and can pursue them with a clear mind.

    I feel you could be in-different to dopamine urges (brains way of generating pleasure for motivation to do particular things) and rely on the rest of your mind (serotonine for fufillment etc) to pursue your goals without distraction. From an evolutionary perspective dopamine is not generally that helpful anymore.

    Is it even realistically possible to abstaine from a higher level than natural foods bring on, level of dopamine is another good question.
     
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2014
  14. monkotto

    monkotto Fapstronaut

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    can you imagine how heavily we influenced our dopamine balance over the years?

    i think this is one of the main problems. "a normal life" does not need such an incredible amount of dopamine.
     
  15. KrmGrn

    KrmGrn Fapstronaut

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    Check out yourbrainonporn.com for a good explanation of the difference between the dopamine released from healthy sources vs the dopamine released from a porn or masturbation addiction.
     

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