defining what IS p0rn: are solo pictures "pin up" as damaging? old timen men?

I don't think so. Back before internet porn, acquiring porn was tough. I wouldn't know since I'm a zoomer but if you wanted porno mags then you'd have to crawl to the ends of the earth for one. When you finally do get one, it's probably vanilla stuff and you get bored quickly. Porn wasn't as damaging back then because there was little to no access for casuals.

No, it doesn't. Being sexually attracted to a cute girl isn't breaking your streak.

 

it depends on how far u wanna go with healing ur brain. even just checking out a woman outside does release dopamine in ur brain and potentiate the neural pathways of our addiction, which is why it feels good and why we do it. personally, i want to completely heal, so i am giving up even looking at women IRL. i found it helps me recover from relapses waaaay quicker and get the “super powers” sooner. the way i view it is: i am addicted to the image of women, so even fantasizing in my head & ogling at women in school are still relapses, it’s just that porn was a super big relapse. hope this helps. u can also google “No Arousal Method” for more info

 

This is discussed in Gary Wilson's book "Your Brain on Porn".
It's foundational.
https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/about/your-brain-on-porn-book-2nd-edition/

This article discusses people who used porn later in life as a contrast to the younger men having issues now:
https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/ybo...porn-users-need-longer-to-recover-their-mojo/

Excerpts:

Highspeed porn’s constant novelty and shock comprise a powerful, but unnatural, aphrodisiac, so these users can always get off to porn if they watch enough, or more extreme, material.

You see, the Oldtimers started masturbating at puberty without highspeed. Depending upon their ages and circumstances they began their solo-sex careers with a catalog, a magazine, a video, grainy TV porn, or amazingly (to today’s young guys), their imagination. They also generally had some sex, or at least courtship, with a real partner before they fell under the spell of highspeed porn and developed overconsumption symptoms.

In short, Oldtimers trained their adolescent brains differently from today’s Newcomers—who often discover solo sex using highspeed porn (many around age 10), and never stop using it.

In short, things have changed. From puberty (or before), young guys now do most all of their masturbating to Internet porn. Some can’t imagine climaxing without it.

Such sexual conditioning is unique in human evolution, but before we explain more about the ramifications of, and science behind, that conditioning let’s look at why adolescent brains are exceptionally malleable.

It’s well established that our most powerful memories occur during adolescence. This is when our brains are particularly ripe for learning new information—especially about mating.

So what is giving today’s Newcomers the biggest sexual kicks? Not real peers, but porn. Just as rats and humans really don’t like the smell of rotting flesh, many of today’s porn users don’t really like what they’ve escalated to. “It’s complicated.”

Here’s the really scary bit for Newcomers: Early sexual conditioning can stick around. Adolescent brains are at their peak of (1) sensitivity to dopamine signaling and (2) vulnerability to addiction. Novel, startling, arousing stimuli can rock their world in a way it won’t an adult brain. This neurochemical reality primes young brains. They learn to define sex according to whatever stimuli offer the biggest sexual buzz. This lesson is a powerful one, as can be seen from the rats that cherished cadaverine-scented dowels.

In contrast, sexual conditioning is far more elastic if it occurs after normal mating patterns are established. For example, scientists introduced a receptive female to a male and then, a minute later, yanked her out of his cage. This conditioned him to ejaculate much faster than normal. If the males learned this pattern during their first sexual experiences, it stuck with them—even when they were later allowed uninterrupted access to females.

This research lines up with what we hear from guys recovering from ED. Guys who developed their sexuality before they used Internet porn only need a couple of months to recover from ED. Guys who started masturbating early to Internet porn often need up to six months or even longer to have satisfactory sex.

Today’s teens first train their mating skills to pixels rather than real partners. Their training does not prepare them to experience normal pleasure during intercourse (or even oral sex) with a real partner. It’s like hitting tennis balls to improve one’s jump shot. Guys are training for the wrong sport, so when (if?) they switch to real partners they have to learn a whole new game.

Spending years before your first kiss hunched over a screen with 10 tabs open, mastering the dubious skills of watching sex acts your dad never heard of, and learning to masturbate with your left hand does not prepare you for fumbling your way to first base, let alone satisfying lovemaking. In fact, today’s youngsters may unwittingly be missing the mark entirely, as far as courting skills and sexual learning goes: