Porn Stash: How Much is too Much?

I dont understand what it is you want. You want to stop being addicted to porn but you wont delete any of it?
This is not a sub forum for people who are addicted to porn directly, its a sub forum for people who have realized how their porn addiction has affected their lives and decided to stop using it.
You do know that youre gonna have to get rid of it all if you want to kick this addiction right?

 

Heroin addicts don't have stockpiles of the shit in doors. They have used what they have over many years and they are addicted to the physiological effect of that substance. I look for fresh porn every time. I download nothing. But I am still addicted to the physiological effect that it has in my body. Just because your addiction has a certain appearance does not mean that others with a different experience are not addicted.

 

Another thing, you ask the question "how much is to much?" people answer "1mb is too much", "one pic is too much" etc and then you become defensive and say youre not ashamed of your 12 TB collection and that you only want answers from people in the same situation... Just my advice, take this as a wake up call, and if youre serious about giving up pmo and need someone to talk to, send me a pm.

 

Ugh. The amount of storage space used is completely meaningless. Your eyesight must be fantastic if HD vs SD makes a difference to you. A two hour movie with only six minutes worth of stuff you watch could easily be cut down if you're working with limited space. If you're talking about TB worth of bad stuff that you don't like stuck on your hard-drive, you have a hoarding problem above and beyond your porn problem. Some of us developed our computing habits back when storage space was expensive (before you were born?) so the concept of keeping data with no thought to efficiency is foreign to us.

 

You are confusing several issues here. The initial poll question states, "how much is too much?" but then on the next page is says how much did you store before? So first of all people are answering different questions. You are questioning how people can be addicted with < x GB of material yet you don't really know the size of anyone's collection because some are answering a different question.

You do not seem to understand addiction. The hallmark is not quantity of use, it's inability to give up the substance, so the heroin example doesn't make sense. If the only downside you are concerned about is wasted time, then either you are not addicted or you are addicted and in denial, and so think you are not addicted. Give it at least 30 days and see if you can go that amount of time without viewing a single image or video in your collection or on the Internet. If you can't, then you're addicted.

The amount of storage is immaterial. Anyone can access material on the Internet in a few minutes. Where is the need to store it? How does that make you different from anyone else? If you peruse these forums some more, you will find scores of posts by people who come here with all kinds of questions similar to yours, and also state that they are different than everyone else for all kinds of reasons, just as you have, and mention their rationality and that one should not appeal to emotion. Why do you think that the initial posts are all so similar? It is the addiction that causes all kinds of rationalizations; it is easier on the mind for one to think that she/he is different, that they are not addicted, that there isn't a problem, and that they don't need to make changes in their life. The truth is harder to accept. Spend some time reading accounts on YBOP and these forums. And try to give it up for 30 days.

 

I never had any. I just went online for it. Somehow, saving it probably makes it worse because you have to actually give it up. I have filters on my computer and I'm good. Its easier to stop something than give it up all together...I think.

 

If you didn't write so well, I would've thought that you're trolling.

Have you ever heard about internet porn? Most of the people here have not had any kind of need to download that junk on their hard drives, because they can watch it on internet.

And since we're always making crappy metaphors about other addictions, we have been more like heroin addicts who only use in the streets or in the club and don't have much of that stuff in our homes. I seriously think we have to stop making these metaphors, because they are very arbitrary. They are forced to fit the nature of porn addiction and what we want to say about it. It's possible to compare them in a light, that proves your point, but then again it's possible to compare them in a light, that proves your point wrong. The fact is, that porn addiction is very different from other addictions.

And if most of people have some kind of addiction, it doesn't justify your addiction. Why give them that power? Do you want to be as weak as most of people?

NoFap is about superiority to all addictions, not just porn and masturbation. How can I say that? Because this is one of biggest self-improvement communities out there. Self-improvement is about growing stronger and getting a better life, a life that you want. No addiction can take place in the best version of you and your life.

So please, delete the whole bunch of that 12 TeraBytes. You have 12TBs of sickness and filth on your hard drive. You have the power to kill it once and for all.

Do it.

P.S. That hoarding problem may be caused by your porn addiction, since it fucks up your brain enormously.

Like Stygian suggested, try to give it up for 30 days.

 

One of the first attempts at not watching P was by deleting my P stash. You have NO idea how hard it was to delete. After that, I deleted bookmarks. Then added filters..... Baby steps and patience.

 

It doesn't matter what is the first step. There is not a first step, that is the right one, if your goal is to give up porn addiction. The most important thing is to do at least something.

Here's an idea:
Commit to delete like maybe 500gb a day? Is that too much? It doesn't matter how much actually, just delete at least one vid/pic per day. And also cancel one subscription per day too.

You have to do some self-search and understand what underlying issues have caused this addiction in the first place. Is it anxiety? Loneliness? You have to find it and deal with it. If you're not able to deal with it alone, then go for a therapist.

My own experience was that I thought, that I would miss all the porn I deleted, but I didn't. I felt surprisingly relieved. I had an emotional bond with it and I thought just the way you did. Like the porn became my own special porn and I was scared that the videos were gone forever after deleting them. But I deleted them and didn't miss any of it.

My situation is of course different, but I'm trying to help you with what I've got.

Remember, that every step away from porn is a step towards better life. Trust me and trust the movement.

 

Hey again, I honestly dont know why Im so involved in this thread but I want to say this: I want you to succeed! I am not judging you in any way, Ive watched tonnes of porn and Ive had an unhelthy relationship with porn for many years so we share some experiences even though I never had the amounts of porn that you have.
I think notafraid gave you a very good answer in his answer above mine.

A great quote I once heard is "The most efficient way to do something is to do it."
If you start by deleting 5 or 10 or 100%, it really doesnt matter, just start with something!
You say you are a logic kind of guy, and I would describe myself in a similar way, but if you dont deal with your emotions in this matter, you wont go anywhere that is for sure. Or can you find some logical explanation for why you have an emotional attachment to 12TB of porn? In what way is your stash fulfilling your life?

 

Why do you want to do anything? Why not keep all the content and the subscriptions?

 

Baby steps - PhucKing - you could unplug your stash and put it out of reach for a pre-set period of time. It would still exist, you just spend some time without it. Then repeat. With regard to hoarding, I find it much easier to look at junk as junk when I haven't seen it for a while. The emotional attachment fades.

 

Hmmm, your attachment obviously runs very deep... You've clearly invested a lot of time/money/emotion into building up such a huge collection and giving it all up may seem too big a hurdle to even contemplate, though until you do you can never know the thrill of freedom! If you don't pay for the stuff then yes it's relatively easy to just delete what you have, as you can tell yourself that you can just download some more if you regret your decision. As has been said, understanding why you had to need to collect in the first place may be the answer. I wish you well, I don't envy your situation but it would make excellent reading if you perhaps do a journal exploring your history and progress. Anthony Robins (Personal Power 2) does some amazing work with recognizing why we do what we do and how to break habbits that are distructive. In one session he sits you down and gets you to really visualize the effects (both positive and negative) your habbits have had on your life, then visualising 10 years from now if you don't break them. It's a powerful tool to feel the pain and loss carrying on a certain path will lead to. We seek pleasure and seek to avoid pain, using those emotions to your advantage can be a real journey to success.

Anyway, best of luck... yours will not be a short or easy journey !

 

From a logical and intelligent standpoint, I would say to start with the subscriptions. Cancel 1 a day, or however many you can every how many days you think is good and keep at it. Why I say subscriptions first is the smartest is for 2 reasons.

1: Subscriptions mean you have an unlimited supply because you are paying for any possible videos in the future, which is really bad.

2: You save money bro! Every subscription you cancel is more money you get to save each month for more important things that can actually help your life.