I assume that it effects everyone differently, but I want to know how long it took people to notice a significant difference in their brain fog. I have been an addict for about 3-4 years and just now learned that the reason for my brain fog has been my addiction as a daily user. I almost cried when I learned this, out of joy. I feel like I can finally enjoy my life the way I want to if I can finally become clean. So I want to hear some success stories. Did anyone else with brain fog improve? or even have it disappear? If so, how long did it take to feel improvement? Any advice to help?
If you do 20-30 minutes of meditation eveyday...brainfog will start disappearing after 3-4 weeks. Even if you relapse. You have to do it everyday though...no excuses. I don't think quitting PMO alone is very effective at getting rid of brainfog. The people who did discover that their brainfog disappeared after they quit PMO probably had meditation in their new habits/routines.
How does the meditation help? I'm just a little curious on the science behind it and why it would make a difference.
Meditation IMO can be ANYTHING. A lot of people "meditate" while they do their exercise, like running daily. So they may argue they are not meditating, and you may argue that they are. All in all perception is reality. I'm only 10 days into my quitting of PMO. I fapped daily, multiple times a day for 14 years. Even including the last 4 years with my current GF having sex about every other day. Although since I quit 10 days ago, we've had sex 8 times. She definitely has been loving the "new me". My mind has felt clearer and clearer every day since quitting PMO. I don't know to what extent that will "level off" but it is definitely getting clearer still.
I hope that's true, I'm almost 3 days in and this is the longest I've gone since I went 2 weeks last year. I feel some minimal improvement in the brain fog but I'm really struggling at the moment, and to be completely honest is making me a little emotional...
I know exactly what you're going through. I recommend a supplement of 5-htp, which is available over the counter at any pharmacy. It's a mild serotonin booster which functions as an anti-depressant, empathogen, and even curbs appetite. The most important thing to improving mental clarity here is making friends with people. That brain fog is an emotional confusion relating to loss of purpose and anhedonia, as a result of alienation, commonly for the stereotypical porn addict, a basement dweller with a neckbeard. Engaging in the ritual of life--finding things that you enjoy, that other people enjoy, that you can enjoy with them--is the actual thing that lifts the brain fog. The serotonin booster helps you get there, by helping to wake up your social senses. All the psychology terms that are thrown around are really not nearly as useful as looking at all these issues in emotional terms. You are sad because you are lonely. This sadness is an overwhelming stupor. Even to the extent that nofap lifts this brain fog, it's only because it makes you a more emotional, outgoing person. If you stop fapping, but still stay in your basement alone all day, you'll still have a brain fog. You'll just have sweats and teeth grinding to go along with it. It is a very long journey, and the fog won't magically lift one day, just as it didn't set in slowly. It will fade away. This is how it was for me, anyway. When I was a porn addict, I would go to parties a lot, but I'd just sit there drinking, being bored, wondering why I was at the party. Ladies would talk to me, and I'd be completely disinterested. Just like, why, why, why are you talking about some restaurant you enjoyed once, I don't care, so boring. When I started taking anti-depressants, exercising, and NoFap, I got this huge rush of focus and energy, bordering on the paranormal. But it was also the culmination of a long mental process. Depression is typically characterized by detail-oriented thinking. All this time as a wallflower, wondering why people were partying so, it all finally clicked. Okay--I have emotional needs to be met, so do other people, I can meet their needs and they can meet mine, I just have to stand up and do the thing. This happened while I was rolling at a rave, and I got up and started dancing. The other ravers, who'd seen me come to the parties, drop x and never feel anything, despite their best efforts to inspire me, all got excited with this look like, oh my god he's finally got it, and they all came and danced with me. It was beautiful, like I'd been rescued from emotional oblivion by angels from another dimension. Not that I'm recommending drug use by any accounts, because there's also a huge come down from ecstasy. But I imagine you can get the same effect through normal interactions, and you won't have to suffer the horrible side effects that I got. Here's what you need to know: men like talking about sports, women like getting into long term relationships, and everyone likes music with a peppy beat, jokes, and good food. Protect your reputation, and always spread positive messages about yourself. Repair bad things about your reputation. Try to earn as much money as you can. Be friendly with everyone. Copy other people when they're doing something cool. Fight back against people who are trying to bring you down. Don't think about yourself as a bad person. Block your porn addiction out of your memory, and remember your emotional life as the series of positive encounters you've had with people. Establish yourself as calm, collected, funny, caring, and strong. Really believe it. Proudly announce your own sexual interests as that you "aren't into that freak shit" because it makes other people comfortable. Tell women they're pretty, whether you're interested in them or not, if they are pretty. Show how cool you are by not chasing women, and make aloof small talk with them instead. Get their phone numbers and get to know them. Screw them at the right time. Believe that you're attractive. Exercise. Always be as clean and fresh smelling as possible. In essence, do all the things that mentally healthy people do differently, and you'll become mentally healthy like them in time.
I appreciate your comment and think its amazing that you made such a postive jump, but I'm a little distant from a stereotype porn user. Im extremely social and stay out with friends until at least midnight about 4 or so days a week. In public, I appear as a positive and uplifting guy, but behind closed doors, I'm ashamed of my addiction to porn. Surprisingly, I've had depression since I was about 4 years old and am on medication now for it so its risky taking other over the counter meds. I'm also a very bulky 6'4" fitness freak so I practice very intense workouts. So the stereotype kind of bends around me, so its been hard finding people in similar situations and similar outcomes. Right now, I'm hoping that sobering up will help with some depression, and get rid of the brain fog I've had so many years. I had so many different things I thought my brain fog could be coming from, lack of sleep, undiagnosed ADHD, my depression, even contemplating if I had a tumor that was preventing me from thinking clearly. It could be a mix of a lot of these things but after reading so much online, I'm am very certain the I've finally found my answer and there is hope.
I'm looking forward to hearing how it works for you. Nofap definitely helped to clear my head. I think the jist of my rather long message was that pornography leads to a kind of emotional alienation that I think is connected with the mental fog. Having a healthy sex life is what turned me around. I can focus better because I have something to focus on, keeping my lady friend happy, which depends on how I live my life all the time.
I've been dealing with this for 15 years (since I was 6) so I don't think I know what a true lack of brain fog feels like. On my first streak, I noticed thinking a bit clearer around day 10. I relapsed on day 11, but it was a really bad relapse, and my brain fog was worse than ever immediately. On second streak, the one I'm on now, I started noticing thinking a lot clearer on day 11, and it has increased a bit on 12 and now 13. So take that for what it's worth. it does seem to be getting better.
