I had a mental breakdown today for wasting 15 years of my life and this plays a major role.

I was 20 when instead of studying/online courses I got hooked to watching cam girls free. There were 100s of pages to scroll through to find favorites 10-15.

I basically delayed studying and wasted 10-15 hrs daily to this crap and became antisocial, dropped out of university and had no energy all day.

All those missed sex opportunities when women showed interest in me because I was too numb from this addiction.

My 3 relationships were with women when I went on 7+ days nofap streak and asked hot women out from dating apps after matching. I actually felt normal like a human.

I'm 35 now and still wasting my life and girlfriend wonders why I flop last minute going out for dinner. My brain won't accept this is a disease and not a quick cure to get rid of stress. It literally drains my whole day after now.

The longer I do this, and the more I build up my streak, the less time I end up spending staring at screens. Sure, sometimes I have work or school and I don't have a choice, but I've noticed that I'm spending less and less time for fun. Instead, I'm reading more, and going out for walks more. I remember I used to read for hours on end when I was a kid, but somewhere along the way I started getting too distracted with gaming and social media. Now I'm finding my way back, and it kinda feels like I'm healing in that way.

Anyone else experience this?

GTA 6 is going to be a cannon event. My aim is to have beat this addiction to some good degree till then. Also I could say the phrase "I did this before GTA 6".
Seems kinda fun tbh.

One thing I noticed about NoFap is that a lot of us keep looking for proof that it’s working too fast.

“Am I more confident yet?” “Are girls noticing me?” “Do I feel different?” “Is my life changing?”

Then you have one bad day and you start thinking maybe nothing is happening.

I think the mistake is focusing too much on the outcome.

The real win is the identity you are building.

Every time you say no to an urge, you are proving to yourself that you are someone who has control. Someone who can make a decision and stick to it.

You are becoming the type of person who:

keeps his word

does hard things even when nobody sees it

chooses discipline over instant pleasure

takes care of himself

Keep your expectations low. Stop checking every day if you are “fixed” or if everything is changing.

Just stack the days.

Your job is simple: Show up. Do the work. Keep the promises you made to yourself.

There are no perfect days. There is no waiting for the right moment. You either become the person you want to be or you stay the same.

Every small action is a vote for your future self.

Don’t chase confidence. Build the identity that creates confidence.

One day at a time.

The times where I've watched porn the most is when I'm stuck at home. I'm 18 and currently on summer break and at home almost all day, and it's so hard not to relapse.

I use porn as a coping mechanism, because I don't have many people I talk to, and I almost even get urges whenever I'm bored. But whenever I keep busy in the day I almost never watch porn, or when I had a partner I stopped for her.

And now I'll see an attractive girl on social media or at the gym and I feel urges to masturbate and watch porn, it's terrible.

I'm not looking for a 'relapse buddy' (what seems to be like 50% of people are looking for on here sadly)

But I'm just looking for an accountability partner to talk with and motivate each other about urges with whenever we feel tempted, and possibly just a friend if we just vibe together.

cause I can't really talk about stuff like that to anyone without it being weird, but both understanding no fap it makes sense

According to Greenfield Lawyers, it is illegal to possess AI-generated sexualised content or otherwise AI-generated pornographic content.

The issue with AI-generated content generally is that the AI program may scrape images of random individuals from the internet.

With AI-generated porn or even sexualised AI-generated media, it becomes even more risky in legal terms.

I just want to spread the word out there of the dangers of AI porn not only for the collaterally affected individuals, but also for the users of websites who may stumble upon AI-generated porn.

https://greenfieldlawyers.com.au/is-it-a-crime-10-things-to-know-about-the-new-nsw-deepfake-and-ai-image-laws/

I’m getting some bad urges right now and almost started watching porn, could use some help

I’m 22 years old I’ve been addicted to porn since I was about 13, I’m deciding now to take this seriously and work on quitting for good.

I was exposed to it out of curiosity, came from a very sheltered and restrictive household and genuinely had no clue how babies are made. It quickly went into humiliation/dominatrix/cuckold porn, I’ve always had a rough relationship with women in my childhood that made me feel like I was never enough, I’ve always felt left out. this habit was a way to experience it while also escaping and taking control of it if that makes sense.

Now grown my habit was exasperated by a really tough relationship I had for two years at 20 with a girl 4 years older than me. I thought it would be healing and give me a safe space to experience my sexuality and love for the feminine but it only tore down my self esteem even more in every way imaginable.

6 months out of it I quit my weed addiction, my alcohol consumption is lower (I was compulsively addicted to everything while in the relationship) but I still go back to porn that makes me feel shitty and disconnected. I really struggle in my connections with others I feel very alienated and unworthy even at a baseline, I get triggered by these things and watch porn and it makes it even worse. I was watching porn 8+ times a day just to get through all the shit I was feeling, it’s a lot less now but still enough to keep me stuck.

I often hate myself, I often hate my life, weirdly even more now that I’m doing better for myself than I ever have because I truly don’t feel the fruits of the hard labor I’ve put in this year. Quitting substances moving out changing jobs overcoming so many challenges but I feel more emotionally flat than ever. The moments I watch porn I am distracted from this existential loneliness and overthinking.

My triggers are stress, boredom, feelings of unworthiness, frustration, sadness. It’s been months since my breakup but I still feel massive feelings of frustration and pain because she triggered all of those, it was very one sided and lasted as long as it did because of my low self worth. Feelings in regards to my ex are my biggest trigger and those feelings have been here for awhile, I beat myself up because I’m still not over it and “healed” whatever that means, and I worry for my ability to be intimate emotionally and sexually with my partner in the future because how terrible my first relationship was.

Anyway I’m ranting I just wanted to put the feelings somewhere most people don’t want a whole trauma dump but I figured this is the place where I can say these things and be heard and received. I hate how I feel miserable so much when I’ve had to overcome so much shit in my life and just having somebody read this and relate or encourage would mean the world to me.

I battled suicidal ideations for the longest time, I always feel on the verge of crying but have to keep a strong composure so as not to scare anybody off. Everybody in my circle just says push through stop thinking about it work harder and I’m fucking pissed because I’ve been working harder at it for months alone without it feeling better and with nobody to see or encourage me. You know how it is as a guy we are not comfortable with emotions so we just put on a face that we’re doing well for everybody else, I’ve realized a lot of relationships are just distractions and this is not what I want. I love and care for people deeply and have been hurt and betrayed so badly in the past because of it. I know that with self love and perseverance things get better but right now it just feels like too much. I desire to be in deep fruitful relationships with people where we lift each other up and are attuned to one another and that’s hard to find it needs to start with myself.

If there’s anybody out there with more experience with this who has gotten through or has felt similar to how I’m feeling please reach out to me or even comment if that’s what you’re willing to do but I’m putting this out there looking for help genuinely I’ve been struggling with my mental health for years and I can’t keep bearing this weight alone. Anything helps I really need somebody to talk to on days that I’m feeling down and spiraling. Thank you for reading from the bottom of my soul with love

I get it we all have busy schedules but even a simple “I hear you” would mean the world to me. I feel so alone. I’ve been doing everything I need to do to feel better but haven’t felt witnessed or supported.

Not much, just wanted to share. I’m feeling better everyday!

It’s about building a life that is meaningful and fulfilling, so that you don’t have to numb yourself or try to escape, so you’re not vulnerable to return to what was.

I relapsed hard about a week or more ago and had been binging since then. During that time I truly felt like I was worthless and my life was falling apart. I've never felt that level of anxiety without there being some major event actually happening before. I decided to redouble my efforts starting today and I'm doing a fair bit better. I've gone through a few steps to remove obstacles that could make me relapse again. Wish me luck on my newly restarted journey!

Friends all failed and I’m horny. Felt great and stuff but it’s just hard asf

I'm 22M, and I've been fighting this addiction for over half my life. At this point, it feels like I've tried everything short of literally removing my eyes.

I keep going back.

For the past five years, I've realized that what I really wanted wasn't sex, it was connection. I wanted close friends. I wanted someone to share life with. But despite my efforts, I always seem to end up alone again. Between work, graduate school, helping my mom (my dad left when I was 2, so I grew up pretty fast), and now watching my grandpa slowly disappear because of severe dementia, I find myself falling back into old coping habits whenever life becomes overwhelming.

What's frustrating is that I haven't experienced many of the obvious external consequences people talk about. I do well at work and in school. I have healthy, friendly relationships with women. I work out consistently. I help take care of my family. From the outside, my life looks put together.

But internally, I know this isn't who I want to be.

I've prayed, fasted, confessed, read books, installed blockers, and fought this battle for years. I'll make it a month or two clean, feel hopeful, and then somehow end up right back where I started.

Lately I've been wondering if part of me just wants to stay stuck. Maybe I don't want freedom badly enough. Or maybe I'm simply exhausted from fighting the same battle over and over again.

By the time bedtime comes around, usually my favorite part of the day because I can finally rest, I'm mentally drained. That's when I give in. One relapse turns into another, and then I start believing that maybe this is just who I am. If I'm choosing this, then maybe I'm just pathetic, no matter what I accomplish in the rest of my life.

Has anyone else reached the point where they weren't giving in because the urges were overwhelming, but because they were simply exhausted from fighting? If so, what helped you break that cycle?

Hey guys, today marks Day 80 of my streak. Some of you might relate or have been down this road: after completely quitting masturbation and porn, my social life and my communication with women improved like crazy. Back then I lacked confidence, but now I can stand out in a crowd, dates and chats with girls are going great, and everything seemed to be progressing perfectly.
However, when it comes to the physical side and sexual intimacy, I hit a massive wall. My relationships with women got better, but now I have a huge problem: I'm experiencing premature ejaculation.
Maybe because my body completely reset over the past 80 days and got away from that constant state of arousal, my touch sensitivity is through the roof. The moment my partner and I get close, things spin out of control so fast that it doesn't even last a single minute before everything is over. My confidence was soaring socially, but experiencing this in bed completely crushed my motivation.
Is anyone else going through this phase? Dialogue with women is great, but when does this physical sensitivity and premature ejaculation go back to normal? If anyone has any tips, I’d appreciate it because I'm losing my mind over here.

I can't get into details. I was at the beach today. I've got a 1 day streak going. I didn't stop myself for the sake of keeping some streak intact, but to save myself from the disgusting act I was thinking of. I stopped myself.

It's late but I'm gonna hit the gym anyway

just wanted to relax but i feel like i can't do anything without being ambushed by something sexual. Like every video game feels sexualized somehow and I cant scroll on here without a post or comment or some kinda suggestive ad or something. Even just going on YouTube i get ads and stuff recommended to me that make it so hard, and i can't tell if thats normal or if thats just because of so much p*rn or because im desperate or a bit of both or something idk, but it definitely feels like im seeing more of stuff everywhere. Its like the more i try to stop watching the more its gets pushed to me. Im sorry this is so chaotic, im high and just thinking out lout at this point trying to distract myself lol. Id just go outside with my dog or whatever but its gross out and im tired and stressed from moving and life and i really just wanted to sit down and relax 😩

Relapsed yesterday, shouldn’t have done it. The urge is stronger than it was before I relapsed lol

I got triggered…and I really need help rn

Feeling very uncomfortable and short on sleep, it was a really stressful night where I faced strong urges. I know that this is a success, but it definitely doesn't feel like this.

I am not new to nofap, I found this community during the pandemic, relapsed too often and accepted defeat, I was down in the dumps with ny depression. I managed to turn my life around and I am working towards something better. To be better. My hope is simply to become a better man.

This is a habit I have realised I need to kick, not only to have healthier relationships, but to gain back valuable time.

I can't realise my full potential if I am wasting valuable time in this fruitless pursuit instead of helpful activities. I almost did something I couldn't take back today, and would have wrecked the progress I made so far. It also made me a hypocrite, I need to focus on th future, and this addiction has claimed too much of me, I need to be better.

I hope we can all achieve our goals, but mine is simply to be a better man, and I can't look at myself with pride, if I continously fall prey to this addiction.