Learn all you can about your addiction read everything - try starting with 'Addicted to Internet Porn?' by Ivan mcVeigh on Kindle or Amazon

Good Luck

Keep up the good work. Acknowledging that you have a problem is the first step. It will take time to recover so be easy on yourself. Change is key. I used the internet to feed my porn addiction. When online and felt the urge to look I would shut the computer off and do something else in a different room. I am spending less time on the computer compared to when porn ruled my life. Don't give up! Find healthy things to do, walk, exercise, read, write, paint do anything that will help your mind stay off the porn. Recovery will happen.

Hi been with out porn for maybe six days.

Looking forward to enjoying more real life.

Had some temptations but so far haven't used any porn.

Did mb twice in last few days.

Stress would be a trigger for me. Will need to get some knowledge under my belt.

Thanks for the encouraging words.

Recognizing the triggers is important. The book suggested above sounds good. Step back and look at the bigger issues.

Triggers are really important. It is also important to deal with uncomfortable feelings. As wounded children we were expected to deal with abuse, neglect, or other traumas. Boy was it a wonderful relief to the fear and anger to find masturbation as a young boy. It saved me from the overwhelming feelings of being afraid someone else would hurt me like the older boy did when he abused me.

So instead of learning how to meet my needs that feelings like fear, frustration and hurt, I masturbated. That may be a good strategy for a 10 year old abuse victim but it causes way too much pain for an adult.

It comes time to do away with childish things. When the masturbation and porn stops, the fear, anger and hurt will still be there and sadly you (and I) will be very uncomfortable with them and no skills to address the needs our feelings are trying to tell us about. It is at that moment when we MUST rely on others God put in our lives to help us.

The joy of helping another person we see hurting is one very good hing to replace the uncomfortable feeling with. So though this may be triggering at first, getting on DS and finding someone you can help is a very good antidote to the uncomfortable feelings.

That's what I am doing right now. So thank you for sharing, and I hope I helped you even a little bit. Because trying to empathize with you and hoping my insight will help you sure does help me! Thank you again.

Understand the brain chemistry of this addiction. And yes, helping others is a great way to build self esteem and beat shame....not bullying others!

www.yourbrainonporn.com

thanks everyone, it has been a joy to read your replies
10 days p free. felt urges to mb and still feeling it from time to time. had o two days ago

have felt lonely sometimes too but just a low steady unpleasantness that I feel is loneliness.

Have done some brief (accidental?) touching of self while not thinking, but been able to stop before mb

usually when I feel like watching p i can try to figure out whats really bothering me... I try keep in mind that p cannot help me. I am familiar with the false hope that porn gives all the way up to the moment after use.

yet still at moments i feel like "whats it all for" and I want that fleeting pleasure... then I remember that p is such mental junk food and not a real solution. that and the fear of what I may be drawn to do next if and when p fails to be enough for me.

As I go on I have a hard time figuring out what is withdrawal and what is just me being a jerk.

One thing I am also having a tough time beating is the impulse to put myself down to myself and others. This also draws me into p.

2 early, I would like to try some of the activities you suggested. right now I think what is keeping me going is ds, ybop experiences and the realization that p will keep making my life worse every time i do it. writing here helps but I get out of it what I put in and sometimes thats a challenge i don't feel like taking on. when I do it right though it's worth the effort.

h4pa, 4givn and watchit, thanks for the tips.

choose this day, Thank you for sharing and for your kind post. I wish I could post more often for others but I worry sometimes that I might say something unkind or thoughtless so I cancel some posts. its hard for me to keep myself focused on their feelings sometimes. (which also makes me feel bad)

I also discovered mb young, but through my own experimentation and it changed my life in some of the same ways. I found out about a guilty conscience and feeling ashamed of myself and the powerful habit of plunging my mind into fantasy to escape.

I hope for all of us that we can get the mastery over our thoughts and emotions and fears.

so I wanted to thank you for sharing as well,

best wishes to you all