Hi So I've done very well this year. So far I've had a streak of 17 days no pmo, followed by a personal record of 19 days. My current record is 9 days without pm But I have been seriously depressed this last week. My family thinks it's the coronivirus situation effecting me & they are probably right to some extent. However they don't know about my porn addiction and that I'm quitting an addiction. I'm wondering if anybody else has experienced this. I can't get motivated to do much of anything & my self esteem has dropped a lot. I actually had suicidal thoughts on Friday (don't worry I'm not going to act on them) Has anybody else experienced major depression as a withdrawal effect?
Yeah, depression is a common part of the flatline. Try not to dwell on it and instead do things that take your mind off your situation like going for a hike, cooking a nice meal, talking to someone etc. A lot of people panic and they're like "Ohno I'm in the flatline it's gonna suckkkkk bro what do I do??" which makes it a self fulfilling prophecy. Whereas if you think "I'm healing, this is good. I'm gonna use this time to be productive and make something of my life." you'll definitely get over these feelings sooner. I'm not saying you should ignore your depression though, you should acknowledge it and take the pain but at the same time don't give into it.
Thanks It does make logical sense that depression would result from removing such a powerful stimulant from my life. Its just the extent of it came as a shock. I suppose the lack of motivation is logical too. Everything is boring by comparison. I'm not finding anything stimulating and my concentration is gone. Also on Friday night Icame close to watching porn to get rid of the depression temporarily. I resisted though & am now on a 9 day streak. Ive had issues with depression for most of my adult life and I'm increasingly convinced I have seriously underestimated how much porn was contributing to my depression
