Is anybody else partaking in NoFap?

[TheGangstaSheep]

Sorry if this is the wrong place but it seemed the most appropriate place to me.

Anyway, I've been trying for a while to give up porn/masturbation because I realised that it was having a bad effect on me (Note: Masturbation is normal but if done too much it can be unhealthy so don't think I'm saying it's wrong).

So I was just wondering if anybody else is doing it and how it's going for them. Have you lost any attractions you used to have? Are you feeling more energetic? Are you becoming more social?

Everybody feel free to comment and partake in discussion even if you aren't doing this.

[NSoKShannon]

It (masturbating) relieves stress.

[TheGangstaSheep]

Like I said, in small amounts it can be fine but once you're doing it too much it can cause more stress than relief.

[TheGangstaSheep]

Even 2-3 times a day is unhealthy. Go ahead and watch this series http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKDFsLi2oBk

[IAMWILL]

Masturbation only becomes unhealthy when it intervenes with other parts of your life. For example if you choose to not go hangout with friends, do your homework, don't go to events, or avoid any other situation because you would rather stay home and masturbate, then you are doing it too much. Otherwise, there is no limit, unless you were at the point where it hurt, which makes it unhealthy.

To answer your first question, no I am certainly not participating. And if you get other guys to say they are, I bet 80% of them won't make it or are lying. Its hard to fight off a natural urge that is extremely strong during puberty for a month.

[crazycamoman]

I have been trying to stop masturbating for a while now it is a struggle but I stay positive and I know that if I fall I can just get right back up nobody is perfect but yes it's rly hard to fight the urge!! I also am especially trying to give up pornography and it's going about the same but I'm at a week and a bit right now /clap!!

[Drew5]

Nope. Do it 2-4 times a day. It helps me focus otherwise If I dropped down to even once a day, I'm semi erect almost all day, day dreaming abt sex and can't concentrate in class or during homework, but that's me. My sex drive has been crazy high since I was 10.

[and__1]

how does it cause stress? "oh im so angry that im done masturbating im gonna punch this wall now" is that what u mean?

[Lost in the Echo]

No way, I gotta at least do it a couple times a day, or else i'll have a raging boner for the whole day :P

[darthreilly]

nah dude this just seems pointless in my opinion. god gave you what youve got for a reason, use it ha

[TheGangstaSheep]

Masturbation only becomes unhealthy when it intervenes with other parts of your life. For example if you choose to not go hangout with friends, do your homework, don't go to events, or avoid any other situation because you would rather stay home and masturbate, then you are doing it too much. Otherwise, there is no limit, unless you were at the point where it hurt, which makes it unhealthy.

To answer your first question, no I am certainly not participating. And if you get other guys to say they are, I bet 80% of them won't make it or are lying. Its hard to fight off a natural urge that is extremely strong during puberty for a month.

Yeah I think some people could lie but they'd only be lying to themselves. The whole idea of NoFap is to be able to tell yourself that you're in control of your body and not the other way round so if they lied it'd be pointless.

I have been trying to stop masturbating for a while now it is a struggle but I stay positive and I know that if I fall I can just get right back up nobody is perfect but yes it's rly hard to fight the urge!! I also am especially trying to give up pornography and it's going about the same but I'm at a week and a bit right now /clap!!

Keep it up man, I know you can do it. It's harder some days than others but the end result is worth it.

Nope. Do it 2-4 times a day. It helps me focus otherwise If I dropped down to even once a day, I'm semi erect almost all day, day dreaming abt sex and can't concentrate in class or during homework, but that's me. My sex drive has been crazy high since I was 10.


Haha yeah sometimes I get a really high sex-drive so I definitely know what you mean.

how does it cause stress? "oh im so angry that im done masturbating im gonna punch this wall now" is that what u mean?

Well it can have an effect on you emotionally. For example, when you first start watching porn, you watch run-of-the-mill stuff but then as time goes on you watch more extreme stuff to get more dopamine until your watching something that you would never dream of watching such as gay (Note: This isn't my experience, just an example haha). This kind of confusion can lead to some emotional problems such as anxiety or even depression because you don't know who you are. And at the basic level all it is, is your brain trying to get its fix of dopamine by watching the more extreme stuff and you get less dopamine receptors over time so you end up not being pleased by anything.

No way, I gotta at least do it a couple times a day, or else i'll have a raging boner for the whole day :P

Haha fair enough to you, just make sure you're in control of your body and not the other way around.

nah dude this just seems pointless in my opinion. god gave you what youve got for a reason, use it ha

Haha to each their own.

Please don't double post, use the edit button or the multi quote feature~Skyfall

[nice]

I am just to see how long I can go without it.

Almost 2 weeks so far :P.

[TheGangstaSheep]

I am just to see how long I can go without it.

Almost 2 weeks so far :P.

Good work! My longest was 1 week but that was a while back and I've "Relapsed" a lot since so I'm trying to go in for the long run at the moment.

[nice]

I don't plan on just stoping all together though I just don't do it as often maybe once or twice a month.

[TigerBoy]

This whole line of reasoning is extrapolating an initially valid principle way past its reasonable limits, and is using more extreme cases to convince people through fear by falsely suggesting these extremes are the norm. It is the same flawed argument that conservatives have been trying to use to counter things like Marijuana use for decades.

The grain of truth being abused here is that yes, having willpower is good and having porn addiction is bad. At the same time it is wrong to imply is that everyone who watches porn is 'addicted' and that every addict suffers ill effects.

Even 2-3 times a day is unhealthy. Go ahead and watch this series http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKDFsLi2oBk
Incorrect. There are no universally accepted medical or psychological ill effects from simply masturbating at this level, and plenty of established medical evidence that masturbation is healthy, both psychologically and even physiologically. Studies (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3942-masturbating-may-protect-against-prostate-cancer.html)have shown that ejaculating a minimum of 5 times a week can lower your risk of prostate cancer by a third, for example.
You are conflating extreme addictive behaviour with masturbation, and falsely using the argument for the former to apply to the latter.


For example, when you first start watching porn, you watch run-of-the-mill stuff but then as time goes on you watch more extreme stuff to get more dopamine until your watching something that you would never dream of watching such as gay
This is very flawed reasoning. If you are seeking thrills, you clearly aren't going to watch something you don't already have some interest in. You won't get a chemical 'reward' for stuff that doesn't turn you on, therefore that interest must be there already and logically cannot be a result of your porn addiction.
There are a lot of reasons people might watch gay porn, such as actually being gay or bi or curious. No known mechanism will alter sexuality: this is a matter of established fact, notably as a result of decades of failed attempts at so called 'conversion therapy' and scientific refutation thereof.

This kind of confusion can lead to some emotional problems such as anxiety or even depression because you don't know who you are.
More faulty reasoning. This is conflating issues of sexual identity and depression with porn addiction. Concluding that people are only confused about sexual identity as a result of porn addiction by only considering the porn addicted is an ecological fallacy: there are plenty of people who have issues with these things and do not have porn addictions. Many people have found that porn actually helps determine their sexual preferences and deal with their issues, so porn needn't be a problem.

[TheGangstaSheep]

I don't plan on just stoping all together though I just don't do it as often maybe once or twice a month.

That's still really good! Keep it up :)

This whole line of reasoning is extrapolating an initially valid principle way past its reasonable limits, and is using more extreme cases to convince people through fear by falsely suggesting these extremes are the norm. It is the same flawed argument that conservatives have been trying to use to counter things like Marijuana use for decades.

The grain of truth being abused here is that yes, having willpower is good and having porn addiction is bad. At the same time it is wrong to imply is that everyone who watches porn is 'addicted' and that every addict suffers ill effects.


Incorrect. There are no universally accepted medical or psychological ill effects from simply masturbating at this level, and plenty of established medical evidence that masturbation is healthy, both psychologically and even physiologically. Studies (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3942-masturbating-may-protect-against-prostate-cancer.html)have shown that ejaculating a minimum of 5 times a week can lower your risk of prostate cancer by a third, for example.
You are conflating extreme addictive behaviour with masturbation, and falsely using the argument for the former to apply to the latter.


This is very flawed reasoning. If you are seeking thrills, you clearly aren't going to watch something you don't already have some interest in. You won't get a chemical 'reward' for stuff that doesn't turn you on, therefore that interest must be there already and logically cannot be a result of your porn addiction.
There are a lot of reasons people might watch gay porn, such as actually being gay or bi or curious. No known mechanism will alter sexuality: this is a matter of established fact, notably as a result of decades of failed attempts at so called 'conversion therapy' and scientific refutation thereof.


More faulty reasoning. This is conflating issues of sexual identity and depression with porn addiction. Concluding that people are only confused about sexual identity as a result of porn addiction by only considering the porn addicted is an ecological fallacy: there are plenty of people who have issues with these things and do not have porn addictions. Many people have found that porn actually helps determine their sexual preferences and deal with their issues, so porn needn't be a problem.

You're misunderstanding what I'm saying. I'm not saying that Porn is a terrible thing and masturbation is a terrible thing. Masturbation is healthy in good amounts and porn isn't bad for everybody.

If you have gotten the thrill from something countless times, you eventually start losing interest and go for something new and different. Have you seen the study with rats where a male rat will be in a cage with a female and over time it will take the male rat longer to ejaculate and he'll have less interest. Then when they put the new rat in he ejaculates as quick as he used to and is interested in the new female until he's bored of her.

I'm not trying to say that every person is the same and that masturbation/porn effects everybody the same way. I'm just saying that for some people it isn't so good. I hope you can accept my apology for anywhere that I may have not worded something correctly.

Please don't double post, use the edit button instead or the multi quote feature~Skyfall

[Anakin99]

nope

[TigerBoy]

You're misunderstanding what I'm saying. I'm not saying that Porn is a terrible thing and masturbation is a terrible thing. Masturbation is healthy in good amounts and porn isn't bad for everybody.

Ok, but the issue was that you stated that 2-3 times daily was a "bad amount" which isn't a scientific truism, as I pointed out. You are now claiming there are 'good amounts' but haven't said what they are or given any evidence on that point that might make me think I need to go the 'NoFap' route.


If you have gotten the thrill from something countless times, you eventually start losing interest and go for something new and different.

The goal posts have shifted a bit here. 'New' previously meant "something that you would never dream of watching" . The definition of 'new' in this experiment is not something outside the experience of the subject (i.e. we're swapping one female rat for another female rat).


Have you seen the study with rats where a male rat will be in a cage with a female and over time it will take the male rat longer to ejaculate and he'll have less interest. Then when they put the new rat in he ejaculates as quick as he used to and is interested in the new female until he's bored of her.

This is a false comparison to the original statement you made. Two female rats, so nothing terribly 'new' about the whole experience there.

Previously you were talking about porn addiction making you do things you wouldn't normally do. If the first female was replaced by a male rat or a chihuahua, or if the rat suddenly got its thrill by ripping the throat out of the new rat, then we might have a basis for the more extreme claims being made about the effects of porn addiction.

The fact that a new female rat makes the first rat friskier doesn't tell us anything about whether that first rat was bored enough to do something out of character. You generally won't try something new that doesn't please you in the first place, and if you confirm this by trying it then you won't get the chemical reinforcement to repeat it let alone get addicted.



I'm not trying to say that every person is the same and that masturbation/porn effects everybody the same way. I'm just saying that for some people it isn't so good. I hope you can accept my apology for anywhere that I may have not worded something correctly.

I agree ... the point is that everyone needs to realise that we are only
talking about 'some' people here.

As you asked people to discuss 'NoFap' I hope I'm keeping in the spirit of your thread here. NoFap bothers me only because the idea seems to be getting used by some people who want to imply that there is some process where masturbating to porn inevitably leads to porn addiction for everyone , and everyone who has porn addiction experiences terrible things (and further imply or state that this includes turning you gay, or pushing you into 'deviant' sexual behaviours). This is a slippery slope fallacy, and at risk of getting padded out with unwarranted conclusions and exaggerations.

At the same time, if anyone wants to practice self control or whatever, great, just do it for the right reasons and not just another version of 'it will make you blind and your palms hairy'.

[TheGangstaSheep]

Ok, but the issue was that you stated that 2-3 times daily was a "bad amount" which isn't a scientific truism, as I pointed out. You are now claiming there are 'good amounts' but haven't said what they are or given any evidence on that point that might make me think I need to go the 'NoFap' route.


The goal posts have shifted a bit here. 'New' previously meant "something that you would never dream of watching" . The definition of 'new' in this experiment is not something outside the experience of the subject (i.e. we're swapping one female rat for another female rat).


This is a false comparison to the original statement you made. Two female rats, so nothing terribly 'new' about the whole experience there.

Previously you were talking about porn addiction making you do things you wouldn't normally do. If the first female was replaced by a male rat or a chihuahua, or if the rat suddenly got its thrill by ripping the throat out of the new rat, then we might have a basis for the more extreme claims being made about the effects of porn addiction.

The fact that a new female rat makes the first rat friskier doesn't tell us anything about whether that first rat was bored enough to do something out of character. You generally won't try something new that doesn't please you in the first place, and if you confirm this by trying it then you won't get the chemical reinforcement to repeat it let alone get addicted.



I agree ... the point is that everyone needs to realise that we are only
talking about 'some' people here.

As you asked people to discuss 'NoFap' I hope I'm keeping in the spirit of your thread here. NoFap bothers me only because the idea seems to be getting used by some people who want to imply that there is some process where masturbating to porn inevitably leads to porn addiction for everyone , and everyone who has porn addiction experiences terrible things (and further imply or state that this includes turning you gay, or pushing you into 'deviant' sexual behaviours). This is a slippery slope fallacy, and at risk of getting padded out with unwarranted conclusions and exaggerations.

At the same time, if anyone wants to practice self control or whatever, great, just do it for the right reasons and not just another version of 'it will make you blind and your palms hairy'.

Well yes physically one rat is no different than the other (except colour of fur/hair etc) but it's still the thrill of something different that has an effect on the rat. It can be similar from porn. You watch some ameteur/casual stuff, go on to hardcore, then go onto watching peoples feet. While it can be said that people have these attractions from earlier on in life, a lot of it comes because they're doing something different than the "norm" and their brain eventually associates feet with orgasm therefore having an attraction to the feet.

Don't worry, I enjoy these kind of conversations. If somebody disagrees with me, they're just as valid as somebody who agrees with me. It's nice to hear other peoples opinions and share my own.

[AWSUMguy]

I didn't go for 2 weeks and in that time I was WAY more energetic and happy and social, but also VERY horny

[TheGangstaSheep]

I didn't go for 2 weeks and in that time I was WAY more energetic and happy and social, but also VERY horny

Yeah when I didn't do it for a week I definitely felt happier in myself but only a little more energetic. It affects people differently, and clearly better for you than me :)

[TigerBoy]

Well yes physically one rat is no different than the other (except colour of fur/hair etc) but it's still the thrill of something different that has an effect on the rat. It can be similar from porn. You watch some ameteur/casual stuff, go on to hardcore, then go onto watching peoples feet.

No, again that is the same non sequitur. You have a study that swaps a female rat for a different female rat.

To correctly describe this in terms of your porn analogies you would be going from watching some amateur stuff to some amateur stuff with different people.

You are in effect trying to conclude that from the rat experiment we can expect that rat to progress happily from a female rat, to a female chihauha to being interested in the chihauha's paws. There is no logical basis to assume that would be the case.


While it can be said that people have these attractions from earlier on in life, a lot of it comes because they're doing something different than the "norm" and their brain eventually associates feet with orgasm therefore having an attraction to the feet.
This incorrectly assumes that something 'new' is automatically attractive, which as I've already explained isn't automatically the case. I am gay - I would at no point move on to watching lesbian porn, for example.

[TheGangstaSheep]

No, again that is the same non sequitur. You have a study that swaps a female rat for a different female rat.

To correctly describe this in terms of your porn analogies you would be going from watching some amateur stuff to some amateur stuff with different people.

You are in effect trying to conclude that from the rat experiment we can expect that rat to progress happily from a female rat, to a female chihauha to being interested in the chihauha's paws. There is no logical basis to assume that would be the case.


This incorrectly assumes that something 'new' is automatically attractive, which as I've already explained isn't automatically the case. I am gay - I would at no point move on to watching lesbian porn, for example.


Yes but a rat going to another rat shares the same idea with going from soft porn to more extreme porn. In porn it's a human you're watching most of the time (Unless people are watching beasitiality which is pretty rare)and even as you start watching weirder stuff, it still features humans and not another species as your rat to chihauha theory states.

Of course I don't expect that to happen to you or any gay individual. But for many people with something like porn, it's the novelty of watching something "extreme" or something that isn't normal that leads them astray.

[TigerBoy]

Yes but a rat going to another rat shares the same idea with going from soft porn to more extreme porn.

No it really doesn't.

The first subject was a rat and it was female. The second subject was a rat and it was female. The only thing that changed was WHICH rat.

Amateur porn with actors A,B,C. Amateur porn with actors X,Y,Z. The only thing that changed was WHICH actors.

For your analogy to be equivalent you have to change something ELSE about the subject, and for it to work well you'd have to make that something as significant as notching up the explicitness or social taboo of the porn.