Giving it a Go

Hey All,

I'm Paul, 28 years old from the Greater Toronto Area. New to this site and fairly new to the concept of NoFap in general, beyond what I've come across in passing over the years. About me: I've been a pretty frequent masturbator since at least my teen years. It never really occurred to me that it could be causing me problems. Flash forward to now over a decade later, during which time I've been clinically depressed, suffer from pretty severe anxiety (so bad that I've been off work for a while, and attempts to work on my depression through therapy and journaling have only helped a bit), and had very little success in sexual relationships with men (I'm gay).

Almost 5 months ago, my partner of 5 years ended our relationship, during which time we only had sex a handful of times, the last time being approx. 3 years ago. I suspect he too was dealing with an unhealthy relationship with masturbating, but he was never willing to discuss. This led me to become increasingly frustrated and I chose to deal with it in way that gave me instant gratification instead of a long term resolution.

So this brings me to now at a point in my life that I should be thoroughly enjoying, however I'm constantly in a state of lack of motivation, lack of energy, and seeking an easy escape. It was only recently that I came to the realization (or maybe accepted the reality is more accurate) that my masturbation is probably the source of a lot of my struggles. So I'm hoping that a NoFap reboot, I can start to break the negative feedback cycle that I've created and potentially one day re-introduce it, albeit with a much more positive mindset.

Haven't discussed this with anyone in my life - although it is something I think I'm ready to discuss with my therapist - so I'm looking forward to connect with other gents who have/are going through similar struggles.

 

Thanks very much for the kind words!