No Nut November

[LSD-Rumi]

1 hour ago, ThePoint said:

Y’all are telling me that everyone that’s on NoFap and Semen Retention that relates to these symptoms has POIS? Over 1 million+ people?

Nobody knows truly how common this disease is because nobody reports it. 

I do think most of Nofappers have this disease without them realising it. They think they have porn addiction but actually they have POIS.

But some Nofappers do it for energy and such.

Edited December 8, 2022 by LSD-Rumi

[Osaid]

 

22 minutes ago, ThePoint said:

I’m a loser and pathetic because I am wasting my potential. I’m a and pathetic loser because I can’t motivate myself to do anything.

I’m a loser and pathetic because I don’t take enough action.

These still lack nuance and have a negative bias. And, some of them are hyperbolic, like "I can't motivate myself to do anything". This sentence is exaggerated and has a bias towards negativity, because it's not true. You can still motivate yourself to do some things. For example, you motivated yourself to reply to my post. Notice how you snuck that negative bias in there.

24 minutes ago, ThePoint said:

I’m a loser and pathetic because I am wasting my potential.

What does "I am wasting my potential" mean? How are you actually doing that? What does that look like? Focus on that, and then change it.

26 minutes ago, ThePoint said:

I’m a and pathetic loser because I can’t motivate myself to do anything

What do you mean by "I can't motivate myself to do anything"? What are these words actually specifically pointing to?

Maybe you were too lazy to start some project earlier today. Or maybe you can't get out of bed in the morning. And you interpreted that as "I can't motivate myself to do anything", thus creating a negative storyline about yourself. Get more specific and objective.

Quote

I’m a loser and pathetic because I don’t take enough action.

What does "I don't take enough action" mean? What have you done that makes you think this?

I'm sure you had some scenario of yourself in mind when you thought this, but notice that "I don't take enough action" is an interpretation that you created out of that scenario, it's not something inherent to the scenario.

33 minutes ago, ThePoint said:

I can’t feel inspired anymore. It’s like I’ve lost that emotion entirely. I’m not inspired by the goals I used to have. I don’t feel any spark anymore. I don’t care about anything anymore. I’m just apathetic.

Is there not a single thing inspiring to you? And it doesn't have to be things you consider as "personal development" or "productive". It doesn't have to be your old goals. Goals can change. I'm asking for anything that inspires you. Whether it be video games, music, etc. It might even be some ephemeral idea of you in the future that inspires you.

Once you find something, even if it's some small thing, ask yourself why it inspired you, and what qualities it has that inspire you. And then follow that.

35 minutes ago, ThePoint said:

Y’all are telling me that everyone that’s on NoFap and Semen Retention that relates to these symptoms has POIS? Over 1 million+ people?

1 million out of 8 billion.

It could be that these no-fap circles are groups of people with masturbation-related illnesses. So they've unknowingly created a echo chamber of people who suffer from these symptoms, and they see it as something everyone has because the entire group has it.

If not that, they could just be people who've created negative projections and stories around masturbation. It makes perfect sense. There is massive stigma and repression around porn and sex right now.

[ThePoint]

16 hours ago, LSD-Rumi said:

But some Nofappers do it for energy and such.

@LSD-Rumi So fapping does indeed decrease energy?

16 hours ago, Osaid said:

These still lack nuance and have a negative bias. And, some of them are hyperbolic, like "I can't motivate myself to do anything". This sentence is exaggerated and has a bias towards negativity, because it's not true. You can still motivate yourself to do some things. For example, you motivated yourself to reply to my post. Notice how you snuck that negative bias in there.

@Osaid

That is true. If that thought was absolutely true and taken literally, then I wouldn't be alive right now because I wouldn't eat or move.

16 hours ago, Osaid said:

What does "I am wasting my potential" mean? How are you actually doing that? What does that look like? Focus on that, and then change it.

I'm not taking action on what I should be doing. I'm at the same position I was a year ago.

I have not made any progress in my life in the past year and a half.

16 hours ago, Osaid said:

Maybe you were too lazy to start some project earlier today. Or maybe you can't get out of bed in the morning. And you interpreted that as "I can't motivate myself to do anything", thus creating a negative storyline about yourself. Get more specific and objective.

That sounds about right.

16 hours ago, Osaid said:

What does "I don't take enough action" mean? What have you done that makes you think this?

I'm sure you had some scenario of yourself in mind when you thought this, but notice that "I don't take enough action" is an interpretation that you created out of that scenario, it's not something inherent to the scenario.

I don't take enough action relative to want I want to do, which is to solve my health problems. I should be experimenting and researching more but I'm not.

16 hours ago, Osaid said:

Is there not a single thing inspiring to you? And it doesn't have to be things you consider as "personal development" or "productive". It doesn't have to be your old goals. Goals can change. I'm asking for anything that inspires you. Whether it be video games, music, etc. It might even be some ephemeral idea of you in the future that inspires you.

Yes, there is not a single thing inspiring to you. I know what inspiration feels like. I wasn't just born without being able to feel inspiration.

The last time I felt inspiration was about 2 years ago. Anhedonia + emotional blunting stripped inspiration away from me. I don't have any real hobbies anymore, and my previous passions + crafts don't have any spark to them anymore.

It's like I lost who I am.

I genuinely wish there was at least just one thing out there that I could enjoy, or that inspired me. That alone would probably get me through every day. Now I can't feel emotions the same way I used to, and I don't care about anything anymore, it's like I have lost a part of my humanity.

If I can't feel emotions, then why live at all?

16 hours ago, Osaid said:

1 million out of 8 billion.

I think it's more in the multi-millions. The r/NoFap subreddit alone has over 1 million members. So the actual amount of people who subscribe to it or similar things like semen retention is likely a lot more. Look at how many views the topic gets on websites like YouTube.

16 hours ago, Osaid said:

It could be that these no-fap circles are groups of people with masturbation-related illnesses. So they've unknowingly created a echo chamber of people who suffer from these symptoms, and they see it as something everyone has because the entire group has it.

If not that, they could just be people who've created negative projections and stories around masturbation. It makes perfect sense. There is massive stigma and repression around porn and sex right now.

Given how many people are a part of these circles, and how widespread it is, this does sound quite far-fetched. I am open to the possibility that these circles are indeed groups of people with masturbation-related illnesses, it just sounds very unlikely.

Almost every person I talk to this about relates to at least some of the symptoms after masturbating, like less energy.

[thisintegrated]

On 06/12/2022 at 4:17 AM, ThePoint said:

What do you mean by ‘something’?

If by the traditional sense you are referring to ejaculation, then that still sounds crazy to me that you feel great after masturbating even if it’s once or twice a week. I masturbate daily and I feel worse every time I do it. Do you experience urges in between the times you do it?

Uhh, maybe read my journal, go back a few pages, or like 10 idk.

[ThePoint]

1 hour ago, thisintegrated said:

Uhh, maybe read my journal, go back a few pages, or like 10 idk.

@thisintegrated Bro, your journal has 1865 posts and 94 pages... I asked a few simple questions.

[thisintegrated]

Just now, ThePoint said:

@thisintegrated Bro, your journal has 1865 posts and 94 pages... I asked a few simple questions.

I went into depth.  Osaid, Integral, etc. were there.  Only like 2 weeks ago.  Worth having a look.

[ThePoint]

3 minutes ago, thisintegrated said:

I went into depth.  Osaid, Integral, etc. were there.  Only like 2 weeks ago.  Worth having a look.

@thisintegrated A link to any comment of that discussion would be nice.

[thisintegrated]

12 minutes ago, ThePoint said:

@thisintegrated A link to any comment of that discussion would be nice.

6am rn, so later

[ThePoint]

22 hours ago, thisintegrated said:

6am rn, so later

@thisintegrated ?? 

[ThePoint]

@Osaid @thisintegrated @LSD-Rumi 

I would like to see what you think about this video: 

What are your thoughts?

[Osaid]

On 12/8/2022 at 8:31 PM, ThePoint said:

The last time I felt inspiration was about 2 years ago. Anhedonia + emotional blunting stripped inspiration away from me. I don't have any real hobbies anymore, and my previous passions + crafts don't have any spark to them anymore.

It's like I lost who I am.

I genuinely wish there was at least just one thing out there that I could enjoy, or that inspired me. That alone would probably get me through every day. Now I can't feel emotions the same way I used to, and I don't care about anything anymore, it's like I have lost a part of my humanity.

Then you can ask, how come you don't find it inspiring anymore? 

Also, I'm curious how the anhedonia started.

On 12/8/2022 at 8:31 PM, ThePoint said:

Given how many people are a part of these circles, and how widespread it is, this does sound quite far-fetched. I am open to the possibility that these circles are indeed groups of people with masturbation-related illnesses, it just sounds very unlikely.

Almost every person I talk to this about relates to at least some of the symptoms after masturbating, like less energy.

I don't find it hard to believe because of how widespread sexual stigma is. And also, how unconscious most people are of their own negative projections.

For example, think about how many people ascribe to religion, and how much religions push sexual repression and demonization.

Anecdotally, a lot of these no-fap communities do give me religious cult-like vibes at times. It's filled with bro-science, and people will gaslight you for reporting negative symptoms of no-fap.

I just don't find it unlikely that so many people would be steeped in delusion. Bad epistemology is everywhere nowadays. Most people are strongly positioned in stage red - stage blue.

On 12/8/2022 at 8:31 PM, ThePoint said:

I'm not taking action on what I should be doing. I'm at the same position I was a year ago.

Quote

I don't take enough action relative to want I want to do, which is to solve my health problems. I should be experimenting and researching more but I'm not.

These are better. Now you have something tangible you can actually look at and question and figure out, instead of a one-note blanket statement saying "I'm a stupid loser".

On 12/8/2022 at 8:31 PM, ThePoint said:

I have not made any progress in my life in the past year and a half.

This one is still hyperbolic.

18 hours ago, ThePoint said:

I would like to see what you think about this video

This video basically just talks about hedonic adaptation and uses porn to demonstrate it.

The stuff mentioned in this video points to a process called hedonic adaptation, and it applies to any activity that stimulates dopamine in large amounts. Basically, there's an activity, and that activity has a potential for addiction, because after a while you get desensitized to the previous stimuli, and so you end up searching for bigger stimuli, and it can become a cycle of addiction.

Me personally, I haven't been addicted, even though I watch porn. I can still get off to just images. In fact, I can get off without any visual stimuli, or direct physical stimuli. With porn in particular, I find it very hard to get addicted. It's just very satisfying. I don't find myself falling into any addictive cycles.

However, I wouldn't say it applies to your situation, because I'm sure that you feel bad after masturbating even without watching porn. This video is talking about porn use specifically.

You also have to keep in mind that sexual urges are physiologically and psychologically programmed into your body, so it might not be practical or useful to test for addiction using the metrics he used at the end of the video, which are for people struggling with exogeneous substances. It's not perfectly analogous to call a natural function of the body an addiction, it's like saying you're addicted to water or food.

In general, I'd say if you're doing it some obscene amount of times a day, like 5 times a day consistently, or you've noticed that it's a detriment to your relationship with real women, I would then say it's negative or addictive. Or, if you find that you've become noticeably desensitized to a lot of the porn you watch. Otherwise, your body will naturally produce and excrete its urges. For example, if you're really busy with some project or you go on some business trip, notice how easily you end up abstaining. And then notice how wet dreams increase during abstinence. I would say these are your body naturally regulating and excreting its urges. You don't have to micro-manage anything, unless you want to experiment with your sexual energy or something.