27 male. I didn’t have any specific symptoms I would say. Maybe some depression, but I was just tired of the shame I felt after every time I PMO’d. Also PMO robbed me of my motivation to get a girlfriend or have a relationship. Porn is just easier and it can be exactly what I want it to be with no attachments or obligations to give anything back.
Could you imagine a friendship or relationship where all you did was take and never gave anything back? Not a healthy situation. That’s all porn is.
I have felt a lot better about myself since getting this far, but I haven’t really seen “super powers” as many people talk about. I’m pretty shy by nature and I am also terrible at reading women, so who knows. I do feel more confident and I think I’m getting better at loving myself the way I am, which is a huge step in the right direction.
I think one of the big reasons that I’m doing as well as I am this time is because I fully committed. In times past I would say I wanted to quit PMO, but in my heart I was looking forward to the next relapse, so I could wallow in my self pity and get my next fix. Now I don’t want to go back, because I want to go forward to a life with a relationship and hopefully marriage and a family.
Sorry for the long response. It kind of ended up being a bit of a journal entry rambling on and organizing my thoughts.
TL/DR; I’m 27 male. I was tired of the shame and I recognized I was addicted because I couldn’t stop easily. Benefits: more confident, less depressed, comfortable with myself.
Edit: Forgot to answer your first question. Not my first streak. I had many streaks of about 1-2 weeks and a couple up in the 3 week range. My best before this was 40 days, but it was because I shifted my addiction onto hopes about a girl. Once that relationship prospect fell apart so did my resolve. I realized I needed to do it for me and not for anyone else.
By OedipusR3x
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