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Wow, many congratulations! In my humble opinion, ANY stimulating external material is no good. I know this, as I was not addicted to hard porn per se but images and videos of fitness/workout girls. Still am actually. So, please don't do it! Does not have to be porn. Good going!

 

Fitness/workout genre is a very dangerous place for most of us

peace

 

A lot of such photos are artificial, photoshoped, filtered and so on. What is more girls look on photos different than in real life, because of special light, unnatural pose and so on. I suggest you to avoid such things, really - you don't need Instagram or other shit.

 

Well some explicit images are similar to porn, but not exactly. This is why I strongly recommend you to delete instagram or facebook to keep those "b**ches" out

 

What is ironic is that working out and fitness is a positive element of life. But I should link to that meeting a REAL flesh and blood woman of that caliber.

 

For me, after I had given up porn for a couple of years, the addiction was the same but with those sorts of pics. I’ve had to give it all up as well as masturbation and this seems to be working so far.

 

It's artificial sexual stimulation. The exact same thing is happening in the brain when you seek social media images for a sexual thrill as what happens when you search for porn videos for a sexual thrill. The dopamine in the brain might overall be higher with the porn videos though. But you need to understand it is the exact same thing that is happening in the brain.

This is some information from YBOP

My advice is to avoid actively seeking all artificial sexual stimuli during your reboot. If it’s not a real person, just say no.

As odd as this may sound, there’s no such thing as porn. The brain knows exactly what alcohol or heroin is, but the reward circuitry has no way of recognizing porn. Instead, higher portions of the brain relay nerve impulses associated with sights, sounds, smells, and memories to the reward circuit. The strength of these very complex signals determines the excitement levels measured by your reward circuit. What really matters are spikes of reward circuit dopamine (and other neurochemicals), not what’s on the screen.

The key questions: Is your behavior reactivating sensitized addiction pathways, and are you overstimulating your already numbed dopamine system? (Read “Porn, Then & Now: Welcome to Brain Training” and Why Do I Find Porn More Exciting Than A Partner? to better understand that it’s more about brain-training than the content.)

We receive daily questions about what’s “approved”, or what’s a “relapse”, or whether X, Y, or Z, will slow someone’s reboot. Such questions cannot be answered. A better question is, “What type of brain-training leads to addictive changes in my brain, and am I repeating it?”

In this regard, accidental exposure to something arousing is not a relapse. In fact, I seriously doubt any incidental images of anything, including hardcore porn, could set one back (unless one acts on it by fantasizing about it or seeking more). Sensitization occurs when an addict purposely pursues his addiction. Animal experiments show that actively choosing to take a drug wires up the brain differently from having it injected with no conditioned stimulus. Pursuing or working for the addictive drug causes sensitization – which is THE core addiction brain change – and also the one that is at the core of porn-induced sexual dysfunctions in those who aren’t fully addicted. The animal associates taking the drug with its own deliberate action, and the brain wires accordingly.

Actively searching social media is activating sensitized addiction pathways (seeking for hot images online) and reinforcing your addiction. Bumping into hard-core images, then immediately closing the page is actually strengthening the willpower parts of your brain. If an alcoholic could easily stop after 1/2 glass of wine…he would have no problems…right? (See Exposure Response Prevention Therapy (extinction) for more).

Take-away: Avoid linking deliberate seeking with arousal. An accidental glimpse isn’t chosen. However, dwelling on the image you glimpse, fantasizing about it later, or seeking other images because of it can be counterproductive.

A simple bottom line on what to avoid:

1. “Porn” – All types. If you need to ask, then the answer is, ‘bad move.’ It’s simple: artificial vs real.
2. Avoid behaviors that mimic YOUR porn addiction. Which usually means behaviors that substitute the synthetic and the two-dimensional for the real deal.
3. Eliminating artificial or synthetic means don’t engage in “cam to cam” or chat rooms.
4. Surfing social media, YouTube, or dating sites for pictures and sexual stimuli is like an alcoholic switching to lite beer.
5. Fantasizing about porn is nearly the same as watching it, as you are activating your brain’s addiction-related pathways.
6. Reading “erotic” stories counts as porn fantasy
7. “What about fantasizing about real women?” It’s hard to say. If you are simply replaying porn scenarios, then absolutely not. Read below about fantasy