First of all I’m not your generic self-diagnosed social awkward penguin. I’ve been to a psychiatrist, diagnosed with moderate to severe social-anxiety and was put on medication. I know what you are going through. I know about the adrenaline rush you get when a stranger gets near you, the almost heart attack you feel when you try to talk during a class or a meeting (as if you ever do), the long alone walks you take not to deal with strangers, the unfounded shame when you look another person in the eye, the huge wall you put between strangers.
Sweating, trembling, panic attacks, self hate, suicidal impulses; I’ve been through it all.
I’ve been attempting NoFap for two years now and this is the longest I’ve abstained. It sounds like a long time just to stop masturbating but I don’t see my past attempts as failures. They actually helped me, made me realize that I could change.
I no longer experience the “torture” I described above. No I’m not a new person, not a social butterfly. I’m still myself but I’m free of the shackles we call social phobia. In this past two years I’ve made more connections, hit on more women, made more friends than I did in my first 25 years. I feel content and comfortable in my own skin and the wall I put between myself and other people had crumbled.
The title is too sensational and the pessimist in you will jump out and say there are no magic pills in life and social phobia is incurable. Yet I can’t call NoFap anything but a magic pill -albeit very bitter- and hell it worked for me. It wasn’t the only thing I did of course, for the past two years:
- I’ve admitted to my family and friends that I have social phobia and contrary to my worst nightmares they didn’t look down on me for it.
- I seeked help from a professional.
- I worked out regulary.
- I read a lot of books on self help, depression, cognitive therapy, social anxiety.
Yet the catalizing factor was stopping wasting my time with porn and masturbation. If you have social anxiety/phobia, please just give it a try. Don’t believe me. Assume that I’m a phony, I’m exaggerating, I’m wholly making everything up. But just ask yourself; what do you have to lose if you stopped masturbation for 90 days?
You have nothing to lose but a whole life to gain. One important warning though: NoFap is not a smooth ride. Your condition will not steadily improve, there are ups and downs. Sometimes it will even worsen your depression and anxiety. But stick with it and you’ll see the light at the end of the tunnel.
tl;dr : NoFap has greatly helped with my social anxiety/phobia, give it a try for fucks sake.
LINK – To people struggling with social anxiety/phobia : Yes, Nofap is the magic pill
by shorty_short
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