How to replace the dopamine rush?

There isnt anything healthy that will give you that much dopamine other than sex which if used in excess isnt healthy either from what i can think of.

Rather try to do things that give you a dopamine hit in milder doses. Reading self improvement exercise(endorphins). At the end of the day the dopamine hit isnt as strong but healing inevitably makes you seek out healthier behaviors which is the goal.

Dont expect to find something else that will give you a similar rush. I tried to replace PMO with sex and that had a bunch of consequences too. Itll most likely lead you back to porn since youll have sex in a way that makes you chase thr O rather than healthier sex overall

 

Works surprisingly well

 

An hour of aerobic exercise daily like cycling/running/swimming will give you a great dopamine fix lasting all day. It kept me from relapsing in early months.

Exercise as a Treatment for Depression [Scientific Review]:



Dr. Patrick discusses some of the compelling science including observational studies, randomized controlled trials, and human mechanistic studies that suggests exercise is a powerful tool for preventing or managing the symptoms of depression and mental illness. Moreover, she talks about the specific types of exercise and exercise parameters that evidence suggests might be the most helpful for depression.

SUMMARY: 60 minutes of Vigorous (70-80% max HR) daily aerobic exercise (running, cycling) is a must. Weight training is a plus.
​

 

this is a great thread. Thanks for asking, man! Exercise definitely help.
PS: I don't know what the fuzz about that audio is, its unbearable and giving me a headache. I think all the suporting comments for that video are just plain sarcasm.

 

I would also be careful of substitutes that mimic the dopamine rush, even though it might not be as extreme.

For instance, do you find yourself browsing social media way more than you're comfortable with? Because the endless feed of new content provides a similar novelty that porn does. Same thing if you're compulsively swiping on dating apps.

I delete Instagram off my phone during the day. It's not even there. At night, I re-download it long enough to check messages, see a few new posts, browse for maybe 20 minutes, and then it gets deleted again. It's been a really helpful little hack. Personally, I don't have the willpower to "just not check it" during the day. So I boot that shit off my phone, and it's out of sight, out of mind.

 

I agree and want to add a little bit: It won't even be necessary to have the same kind of rush. When you get your addiction under control, your worn-out dopamine receptors will slowly but surely come back, meaning you will be more sensetive to dopamine again. Therefore, the normal level of dopamine you get from let's say exercising, will be enough to give you a similiar feeling. By flooding our brains with a shit ton of dopamine by watching porn, we only broke our dopamine receptors. Thus, the insane amount of dopamine we're after, is only a compensation for lower receptors. In other words: After a while, the high levels of dopamine don't result in a greater rush. We simply need more to feel the same rush. By reversing the process, a natural dosis of dopamine will be enough to do the trick.