Can porn use affect memory and concentration?

“Better concentration,” “no more brain fog,” clearer thinking,” and “improved memory” are a few of the most common benefits reported by those who reboot. Here’s one:

My mental abilities have only improved in the last year and a half. I’m serious as a heart attack about that. I’m more calm, have improved my musical skills (which is saying something when you consider that I have been playing for half of a century) and I’m much less likely to get frustrated and lose my cool. Whoever wrote the script to “Don Jon” knew of what they spoke. I remember how he was prone to frustration and losing his temper and that seemed to improve when he got a handle on his porn use. This whole process has changed my life.

Have a look at Man Interrupted by Zimbardo & Coulombe and for a thorough discussion of the effects of online gaming and porn on a generation of young men’s academic performance and achievement.

Recent studies:

The first 3 studies demonstrate that either chronic porn use or exposure sexual stimuli decrease one’s ability to delay gratification. Note: reducing dopamine receptors in the reward circuitry of rats decrease their ability to delay gratification for a larger future reward.

Exposure to Sexual Stimuli Induces Greater Discounting Leading to Increased Involvement in Cyber Delinquency Among Men (2017) – In two studies exposure to visual sexual stimuli resulted in: 1) greater delayed discounting (inability to delay gratification), 2) greater inclination to engage in cyber-delinquency, 3) greater inclination to purchase counterfeit goods & hack someone’s Facebook account. Taken together this indicates that porn use increases impulsivity and may reduce certain executive functions (self-control, judgment, foreseeing consequences, impulse control). Excerpt:

These findings provide insight into a strategy for reducing men’s involvement in cyber delinquency; that is, through less exposure to sexual stimuli and promotion of delayed gratification. The current results suggest that the high availability of sexual stimuli in cyberspace may be more closely associated with men’s cyber-delinquent behavior than previously thought.

Trading Later Rewards for Current Pleasure: Pornography Consumption and Delay Discounting (2015) – The more pornography that participants consumed, the less able they were to delay gratification. This unique study also had porn users reduce porn use for 3 weeks. The study found that continued porn use was causally related to greater inability to delay gratification (note that the ability to delay gratification is a function of the prefrontal cortex). Excerpt from the first study (median subject age 20) correlated subjects’ pornography use with their scores on a delayed gratification task:

“The more pornography that participants consumed, the more they saw the future rewards as worth less than the immediate rewards, even though the future rewards were objectively worth more.”

Put simply, more porn use correlated with less ability to delay gratification for larger future rewards. In the second part of this study researchers assessed the subjects’ delayed discounting 4 weeks later and correlated with their porn use.

“These results indicate that continued exposure to the immediate gratification of pornography is related to higher delay discounting over time.”

A second study (median age 19) was performed to assess if porn use causes delayed discounting, or the inability to delay gratification. Researchers divided current porn users into two groups:

1. One group abstained from porn use for 3 weeks,
2. A second group abstained from their favorite food for 3 weeks.

All participants were told the study was about self-control, and they were randomly chosen to abstain from their assigned activity. The clever part was that the researchers had the second group of porn users abstain from eating their favorite food. This ensured that 1) all subjects engaged in a self-control task, and 2) the second group’s porn use was unaffected. At the end of the 3 weeks, participants were involved in a task to assess delay discounting. Important note: While the “porn abstinence group” viewed significantly less porn than the “favorite food abstainers,” most did not completely abstain from porn viewing. The results:

“As predicted, participants who exerted self-control over their desire to consume pornography chose a higher percentage of larger, later rewards compared to participants who exerted self-control over their food consumption but continued consuming pornography.”

The group that cut back on their porn viewing for 3 weeks displayed less delay discounting than the group that simply abstained from their favorite food. Put simply, abstaining from internet porn increases porn users’ ability to delay gratification. From the study:

Thus, building on the longitudinal findings of Study 1, we demonstrated that continued pornography consumption was causally related to a higher rate of delay discounting. Exercising self-control in the sexual domain had a stronger effect on delay discounting than exercising self-control over another rewarding physical appetite (e.g., eating one’s favorite food).

The take-aways:

1. It wasn’t exercising self-control that increased the ability to delay gratification. Reducing porn use was the key factor.
2. Internet porn is a unique stimulus.
3. Internet porn use, even in non-addicts, has long-term effects.

Probability and delay discounting of erotic stimuli (2008) – Excerpts:

Erotica users were disproportionately male, scored higher on several psychometric measures of sexuality-related constructs, and exhibited more impulsive choice patterns on the delay discounting for money task than erotica non-users did. These findings suggest that discounting processes generalize to erotic outcomes for some individuals.

Bikinis Instigate Generalized Impatience in Intertemporal Choice – Not porn, but similar results. Excerpts:

We show that exposure to sexy cues leads to more impatience in intertemporal choice between monetary rewards. Highlighting the role of a general reward circuitry, we demonstrate that individuals with a sensitive reward system are more susceptible to the effect of sex cues, that the effect generalizes to nonmonetary rewards, and that satiation attenuates the effect.

[This one also appears above in first section of this page, and is repeated here due to its “delayed discounting” finding.] How Abstinence Affects Preferences (2016) [preliminary results] – Excerpts from the article:

Results of the First Wave – Main Findings

1. The length of the longest streak participants performed before taking part in the survey correlates with time preferences. The second survey will answer the question if longer periods of abstinence render participants more able to delay rewards, or if more patient participants are more likely to perform longer streaks.
2. Longer periods of abstinence most likely cause less risk aversion (which is good). The second survey will provide the final proof.
3. Personality correlates with length of streaks. The second wave will reveal if abstinence influences personality or if personality can explain variation in the length of streaks.

Results of the Second Wave – Main Findings

1. Abstaining from pornography and masturbation increases the ability to delay rewards
2. Participating in a period of abstinence renders people more willing to take risks
3. Abstinence renders people more altruistic
4. Abstinence renders people more extroverted, more conscientious, and less neurotic

Viewing sexual images is associated with reduced physiological arousal response to gambling loss – Excerpt:

People should be aware that sexual arousal could reduce their attention and physiological sensitivity to monetary losses. In other words, people should pay extra attention to the losses and gains of financial decisions when they are sexually aroused.

Is students’ computer use at home related to their mathematical performance at school? (2008) – Excerpt:

Also, students’ cognitive abilities were positively linked to their achievement in mathematics. Finally, watching television had a negative relationship with students’ performance. Particularly, watching horror, action, or pornographic films was associated with lower test scores.

Self-reported differences on measures of executive function and hypersexual behavior in a patient and community sample of men (2010) – “Hypersexual behavior” was correlated with poorer executive function (arising primarily from the prefrontal cortex). An excerpt:

Patients seeking help for hypersexual behavior often exhibit features of impulsivity, cognitive rigidity, poor judgment, deficits in emotion regulation, and excessive preoccupation with sex. Some of these characteristics are also common among patients presenting with neurological pathology associated with executive dysfunction. These observations led to the current investigation of differences between a group of hypersexual patients (n = 87) and a non-hypersexual community sample (n = 92) of men using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version.

Hypersexual behavior was positively correlated with global indices of executive dysfunction and several subscales of the BRIEF-A. These findings provide preliminary evidence supporting the hypothesis that executive dysfunction may be implicated in hypersexual behavior.

Pornographic picture processing interferes with working memory performance (2013) – German scientists have discovered that Internet erotica can diminish working memory. In this porn-imagery experiment, 28 healthy individuals performed working-memory tasks using 4 different sets of pictures, one of which was pornographic. Participants also rated the pornographic pictures with respect to sexual arousal and masturbation urges prior to, and after, pornographic picture presentation. Results showed that working memory was worst during the porn viewing and that greater arousal augmented the drop. An excerpt:

Results contribute to the view that indicators of sexual arousal due to pornographic picture processing interfere with working memory performance. Findings are discussed with respect to Internet sex addiction because working memory interference by addiction-related cues is well known from substance dependencies.

Working memory is the ability to keep information in mind while using it to complete a task or deal with a challenge. It helps people hold their goals in mind, resist distractions and inhibit impulsive choices, so it’s critical to learning and planning. A consistent research finding is that addiction-related cues hinder working memory, which is a function of the prefrontal cortex.

Sexual Picture Processing Interferes with Decision-Making Under Ambiguity (2013) – Study found that viewing pornographic imagery interfered with decision making during a standardized cognitive test. This suggests porn use might affect executive functioning, which is a set of mental skills that help with meeting goals. These skills are controlled by an area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex. Excerpts:

Decision-making performance was worse when sexual pictures were associated with disadvantageous card decks compared to performance when the sexual pictures were linked to the advantageous decks. Subjective sexual arousal moderated the relationship between task condition and decision-making performance. This study emphasized that sexual arousal interfered with decision-making, which may explain why some individuals experience negative consequences in the context of cybersex use.

Arousal, working memory capacity, and sexual decision-making in men (2014) – Excerpts:

This study investigated whether working memory capacity (WMC) moderated the relationship between physiological arousal and sexual decision making. A total of 59 men viewed 20 consensual and 20 non-consensual images of heterosexual interaction while their physiological arousal levels were recorded using skin conductance response. Participants also completed an assessment of WMC and a date-rape analogue task for which they had to identify the point at which an average Australian male would cease all sexual advances in response to verbal and/or physical resistance from a female partner.

Participants who were more physiologically aroused by and spent more time viewing the non-consensual sexual imagery nominated significantly later stopping points on the date-rape analogue task. Consistent with our predictions, the relationship between physiological arousal and nominated stopping point was strongest for participants with lower levels of WMC. For participants with high WMC, physiological arousal was unrelated to nominated stopping point. Thus, executive functioning ability (and WMC in particular) appears to play an important role in moderating men’s decision making with regard to sexually aggressive behavior.

Early Adolescent Boys’ exposure to Internet pornography: Relationships to pubertal timing, sensation seeking, and academic performance (2015) – This rare longitudinal study (over a six-month period) suggests that porn use decreases academic performance. Excerpt:

Moreover, an increased use of Internet pornography decreased boys’ academic performance six months later.

Getting stuck with pornography? Overuse or neglect of cybersex cues in a multitasking situation is related to symptoms of cybersex addiction (2015) – Subjects with a higher tendency towards porn addiction performed more poorly of executive functioning tasks (which are under the auspices of the prefrontal cortex). A few excerpts:

We investigated whether a tendency towards cybersex addiction is associated with problems in exerting cognitive control over a multitasking situation that involves pornographic pictures. We used a multitasking paradigm in which the participants had the explicit goal to work to equal amounts on neutral and pornographic material. [And] we found that participants who reported tendencies towards cybersex addiction deviated stronger from this goal.

The results of the current study point towards a role of executive control functions, i.e. functions mediated by the prefrontal cortex, for the development and maintenance of problematic cybersex use (as suggested by Brand et al., 2014). Particularly a reduced ability to monitor consumption and to switch between pornographic material and other contents in a goal adequate manner may be one mechanism in the development and maintenance of cybersex addiction

Problematic sexual behavior in young adults: Associations across clinical, behavioral, and neurocognitive variables (2016) – Individuals with Problematic Sexual Behaviors (PSB) exhibited several neuro-cognitive deficits. These findings indicate poorer executive functioning (hypofrontality) which is a key brain feature occurring in drug addicts. A few excerpts:

From this characterization, it is be possible to trace the problems evident in PSB and additional clinical features, such as emotional dysregulation, to particular cognitive deficits…. If the cognitive problems identified in this analysis are actually the core feature of PSB, this may have notable clinical implications.

Effects of Pornography on Senior High School Students, Ghana. (2016) – Excerpt:

The study revealed that majority of the students admitted to watching pornography before. Furthermore, it was observed that majority of them agreed that pornography affects students’ academic performance negatively…

Executive Functioning of Sexually Compulsive and Non-Sexually Compulsive Men Before and After Watching an Erotic Video (2017) – Exposure to porn affected executive functioning in men with “compulsive sexual behaviors,” but not healthy controls. Poorer executive functioning when exposed to addiction-related cues is a hallmark of substance disorders (indicating both altered prefrontal circuits and sensitization). Excerpts:

This finding indicates better cognitive flexibility after sexual stimulation by controls compared with sexually compulsive participants. These data support the idea that sexually compulsive men do not to take advantage of the possible learning effect from experience, which could result in better behavior modification. This also could be understood as a lack of a learning effect by the sexually compulsive group when they were sexually stimulated, similar to what happens in the cycle of sexual addiction, which starts with an increasing amount of sexual cognition, followed by the activation of sexual scripts and then orgasm, very often involving exposure to risky situations.

Frequency and Duration of Use, Craving and Negative Emotions in Problematic Online Sexual Activities (2019) – Excerpts:

In a sample of over 1,000 Chinese college students, we tested a model that pornography craving would operate through quantity and frequency measures of usage of OSAs to lead to problematic use of OSAs, and this then would lead to negative academic emotions. Our model was largely supported.

Results indicated that higher pornography craving, greater quantity and frequency of use of OSAs, and more negative academic emotions were associated with problematic OSAs. The results resonate with those of previous studies reporting a high level of pornography craving in association with other negative health measures.

Perception of Pornography Impacts on Social Studies’ Students in University of Jos, Nigeria (2019) – Excerpt:

The study was backed with four research questions sand two hypotheses, the research design adopted for the study was survey research and the population was the entire social studies students in university of Jos having the total of 244 population size and from which 180 were randomly selected as sample of the study. The study revealed that, most students who are involved in pornographic activities do not do well in academics and most times even procrastinate on their works.

Impaired Recent Verbal Memory in Pornography-Addicted Juvenile Subjects (2019) – Excerpts:

We found lower RAVLT A6 score in the pornography addiction group when compared to the nonaddiction group, by 1.80 point of mean difference (13.36% of nonaddiction score). As A6 signifies recent memory capability after disruption (in B1), our results showed diminishing memory capability on pornography addiction. Working memory is known to have an important role in maintaining goal-oriented behavior [24, 25]; therefore, our findings suggested that pornography-addicted juveniles may have problem to do so.

Exploring the Lived Experience of Problematic Users of Internet Pornography: A Qualitative Study (2020) – A few relevant excerpts (this paper is listed in both sections):

Participants described symptoms of anxiety and depression, poor concentration, and an inability to focus on essential tasks. They also reported feelings of shame, low self-worth, and guilt. Many also reported that their use of IP led to reduced sleep and, as a consequence, low mood and feeling unmotivated or lethargic during the day. This seems to have had an adverse flow-on effect, influencing their engagement with work or study, social activities, and significant others.

Participants reported experiencing symptoms of “brain fog,” an inability to focus, and “ADHD” like symptoms. A number of participants reported a reduced ability to perform complicated tasks such as homework or work-related tasks, even when to not do so would cause significant consequences as one participant noted, “ADHD, Brain Fog, lack of concentration, stumbling about porn even when doing important work.” One participant remarked that his use of IP has affected his ability to concentrate and has “interrupted my ability to focus on lengthy tasks, including reading and writing.” A participant discussed the effects of his IP use as resulting in a “lack of motivation, clarity, and brain fog. Like I said before, dealing with drug/alcohol abuse has played a role, but I experience a hungover feeling now after watching porn”. This was echoed by the other participants, as exemplify.

So, will you be all set if you just close the porn tabs while doing algebra? It’s a good start, but keep reading.

Porn use and long-term impact on concentration

Judging from the rapid improvements that some users often see after they quit porn, it appears that one needn’t be an addict to be adversely affected. Before we analyze the relevant research, let’s consider what ex-users report about post-porn changes in concentration. (More self-reports can be found at the end of this post.):

• “This may have nothing to do with it but since I’ve quit my thinking and my mind have become a lot sharper. As I mentioned above I enrolled in online college classes I seriously kicked *** in these classes. My ability to retain knowledge is many times stronger and I can focus much better.”
• “I have noticed I can retain pictorial information significantly better than pre-reboot. Discovered it by accident when I looked at a diagram in a text book and realised I did not need to look at it again as I could still recall the image in good detail. Can also remember faces better.”
• “I am able to get more work done both at my job and in my part-time business. I can concentrate for longer.”
• “Today I have felt massive memory improvements during the course of my reboot [abstention from masturbation to porn]. I feel like I’m mentally switched on and present for the first time in my life. And I now have an attention span. I feel like for the previous 10 years I couldn’t focus on anything and I couldn’t remember anything.”
• “[Day 68] I feel like my brain is healing.  When I started this re-boot, I listed the following symptoms that I felt like weight on my shoulders:

1. lack of motivation
2. irritability
3. brain fog
4. inability to concentrate
5. mood swings
6. social anxiety

• Today, I am proud to state here that I no longer suffer from any of these symptoms.  My moods are much more “steady”.  People are starting to notice.  The anxiety is GONE. My concentration is crystal clear; my motivation for life is very high.”

Improved concentration and memory are among the most commonly reported post-porn benefits, and they may be explained by the reversal of addiction-related brain changes. (Other frequently reported benefits after giving up highspeed porn are decreased social anxiety and depression, improved sexual performance, greater attraction to real mates, seeing potential partners as people rather sex-aids, and return to earlier sexual tastes.)

What do the scientists say?

As of 2019 multiple studies link porn use to poorer cognitive outcomes: Studies linking porn use to poorer mental-emotional health & poorer cognitive outcomes. Moreover, addiction neuroscientists have repeatedly shown that Internet addiction produces lasting memory and concentration problems in some users.

Neuroscientists have begun to isolate addiction-related brain changes that could account for cognitive impairment, such as decreased gray matter in the frontal cortex and disorganized white matter. Not surprisingly, brain studies show that Internet addicts suffer from impaired inhibitory control and increased impulsivity. (Note that while some of the Internet addiction studies discussed in this section include online erotica use, none isolate it—unlike the working memory experiment that is the primary subject of this post.)

Brain studies on Internet addicts also reveal another change that can impair concentration: a measurable decline in dopamine signaling. Dopamine is central to concentration, focus, motivation and memory formation, and low dopamine signaling is strongly associated with poor working memory (monkeys too) and ADHD.

It appears that inattention (which in turn impairs memory) is really caused by lack of motivation (reduced D2 dopamine receptors). Tasks seem boring or uninteresting. Decreased dopamine signaling in the brain’s reward circuitry is a hallmark of all addictions. Researchers measuring dopamine transporters in people with Internet addiction said:

Taken together, these results suggest that IAD [Internet addiction disorder] may cause serious damage to the brain and the neuroimaging findings further illustrate IAD is associated with dysfunctions in the dopaminergic brain systems. Our findings also support the claim that IAD may share similar neurobiological abnormalities with other addictive disorders.

Questionnaire-based Internet addiction studies (that is, studies without brain imaging) have also found decreased working memory, poor information processing and impaired executive control. Their results also line up with ADD/ADHD findings.

The most significant bit of evidence may come from one study, which also followed recovering Internet addicts. Brain scans showed reversal of brain changes and better cognitive function. Said one group of researchers:

After treatment, in all groups, the [Internet Addiction] score was lowered significantly … and scores of short-term memory capacity and short-term memory span increased significantly.

In other words, perhaps a more long-term strategy is called for than just closing porn tabs while doing homework.

Recent neurological studies on porn users/sex addicts have identified many of the same brain changes as seen in internet addicts and drug addicts. While dopamine receptors have yet to be assessed in porn addicts, neurological desensitization and habituation have been identified. Using various methodologies six studies have reported desensitization in porn users (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

This strongly points to a decline in reward system dopamine signaling. In addition, numerous studies have reported impaired executive control or dysfunctional prefrontal circuits in regular porn users or porn addicts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. 16. Both desensitization and impaired executive functioning can result in poorer cognitive functioning.

Cues, Cravings and Addiction

Researchers designed the current working-memory study in part because individual porn users report problems during or after Internet porn consumption, such as neglecting or forgetting responsibilities, missing appointments and losing sleep, leading to negative consequences. The scientists note that their findings might indicate the cognitive mechanisms contributing to loss of control over use of Internet porn:

Internet sex participants’ executive functioning could be reduced during their engagement in Internet sex, since [working memory] is a necessary and important factor of goal-directed behaviors. … One might argue that if subjects’ attention to sexual stimuli and subsequent sexual arousal interfered with executive functioning and decision making, then they might be less able to monitor and control their own Internet sex use.

Researchers emphasized that subjective arousal while watching porn is the main predictor of degree of problems from Internet sex (as opposed to time spent watching and various other factors). The scientists noted parallels with substance addicts, for whom addiction-related cues lead to stronger attention capturing, high craving and an increased probability of relapse. They propose that a strong need to masturbate in response to porn might reflect underlying cravings and signal the presence of addiction.

In short, porn users who quit porn and then notice improvements in concentration and memory aren’t imagining those improvements. The evidence suggests the improvements come down to the reversal of addiction-related alterations in the brain.

More self-reports relevant to concentration and Internet porn use:

“I think I’m on day thirteen or so now. Now Ifeel very focused and can concentrate better than usual. Today I keep eye contact when talking to people, and socialising feels more stable. I think my voice is deeper and sounds less “bothered” and more clear.”

“When I was [using Internet porn] I had like this brain fog or constant hungover-like feeling, which made it hard for me to concentrate, talk to people or just do my everyday tasks. After 7-10 days this feeling went away. My mind became very clear, thoughts easy controllable, and I became much more relaxed in general.”

30 Days and Brain fog has left my mind!!!

“My memory has improved. I have very explicit dreams. Conversation is easy. I feel hungry again (metaphorically speaking).”

“I feel much more in control and calm now. Things are really going well for me now (in terms of my financial problems etc). My ability to concentrate and think logically has skyrocketed without the fog.”

“I am currently at 14 days and it’s an easy ride so far. The benefits I have noticed are vastly increased concentration and focus.”

“Some of the benefits I have experienced: I am more sociable, I can retain and remember information a lot better. I remember events in my past life a lot better. I am not irritable, and am more focused. And I can execute tasks a lot faster.”

“Another really significant change is dream frequency or dream recall. I have had, and remembered, more dreams than ever since quitting porn. Don’t know what it is. Maybe my brain was exhausted by the porn before bed and didn’t have the energy to dream or something.”

“14 days – I’m amazed at how I remember all these details about her, whereas previously I would just be looking at a girls boobs, and if they weren’t fake I wasn’t interested.”

Day 79, NoFap Hardmode and concentration, this month I managed to read 1200 pages in 40 hours! First time in 5 years.

One of the benefits of No fapping is a clear focus and I can testify for that, it been years since the last time I have read that much in a month, This month I was able to read for hours every day to expand my consciousness.

The power of habit is truly a remarkable book to understand your psyche and your fapping cues, it helped me significantly to change a few of my habits so far. one of them is reading every day.

Looking forward to updating with you guys on the 90th day,

“I’ve found my vocabulary has returned to a level that I remember it being at years ago.”

A Victory! Concentration Recovered.

“I can do other things. I feel other things. And I want and desire other things. I am no longer always seeking my next fix. Porn images don’t have the power they once had over me, nor am I a lust-ball all day. I am starting to finally have a mind that has the concentration to think about other things besides sex.”

“Another result: my writing has gotten much better. I don’t mean handwriting (though that got better too). I mean word choice, sentence structure, etc. During my first year of graduate school (which I just finished), writing was a real chore. Now, after no-porn, it’s a pleasure. So easy and free. I have more words at my disposal, probably because my memory has improved in general.”

90 days: -Much less anxiety -More discipline -Improved memory and focus -Increased sex drive with my girlfriend -More assertive -Better judgment.

Nofap helped me study for six hours today.

Not nonstop, with some breaks like this one where I’m posting shit. But I got A LOT done. What else am I gonna do? Masturbate? No.

“[6 weeks] My concentration, my effort, my attention to detail, my memory, my recall, and my social skills have all improved.”

“Around the time I started using porn a few years ago, my memory began to fog. My whole life since then seemed like an unidentifiable blob. Now, a few months into recovery, past memories are coming to me. At first, I was in disbelief that they even happened because they are so joyful and carefree. Yet finally, after being frustrated with this for so long, I feel like this IS my life, and those happy memories are real. I have been struggling to feel any connection with my past life and actions. Now that my past is flying back at me, and it all feels terrific. Also, dreams. Even dreams that happened months ago are coming back to me, and it is also quite enjoyable.”

“What I have noticed for myself is that abstaining from [porn] has dramatically improved my memory. The interesting thing, which I didn’t even realize until just now, is that my blood sugar has been much more stable since I have not been experiencing orgasms. There is a connection between memory and high glucose in the brain or low. I just didn’t think about how stable it’s been since NO masturbation to porn. Perhaps dopamine has an effect on how the brain processes sugars.”

“3 weeks – My memory is a lot better. I don’t have those brain-fart moments like I use to. Now things come to me easily, which is good.”

150 days completed my thoughts and study progress

There are ups and downs in this journey but benefits worth it. I got 3.9/4 GPA, before this semester my highest was 3.5/4 and lowest 2.8/4 . You are on right path there are many benefits. Whatever you read about benefits are true. Never Relapse. I am preparing myself for competitional exams and I hope this journey will help me a lot as it had. Thank you guys for huge motivation. I am getting whatever I want to get I am amazed because that was not going on before this journey. Thank you Allah for helping me to quit this. I will never go back again to bad habit .

Nofap and GMAT. Better focus when test taking. Anyone else?

I have been struggling with the gmat exam for almost 2 years and finally after 36 days of Nofap and doing a practice test last night, I am confident that I am ready to take it with a clear mind next week.

Fapping has certainly damaged my focus and performance on the test. Although I went to a top business school for my undergraduate and completed my degree with honors, I was frustrated after taking the test 3 times and not getting a decent score. I would literally zone out during the test and lose focus. Part of the reasons I started Nofap is because of the brain fog and I can clearly feel the difference now.

After almost giving up on pursing an MBA, I finally got my shit together and the nofap community has helped me stay on track. Wish me luck on the test!

Did anyone else have similar experiences or is this the placebo effect?

wearyrecovery

Focus definitely increases when 100% of your brain is working for you and is not replaying some porn in the background. It’s not placebo effect. It’s real.

My semester GPA’s almost directly correlate with my fapping patterns. Lots of PMO = sleeping in and skipping class. Never realized the problem until now

Benefits so far

Fellow Fapstronauts, after 3 weeks of no fapping, no alchohol, no caffeine and consistent exercise. I for the first time since the age of maybe 12-13 now being M[22] feel like my brain fog is clearing. I’ve never been able to explain it but i always felt like somewhere in my adolencense i kinda of lost my sense on reality. As if i was a spectator in the world, my brain being fogged. Well, now it is gone, or at least very deminished. And i could not be happier about it.

Bitzu_

17m here who used to masturbate on an at least biweekly/daily basis. I’ve been doing NoFap for nearly as long as you have, and I’m experiencing the same effects. Your statement about being disconnected from the world describes the past three years of my life. Ever since I started NoFap, I’ve felt more engaged at school and retained information so much easier. I finally feel like I’m returning to who I used to be. Keep going strong!

“I have more energy than before, horny as hell but I can control it. My memory has gotten better. And I’ve got that social guy, who once lived in me, back. I got my charm back and it is worth every sleepless night and frustrated minute that I spent fighting this addiction.””[90-day report] Clearer mind. My mind had never been more clear in my life within those three months. The lack of fapping and porn really gives you a lot of time to think about your own life and puts everything into perspective.”

“Things I have noticed: decreased anxiety, less mood swings, more social, more confidence, more ballsy when it comes to girls, urge to improve myself, better concentration, smoother talking, good jokes: bad jokes ratio improvement, you get the idea.” “(Day 15) – Positive Attitude

• – Motivation to do everyday tasks (and do them faster)
• – Sharper memory
• – More productive
• – More creative
• – Desire to take on and embrace responsibilities
• – Clearer head
• – Better ability to see the steps necessary to reach an end goal and to implement those steps
• – CONFIDENCE RETURNING, and continually increasing
• – General enjoyment of life
• – More present/attentive in conversations with others
• – Quicker wit, finding everything more humorous
• – Greater desire to socialize with others”

“Memory – always had a good one – but quitting put it through the roof. I could enter a room of 15 people and learn+ recall specifically all their phone numbers in under 5 min. GPA 4.  Social anxiety and BS negative thinking —-> out with the trash.”

Anyone notice a memory increase? (ignore badge I’m resetting)

KojaKhan

Yeah dude. Every damn day I would yell across the house at whoever was around: “Where’s my hat??!” “Where are my shoes!!!”
“Anybody seen my keys? My keys have vanished!”. A week into NoFap on my first time and I remembered where I dropped my shit, and things that my parents had asked me to do. It was awesome.

Kusak

Definitely. Excessive masturbation for me, has resulted in symptoms such as eye floaters, hand tremors, poor memory, acne, brain fog, fatigue and a lack of concentration. I thought these symptoms were scams by several websites in order to sell their products until I began experiencing them for myself.

Had my longest streak ever recently: 19 days and I must say I noticed an improvement in both my memory and concentration. I also felt less fatigued all the time.

Damn you, Brain fog.

I have been an avid fapper since the age of 12 and and a couple of days ago i began nofap. It has been Three days and this “brain fog” is slowly dissipating.

I have been it a horribly dense fog for the past 3 1/2 years that i thought that i would never get out of and have accepted this as how i will always be, it has been complete hell. The past few days have been the happiest of my life, i can focus, I am more alert and feel amazing compared to my normal run down state of mind.

But, although most of the time the fog is gone, I have been incredibly pissed off at absolutely nothing, right now i am mashing the hell out of my computer keys due to rampant source-less anger. I am really typing this so I can get some support from you guys so i don’t go back to the my old shitty habits.

Musings on day 50, benefits, nofap fact-checking.

BRAIN FOG EXISTS:During each of the binges, I can FEEL the brain fog happening. I’ve seen porn a couple of times during moments of weakness and the act of MO, or edging is not necessary for fog to come back. Just viewing porn and allowing those feelings to flood through causes it. Each time takes several days to reset back to normal but it appears to be a thing that gets faster each time. I have also noticed for the first time about 40 days into this that I have no interest in seeing anything hardcore and even when clicking on it it’s not arousing.

I had several different things that I found arousing (not quite fetishes) that had gathered over the years and I could definitely tell that my brain was cycling through them almost chronologically . The thing my brain ‘craves’ now is just pictures of amateur girls, only softcore. I did have a few moments of weakness with edging early on and I definitely can tell that things were more sensitive. I would venture a guess that I would not last long these days.

Strange effects of NoFap

Just to start off with, a little bit of background. From 16, I used to PMO at least 3 times a day (very often more). I used to get awesome grades but was terrible with women and society in general. Then I got to university and as my raging hormones calmed down, my PMO’ing did not.

This somehow led to my desensitization and non-motivation to a lot of things – including women. This basically meant that I said what I wanted when I wanted however I wanted because I just didn’t care about the consequences (I think as a result of the brain being numbed down through all my PMO’ing – if a girl rejected me, it didn’t matter because I could find pixels 10x better than any girl I could ever get).

So women started becoming attracted to me because of my unintentional relaxed confidence in speech and attitude. I didn’t have the inclination to act on it because as mentioned before, there were pixels and if I did act on it, I couldn’t get it up well enough to have enjoyable PIV anyway. As this started happening, my grades started slipping, I found it harder to remember things…..it was like my brain had become static. I used to have a near-photographic memory that turned into forgetting people’s names (one thing I used to make it a point specifically never to do).

Since I started NoFap 20 days ago, my brain has become ridiculously sharper, to the point where I feel like I’ve never been better intellectually. I can focus longer, remember more and I can just absorb information almost as well as in high school (after 20 days!). On the social side, I am also going back to my high school days. I’ve gone back to being a socially awkward, nervous mess. I’m overthinking conversations instead of acting instinctively on things, making small talk (something I considerably improved on when I was desensitized) almost impossible.

TL;DR Before NoFap = good social skills, good with women (but no motivation to pursue) and terrible brain. After NoFap = terrible social skills, terrible with women and incredible brain.

kito9911 days

Same type of situation here. I’m only 11 days in, but I feel like I’m slowing (and I’m happy it is) reverting to my brain-fog free high school mind.

My concentration is better, motivation to do well in school is back, and most importantly my desire to socialize is better. But yep, I was also an over-thinker back then, and I feel it creeping back. It’ll go away. It’s something that can definitely be worked on, improved with confidence and time. The brain fog is what the real problem is. Keep it off, and you’ve got the right person to handle the social skills issue.

Most importantly, try to spend more time with friends, and as little time as possible on the computer.

Superpower | Not Female Related

I can speak my second language, French, fluently. Even though I learnt it in school for many years and live in a country where it’s the main language, I used to always stutter when speaking it and due to brain fog, I couldn’t express myself well because I always forgot words and expressions. I was also so unconfident when speaking it because I was self-conscious of my supposed English accent. However, I can literally talk to people now as if it’s my mother tongue. The words just roll off my tongue and I don’t stutter anymore. Incredible. Really. And people have the audacity to say that nofap is not magic.

Nofap has made me a valedictorian.

Simply put, I could not have done it if I kept wasting my time beating my meat. It is honor to be amongst you guys, tomorrow is my speech. Wish me luck guys!

Who has cured derealization/depersonalization/brain fog?

So I’ve experienced a constant buzz of brain fog for the past several years. Essentially started to drift in towards my last year of High School all the way until now (~persistent for the past 9 years). At times I wondered if it was actually brain fog or if it was just actually me being, well, me.

But when the brain fog did wear off in those off, randomly occurring instances in the past few years, it felt great. Felt like I was the “real me” again, capable of doing anything, and everything. It would last only a day or so, I’d have incredible energy, be able to connect well with everyone, and truly feel alive. Then the brain fog would wear in again and zombie mode would initiate. I’d go back to the lazy, droning, unmotivated “shell” of a real person for a period of time until I’d get another break in the clouds.

So I’ve always known that there was something “wrong” in my perception ability, and would only really notice it when I’d be on the other side of the fence; when the brain fog would clear up.

Recently (11 days now), I’ve stopped fapping and looking at porn (I was the 1 or 2 a day type), and have noticed that the brain fog is gone. Not faded out, not just thinner, but GONE.

I breathe, and feel it. I see people, and look in their eyes. And I know where I am, what I’m doing, what time it is, and what I have to do in the next hours, days, weeks. I can stay focused for much longer periods of time and feel motivated to do tons of things at once. I have a skip in my step and really look around and see a whole different world.

Most importantly, it’s me. The real me. The me that’s always been blinded by the mundane drag-down of brain fog.

I still have a long way to go. Almost a decade of being “in the dark” isn’t something easy to transition from in terms of habits and time management, but the person is there, and I’ve got the motivation to turn it all around.

So yes, in my opinion, brain fog (or “derealization”) is definitely linked to addictions, excessive internet use. Fapping was my addiction, my “escape”, but was also what was causing this “tunnel vision” or brain fog of a sort that just told my brain to stick to the bare basics and forego any other important thing in life. It wanted the porn, the fapping, the orgasm, nothing else.

Sorry about the length. Stop the porn, the fapping is all in the mind. Tell your close friends about what you’re doing. Look forward to seeing the badge timer count up. Set a “minimum” (doesn’t have to be 90 days) but make it so that it’s the “longest” you’ve gone without fapping.

Stay real, just like in the matrix; you choose if you either want to stay in your familiar “sense” of what is reality, or take the other pill and dive in to what is the real and complete you. The you that has unlocked and can achieve your full potential and live a complete, and happy life.

Good luck.

Obligatory 90-day, and where I’m going from here…

91 days, whatever–I think it’s a little behind anyway.

Background: Divorced single Dad, 38, never had any huge problem with porn, MO maybe 3-4x/wk. Stumbled across this sub, read for a bit, and jumped in. I’ve always been a very self-disciplined person, I typically just need a reason to do something. Reading all the benefits/experiences/etc, was all I needed.

Now, my experiences. Truthfully, it was pretty easy for me–as I said before, I just need a good reason to do something, and I’m all in. Reading other people’s experiences on relapse was definitely a great motivator as well, I knew that I would feel like crap, and I didn’t want that.

I started a new job that I’ve been chasing for a year about a month into this, and have found it’s so much easier to concentrate and get things done. As others have said, the ‘brainfog’ is gone, and I feel much more alert, and have a clarity of thinking that is awesome. I did get the week-in testosterone spike, which was awesome!

But, it will never become a habit again.

How I changed my life in 30 days (and why you should too)

I have been trying and failing at nofap for approximately 9 months. But the one thing I never did was give up and get to that point where I told my self that theres no way I will be able to stop watching porn or masturbating.

Since then, I have changed my life completely.

-I started waking up at 6am everyday feeling energized (before with fapping, I would feel exhausted waking up). The difficult part is forcing yourself to go to bed at 10am while everyone else is up.

My concentration in class has increased dramatically! Seriously for those of you who are in Uni or College, NoFap is a miracle for the brain. Before I used to have to force myself to concentrate in class and would still end up “zoning out” whereas now, I can concentrate in a 3 hour lecture with almost no issues (its still improving).

-My mind just feels clearer and I can think much more creatively. Memory is also far better, Im a lot less forgetful.

What have I become? An overall well balanced and happy individual. My friends have told me that I seem a lot different now a days. My sleep is perfect, my gyming and eating habits are now in order, my academics have improved greatly for sure and my social life has become great.

30 days and my life has changed from the depressed, anti-social, low confidence, brain-fogged, numb individual to who I am now. I am still improving. I hope this will motivate some of you do NoFap with additional things to improve quickly all around.

I’ve gained ‘super-powers’, and I’ve seen this mental state before. I’ve had super powers the whole time, just for only 10 seconds at a time.

Now I’ve been so unable to explain how this last 48 days has affected my mental state. I keep saying things like “my brain is in a different mode of operation”, “i’m more alpha male”, “I’m so confident”, but I realized just an hour ago that I’ve seen this “mental state” before, in fact, I saw it every day.

Every time, right after ejaculation, I would feel incredibly clear headed, focused, motivated, and ready to take on the world… For about 10 SECONDS. Then that would fade, and I’d be back into thinking about playing a video game, or watching TV.

Well, that 10 seconds is the mental state i’m in now. That’s the sneak peak behind the brain that was stuck in a lustful state, I saw it so many times, nearly every day. I now realize that that’s the state I feel in ALL THE TIME now. I’m always clear headed, focused and ready to take on the world, from when I wake up, til I go to bed.

So, if you can relate to those few seconds experienced after each time we got our jollies, THAT’s what you get to look forward to upon success.

For me, the light switch really started to flip at day 28, and besides some ups and downs, at day 48 now I’m just beaming. 🙂

Does anyone notice an increase in memory/concentration?

This is one of the main reasons I’m thinking of giving this a go. I’ve noticed my memory start deteriorating over the years and im not sure if its fapping that could be causing it. I do usually fap about 2-3 times a day btw. And while I have seen a few people attest to increased memory, I wanted to see if its a general benefit people experience

REPLY 1)

Absolutely! I’ve noticed an increase in my concentration during classes. Even if I’m not interested in the material being presented, I am able to follow along and not zone out.

REPLY 2)

Well I can’t particularly say that in my longest streak thus far (kind of a sad small handful of 8 days) that I was any more capable of focusing. I think what did happen, though, was that I was more willing to confront problems and deal patiently with frustrating or boring situations instead of trying to escape them. I was more present mentally.

93 Days!

It’s been 93 days and I think I can go forever. I think I haven’t felt this good for as long as I can remember. I am 18 years old in high school with ADHD (I don’t take drugs) and Sleep Apnea. And I feel shitty most of the times if I don’t get a lot of sleep and if I don’t exercise which gets me tired. Doing NoFap for 90 days, taking daily vitamins and fish oil every morning, being proactive has helped myself a lot. I can concentrate in homework more, be more productive in life and many other things. Life is good.

Glad to see increasing attention paid to this. As a 26 yo guy who has battled porn addiction for years, I hope there’s a push to pass along this advice to the current crop of young chaps growing up in the smartphone age. It would have spared me much shame and embarrassment to know the risks of viewing pornography.

Interesting ties between ADHD/autism and sex addiction. I don’t think I have any type of clinical behavioral abnormality (besides the weirdness inherent to every human being), but I have noticed a marked lack of focus and ability to function socially in the midst of a porn binge. I feel numb to everything, and my experiences don’t stick to me or resonate as they should. My mind becomes a metaphorical cold, concrete wall: hard and unchanging, as well as stuck where it is.

I can’t appreciate another person’s beauty or wit because I can’t notice them. Methinks it’s some kind of unconscious shame at what I’ve done in secret, and it’s a terrible state. I’ll be in this funk for so long that I’ll start to believe it’s really what my personality has changed into.

But then I’ll go for a stretch of a month or so without relapsing. This normally coincides with religious inspiration of some kind. Or a turn at poetry or philosophy. I’ll be able to understand nuance and make timely witticisms in the presence of an attractive female (the ultimate test) without backsliding into smutty thoughts about her. Self-control makes one feel so alive. It’s about this time I get a girlfriend and eventually start a sexual relationship again, but then we’ll break up or whatever and I’ll be back at the computer filling the newfound urge, and destroying my mind all over again.

I TRULY believe that nofap cured my ADD concentration/focus disorder

(Trying my best English)

OK not completely cured, but it really helped me concentrate better and have a lot better focus.Before starting nofap I had problems with social anxiety and having conversations with people, every time I had a conversation i couldn’t stay concentrated and i would drift off and get very nervous, also i sat a lot at home and i would only go out if friends call me, I never took the first step to be outgoing or something. I had problems at work I always was nervous about failing and I was always scared of letting people down. I would always get drunk when i could because that calms me down.

THEN I DID A STREAK OF 130 DAYS OF NOFAP: After like 1 month or so i began to gain confidence and I was full of live! I felt so great I was really successful at work and when i spoke to people i wasn’t nervous anymore and I could follow every conversation, studying is not so difficult anymore I was CALM and i could THINK STRAIGHT. girls noticed me a lot more and they really liked me a lot more ( had sex with a couple girls between day 105 and 120! damnn). (also cured from ED)

Fail on day 130…… I looked at porn again… really stupid I thought it couldn’t hurt but it did. 5 weeks of fapping and I was getting really frustrated, short fused. I couldn’t concentrate and my social anxiety came back and i was getting nervous at work. Couldn’t perform as good as I did then doing nofap…

Now almost a week on nofap again and i feel everything turning positive again. So weird how nofap affects me, it seems a bit logical because PMO is dopamine thing and add has to do a lot with dopamine too. I really learned a lot about my journey of nofap the last couple of months and i am determined to do nofap my entire life. I have to do this for myself

Chess is the best way to verify how porn fucks up your mind

garil2

Dude that what happens to me too i am a gamer and when i fap i lose alot in games my mind doesn’t fully focus on game.

Ig0w

I get those too. And also when I am playing competitive games and start losing I usually get emotional unstable when faping alot

rsitoppo

Yeah this shows the effects what PMO has on our minds. Same thing happens to me when I play CSGO, when I am on a streak I carry my team and make insane plays but when I relapse I cannot even think properly, my reaction speed goes down and I get tilted by small mistakes of my teammates.

RSATAIF

I literally just noticed the same thing. I used to play chess quite a bit when I was younger and I was pretty good at it. Then I stopped playing for a long time and didn’t really have any hobbies whatsoever; it was just porn and jerking off all the time. I recently got back into chess and was appalled at how bad I had become. It was like I literally couldn’t think ahead and was incapable of making any plan. It’s disgusting what porn can do to you; and the worst part is the effects more than likely don’t stop at something as trivial as chess.

TheBleekerMan

Same thing happens to be when I play video games. I simply do better and maybe trust my gut more when on a streak? As far as first person shooters go anyways. I never understood why. Good to hear all you guys noticed it as well

ELMasTurbo

This is me with martial arts. When I fap i can’t flow and get fucked up in sparring and I am afraid of getting hit. When I dont fap i am braver and dgaf and just do my combos and land a lot of them.

sheebasis

Burak1999

You’re definitely right my friend, I mean on nofap you simply become smarter which is within you, but on PMO it distracts the power inside of you

jonivaio

I remember once relapsing and binging so hard that when I went to grocery store shortly after, I completely forgot my pin code. Which I’ve been using almost daily for many years. It was shocking.

sigmaschmooz

Wow. Same. Truth.

sanketvaria29

true… There is a video game on ps4 called bloodborne. When i bought that game in 2014 i used to fap alot back then. The game was soooo hard that i just quit it. I had quite progress in nofap in 2018 and in 2018 i was actually enjoying that game and fucking completed it. After that i also played god of war’s hardcore extra bosses. I recently finished darksiders 3 an another hardcore brain wrecking game. I was like surprised to see how improved i was. Yet I’m still worse at shooting games lmao…

rom1bki

I see the same thing happening when I play Gwent, a strategic card game.

lostwanderer2

I had similar experience with chess and pes2018. When I PMO I usually draw or lose against the AI. But when I am on NoFap I sometimes end up magically winning, even matches which are usually more difficult to win.

Alwinblake

So true, I notice this also a lot at work. When I am on a streak I can get so much more done, and also complete more difficult tasks.

tasharuu

Never realised how bad brain fog was until today

These last couple weeks, everything just seemed so clear. I was always 2 steps ahead with everything I done, motivated, organised and would even say my conversations were a bit better.

After relapsing this morning I honestly feel mentally drained. I think it’s like this background noise in my brain that is stopping me from thinking clearly.

I can’t believe I really spent years like this. Here’s to never going back

morgankingsley

I realized how bad it was for me once it was like day four and it was starting to go away, but for me it was more brain hurt

yeethitter3000

Same here. I also feel like I got smarter on semen retention too.

cmyeung

Throughout professional school I struggled, even to be at the bottom of the class. My anxiety with projects, classes, managing patients, financial, social, family stress became so stressful that it took a toll on me mentally until more than half way into dental school, once I walked into the building I felt a heavy pressure that didn’t allow me to think clearly and I experienced a “foggy mind” extreme anxiety, and depression. My professors thought I was just slow.

I became so desperate to find a solution that I went to a psychologist and even bought ADHD medication through classmates or online through foreign stores.

The medication was a temporary solution but my anxiety came back to take over.

I realized that I would masturbate so frequently just becomes I was so overwhelmed with work and it was my simple release to stress only to find my self in a deep hole of depression and anxiety, I couldn’t even read my emails and my heart would start pounding just hinting of the simplest things.

It wasn’t until I stumbled across NoFap that it was a breath of fresh air.

I am now at about day 60… I felt the surge around day 7, I found these “super powers” I was so happy, focused, motivated, clear minded. Even my professors, friends, girls think I am a different person. I “flatlined at about week 6” the usual depression, lack of motivation. This lasted about a week. But after that I feel great again. No Fap is soooo worth it. Mastburating just for the 5-10 second orgasm just to feel like shit again is NOT WORTH IT. I feel like my life is worth living and I love flirting with women, rough-housing with my boys, taking on new challenges, making good decisions, meeting deadlines early, going on dates just to enjoy talking to women and loving life.

ADHD medication doesn’t even work any more because I don’t need it. I feel like I am so focused without it.

Sometimes I think if life would have been a bit different if I discovered this at the beginning of dental school. I have no regrets, because if it wasn’t for dental school pushing me to my limits I probably never would have discovered nofap. In dental school – ADHD medication doesn’t even work any more because I don’t need it.

Ponfarrfap

Aside from being able to fuck again, which isn’t so subtle, it’s the loss of brain fog. Everything seems more clear and I can do math with no trouble at all again.

One of my personality traits isn’t actually real??!

Ever since my teens I’ve always thought of myself of being a forgetful person.. I just thought that’s how I was and it was in my DNA… This week totally blow that away. My memory has never been sharper and my mental clearify is like a lazor. I’m absolutely in shock that I spent almost 15 years in a haze because of fapping. This community needs to spread! Many more lives could be saved.

Nofap makes you smarter

I totally feel like Bradley Cooper in Limitless.

I am on 90% average in university right now 3 weeks into the second semester. Big improvement from last sem.

I am tutoring a very attractive girl I met last week in a lecture. I am also the first source for help on all things academic with my friends.

Thanks to nofap I have a new clearer perspective and higher awareness.

My memory is getting better on day 6

Wow. Im left speechless. I never realized the importance of a regular working memory. I’ve always thought that its normal to be forgetful, having to read something over and over again and still not being able to recall it.

Haha, I can literally look at a cars license plate once and recall it 10 hours later. It used to be that I can’t even remember my mothers cell phone number. Crazy stuff. Not only that, I can see why I’ve been patronize and taken advantage of so many times. People can be talking about one subject and I form a response not even remotely related to what the person had said. Its no wonder I get the “is this guy retarded?” look from people lol. Well at least that’s what I think is going on.

Its also sooooo much easier to carry a conversation with someone also because of this.

Learning is so much easier

Sadly I relapsed but I have learned so much more in this one week of reboot then my previous reboots of one week. My memory, reasoning, reading comprehension, sexual sensitivity, self awareness, they were all so much sharper.

It made me realize how out of touch I was with life in general. It was like I was walking around as a zombie all 10 years. This has given a lot of motivation to reboot then the other times I rebooted because I didn’t really understand the science behind everything other then your life gets better.

Anyways thanks for reading and let me know if any of you guys are experiencing the same thing!

Students, NoFap is VERY useful for you

Seriously, it’s much easier to concentrate without all that brain fog. Personally I’ve always been a pretty good student but it required so much work that I almost went insane. Now just a few weeks after discovering NoFap, studying is much easier and more relaxed.

Give it a try!

An unexplainable but really awesome benefit of nofap!

My reading speed increases.Like if I am reading an article on net,I would just skim over the whole line,ignoring less important words,verbs or prepositions and still have a good comprehension of what the author is trying to say.

This starts happening after about 7 days of nofap.

Anyone else felt it?

Sign that dopamine receptors are improving, effects on studying

Its crazy, but before when I would PMO daily, doing Accounting problem sets for my Accounting classes would be a real chore, difficult if i was even able to starts them. As I’ve started building up little streaks here and there(my last one of my longest) it is starting to feel good to do my class assignments. I feel a pressure to do them, procrastinating has an intense feeling, pushing me to start. Before I felt no pressure to start. I start feeling relieved as i work on them,good to great when I finish an assignment. Whereas before I would feel nothing, no sense of accomplishment, just numbness if I accomplished an assignment. I don’t know if this is related to NoFap but, this feeling is kind of crazy and it just hit me today.

NoFAP= GPA 4.0 & Half Marathon

Those in the titles are my new objectives, I can make them only if I win the Nofap challenge, how I know it? Because months ago I was on NoFap, while I was in the challenge my grades excellent, I managed to take an internship in the 5th University in the world (Medicine) and I got into Med School, plus I was in fit and I had always time to run and I manage to run a very fast 12K. In med school cause the stress and cause the excitement I have ended up to fap again, result? My GPA crashed to 3.5 and my body is so weak, I always feel tired and like a shit.

Today after the 2nd time of fapping suddenly I said “What the f*** I’m doing!!!” “I have had this great opportunity to do the best and the most rewarded job in the world, a job that I have had always desired to do, I cried like a baby when I got into med school, If I think how much hard I had to work and now I’m gonna screw it up cause this stupid porn??? I’m supposed to make people feel better!! Porn harms people who work in that world and us consumers” so I grabbed my running shoes and my running fit and I went outside and run so fast! I could admire the nature, the life, the pain, the wind I felt alive!

How can I waste my life in front of the computer looking to porn when there is all this outside! When life is around me and inside me! My new plans are to take GPA to 4.0 again and run the Half Marathon! If you feel depress or feel like you’re relapsing, go outside run or walk and feel the life inside you and around you! We can do it guys!!! https://web.archive.org/web/20230429061506/https://imgur.com/0ZUs98p On the link it’s the picture I took after my training today, it’s near my neighbour in the middle of nature 🙂 (sorry for my bad writing, it’s all written by impulse like a rush of thoughts from my brain)

My Memory.

I’m not even 17 yet, and I’ve had this problem now for about a year or so. I could hardly remember anything. I tried reading about ways to remember better, but I found that my memory was shittier than most people older than me. Now I realize that, my problem wasn’t remembering, it was actually being there, focused, in the moment, consciously doing rather than subconsciously taking notes, or watching movies or even having conversations. How can you remember something, when you weren’t even really mentally there? I would walk around, going from class to class, only because it was in the back of my head where I needed to go.

I realize now, that I was essentially a fucking zombie. Since I started nofap, I feel like I’m beginning to be in the moment more. I consciously look at what i write down, or hear, do or say. I see people when I walk through the halls, friends, even strangers, I’ll smile at them, wave, say hi. Today I consider my posture even more, my body language when I’m talking to people or even when im alone. I personally take mental health very seriously, I like my brain to be at its best at all times. I used to have a weird fear of getting alzheimer’s or something by the age of 20 (not literally)

Now I think about how fucking amazingly my brain will work when I haven’t PMOed for 4 years at the age of 20.

Your memory problem will be fixed- but be warned- You will first remember porn.

A lot of people complain about brain fog and lack of memory, which is one of the main reasons people start nofap. People used to remember being incredibly smart and insightful as a kid, and nofap is the only chance in hell of recovering to that level again.

If you stick with it, it WILL happen, and you WILL have a good memory again.

BUT I just realized today on day 6… That you will first start to remember porn. Your brain will start to pull out scenes you have watched literally years ago, for any chance of tricking you into looking it up again for old times sake, or a feeling of nostalgia.

FUCK that. While not a relapse, you must make it through this very tricky phase. Your memory is coming back! You will start to remember important details at work, more formulas in math class, more language patterns in foreign language class, people’s names, faces, the smell of that girl you like….

BUT. You will remember that one good old scene from along time ago on that one website first.

Know that you will experience this, and take this as a sign of healing. Remember that scene, but don’t search it up again. This is yet another withdrawal symptom and part of the brutal yet necessary healing process.

Even if you don’t think so, brain fog does really improve each day on your streak!

So after hitting about a 2 week streak, I thought I still had brain fog and was still very concerned. Unfortunately, I relapsed in the middle of the day… However, unlike my usual night relapses, I still had work to do.

What I noticed? IMMEDIATELY after a relapse (only 30 min!) The brain fog will hit maximum strength! Holy shit, things felt foggy, it felt like I was moving in slow motion while everyone was moving at normal speed. (think of being .5x in a 1x world). Clumsiness, forgetfulness, ridiculous spelling errors ensued.

Point? No matter if it seems like the brain fog isn’t lifting, it is. Take it from me – I observed the full power of brain fog in a work environment. It is NOT good.

Improvements in studying?

Ok, so let’s be real. Have anyone else noticed MAJOR differences when it comes to focusing while studying? As well as persistence while doing so? Like I could read for max 15-20 min before taking a break before, now I’m able without problem to read minimum for an hour. It’s my 11th day, and this is probably the biggest and best difference i’ve noticed so far.

One month, brainfog gone – yet flatline remains

Some of you already know me, some don’t but I’ve been fighting PMO addiction for at least 2 years. Once made it 60 days (relapsed), then 118 days (relapsed), then 65 days (relapsed).

So I think its fair to say I have some experience in this battle, I consider myself a veteran in rebooting, a big brother to help others out.

Finally one month down. The differences are already so enormous, PMO addiction is as real as it gets. I feel “normal”, as in my brain fog is gone. I’m grateful as school is starting up in a few days – as well as my court date. I might have to go to jail for a little while, oh well, at least I won’t have brainfog.
Brainfog is one of the worst things associated with PMO addiction, just makes u generally depressed.
Yes I’m still in a flatline, and I probably will be until atleast day 50 – 70, unlike some fapstronaughts, I accept that flatline is part of the rebooting process and nothing to be feared.

I got one month behind me and I’m going strong!

Want GOOD grades? NoFap.

I’m going to be clear from the beggining of this post. I’m not bragging , just telling the truth.

So NoFap increases your mental clarity. It has been 24 days for me and brain fog has gone away the past week. I was able to study 13 hours on a subject. Wrote a big test today. SMASHED it. 100/100 (serious). NoFap is going to increase your motivation for studying and your concentration as well. So for the non-believers please give NoFap a try. We aren’t lying on this forum. Best regards.

Nofap, has helped me study properly and concentrate in a long time.

Hi all, I’m on day 14 of no fap. I just wanted to say, after going no PMO, I can put so much more concentration on my uni work and absorb information much more easily it’s unreal. My head is much clearer and most things i learn stay in my head. For someone that has constantly just about passed every exam this feeling is unreal. I’ve got my exams next week and the amount I’ve actually been able to study I could never do before.

I’d always end up fapping and then lose motivation for the rest of the day and then tell myself I’ll start tomorrow. I started revision today at 12 and just finished, it’s 7:30 pm in the uk. All in all i feel great, my head feels cleaner and more fresh even though I’ve got the exams coming up I feel like i have my studying in order for the first time in my life. I should’ve done this earlier.

Brain Fog , Studying and Tests

So I have done No-Fap again (for 56 day streak). I had been relapsing and I remember having WAY too much brain fog , couldn’t concentrate on studying. I’m on Day 18 now. The mental clarity is RIDICULOUS! I studied endless hours yesterday and I wrote a big test today and I ruled that shit. No-Fap just makes brain fog disappear. Another good reason for you to start No-Fap. It makes you so much more productive with all that extra energy. No excuses. Stay strong.

Brain fog going away

I am in the middle of day seven and have noticed brain fog leaving. After PMO I feel like my mind has been smashed into a million pieces. Now there’s just one. My mind feels calm and focus is easy.

Memory, Concentration and Focus

Hopefully others can use this as motivation. Ignore badge I am at 30ish days and have noticed in the last couple weeks a huge increase in these three. Specifically in my ability to retain new information and grasp new linguistic concepts in the language I am learning. It’s totally worth it guys keep going with it!

NoFap increased my productivity and made me not lose hope.

I was doing my project in school that I considered extremely difficult and I was on the verge of literally crying and fapping because of all the stress. To my luck and abstention from porn, I am now 8/10 finished of my project thanks to NoFap. If I did fap it would have consumed more than half of my productivity time!

Thanks and goodbye

My life’s turned a complete 180. No more anxiety, depression, and ADHD. No more pills and alcohol.

My minds and body had never felt so at ease, at least since I can remember. It’s time to move on from this subreddit and my Reddit addiction in general. bye guys.

Did NoFap improved your academic performance?

eesti356

When I had school (On a break now) and I fapped I was tired, no desire to study, and my grades were good but not the best I could do. After like a week or 2 weeks my desire to study was higher. I wanted to learn, I had less brain fog, better memory, quicker reactions. I was able to understand more difficult subjects (For me it was math, I understood it better when I did not fap). So for me it definitely helped me.

Dirsty

Yes it has. It’s given me a clearer mind and I feel motivated to do things. I didn’t notice it when I was addicted, but everything was extremely dull and sluggish. I was an emotionless zombie. And I feel the same way after relapsing. 3 seconds of pleasure just isn’t worth it. Once I cut porn and masturbation out of my life, I didn’t skip class and ended with Bs and higher. This is coming from someone who failed a class and barely passed with Cs. Definitely give it a go.

ThrashinRippinMetal

ya bro pmo can get in the way of studying in fact it’s the only I reason I’m on Nofap once you get used to the fact you are not going to release you put that extra energy else where

Nofap and brain fog, what are your symptoms?

I see lots of people mentioning their brain fog gone after few weeks or months of nofap… But whats your definition of brain fog?

hardmode_monk

I get dumber and have negative thoughts. Can’t focus as well anymore. Can’t listen to what other people say.

Other follow-ups are depression, loss of temper, taking small things personal, making wrong decisions, increased social anxiety, awkward body (don’t know where to put my arms), can’t look people into the eyes, general loss of calmness overall and while talking to people.

When the fog clears up, I feel liberated and calm.

Schimmen

I see that different people experience different versions of the “brain fog”, but yours sounds really bad…. How are you doing man?

hardmode_monk

I’m doing good actually. I recently introduced some good habits (see other reply) and I’m able to keep doing them even after a relapse. I used to be a zombie for years but NoFap now is the way to go. Looks like it’s really getting better over time.

Ruh25

Takes at least about 2-3 weeks of no relapses for me. I also start having dreams/morning wood regularly at this point.

Sporefreak67

Up voting so other peeps see this.

I’ve been fapping since 12.5 almost daily, sometimes multiple in a day, so I don’t know what “Normal” is. Currently on day 10 or so and I haven’t noticed differences really but I’m only on day 10 so it’s early yet.

jonasmon

I become lazier and less motivated to finish or start my work projects. My brain starts to make excuses why it is okay to just chill (waste time doing nothing) and not be productive. Also I quite often start binge faping…. Brain fog is a fucked up state of mind

Zack_stylo

Hate brain fog.Hard to focus.Doing maths will be hard for me even though its simple calculation it will take me a while or i cant solve it.If there is any supplement i can take ,pls recommend me guys,sick and tired of brain fog. Sometimes it will give me a terrible headache .

archer3199

It’s been quite a while since my last good streak. But as from others’ experiences and distant memories of my own, I imagine when brain fog lifts, you just become more “in the moment”, you can see the world, your life from a better perspective, have a better “big picture” as well as noticing the details you would miss before, you get things you couldn’t understand before. Also increased memory and cognitive skills, better focus as well as better multitasking. Plus, some say their eyesight improved, so you may literally see things clearer.

Vashyo

I can remember things better and have lot of past memories popping up and I’ve been off PMO for about 1 month.

zr74

In my own experience – PMO absolutely causes brain fog. I am in two weeks streak and even though for the last few days I have been sick – yesterday I noticed how clear my head is. There is a quality that is hard to describe – your head is calmer, clearer, and just more together. You are more focussed all the time. I suppose most people would not notice it if not more self-aware. But to me difference is like night and day. It’s like you are on some super brain pill except it’s not momentary – it’s real and sustained.

This alone is enough reason. Other benefits I notice are more natural energy (i am not exercising or doing anything else differently), strong motivation to break through the resistance like procrastination to actually do what you love doing – in my case painting and you naturally become more assertive – in other words you don’t give a fuck about lot of things that bothered you before. This is all natural – not something you work at – it’s who we actually are – and I see it clearly. I can’t imagine being deluded again that escaping PMO doesn’t offer any benefits. It’s night and day. No doubt in my mind.

Can porn addiction worsen add/ADHD symptoms?

Anyone have any knowledge or experience with this? Thanks in advance!

populoso

Since I stopped PMOing I’ve noticed my ADHD symptoms (namely, attention/motivation/discipline) improve, but this might just be confirmation bias and/or lifestyle changes that I’ve done alongside NoFap. That said, I don’t think quitting porn will make your symptoms worse.

GenghisKhanSpermShot

Night and day for me, i stopped adderall and feel like im still on it but naturally, it really is amazing.

m1610

Definitely. I couldn’t concentrate at all back in the days of porn addiction. Not fully recovered but I can concentrate so much better now. It’s a typical symptom of porn addiction and low dopamine in general. Keep going and you’ll get there.

joeshmo1990

It cured me completely and only getting better

bobofred

adhd people tend to hyperfocus on their impulses they enjoy. so yes if can worsen adhd symptoms. one of the longest journeys for adhder’s is learning how to find some healthy impulses.

I DID AMAZING ON MY EXAM!

I GOT 80% IF THIS WAS THE OLD ME I’D PROBABLY TAKE 40 – 50 NOFAP IS EPIC!

Thank you everyone.

Completely DONE with Brain Fog

Although the title might sound like this is a positive post…it’s more of an awakening post. I recently made it 32 days in nofap…the first time I’ve ever made it that long without edging or looking at a single naked woman. So for all those who can relate…thats hard to do but not impossible. I was feeling like a fucking champ by two weeks in. I was making deals for my video work, I was completely projects way before deadlines and I was just being more myself and I knew it.

Well I let my guard down last night thinking “You know what dude…you’ve worked hard and it’s paying off. Why don’t you take a peak at some of those old pictures…don’t worry you know you’ll be fine”…we all know how that really goes down. I fapped. It felt great! I’m not going to lie, it felt really good to fap and I thought maybe I’d beat the system and that maybe I could be do healthy pmo here and there. Well this morning I felt like absolute garbage. Couldn’t wake up in time, haven’t felt focused or motivated at all ALL day and and it’s really driving me insane.

Whether its placebo or not…I’m never letting myself feel this again. 32 days was a long time, but not long enough to heal me of this horrible crutch. Never will I ever let that little voice in my head allow itself to get bigger than a little voice. Even if I could only choose one amazing benefit from doing nofap, I’d take that over the feeling of losing to this worthless short-term pleasure induced addiction. People out there, stay strong and fucking believe in yourself. It’s a marathon, you all got this.

Day 60 report

Focus: I can genuinely say that my focus has also significantly improved. I have noticed during my meditation sessions that it is significantly easier to clear my mind of all of the random useless bullshit thoughts that enter my mind. Also I am an engineering student at a top 50 engineering school in the United States and we get a lot of work to do. My study skills have been great and I am more productive and focused than ever. I read books everyday and learn stuff that nobody teaches you.

Tip: read books, a person spent their lifetime learning the knowledge they put into that thing, it can help you achieve things you want to achieve. If you are too busy then go to audible and get their free trial and listen to the book at 1.5x speed while you commute. Read books about anything you want, love, women, work, history, religion, money, social, addiction. Seriously, if you are interested in something there is a good book on it probably.

Memories From Childhood Coming Back

I’ve been clean (no PMO at all) for about a week and half now and when I woke up this morning, I was having vivid memories of myself as a kid that I haven’t thought of in years.

I was just wondering, does anyone else seem to gather old memories that they’ve felt were lost or couldn’t remember as you go longer without any PMO?

After 7 months, I’ve finally passed my GED and a large thanks goes to NoFap and everyone in it.

Language score: 162

Social Studies score: 169

Math score: 167

Science score: 167

These were my scores on the GED and I am just so dang happy that I’ve finally been able to pass with such score despite never making it to 8th grade.

Because I never made it to 8th grade, I had to learn a lot of new things that I never knew before like algebra, geometry, geology, and other advanced topics. I put a lot of work into studying all of the topics and it was very difficult.

I feel a lot of this success came from NoFap because it really helped with my brain fog and made it easier for me to study for and concentrate on my tests. NoFap really helped me in passing the test and in my concentration and I am eternally grateful for it. I don’t think I would’ve been able to pass without NoFap because it helped me so much in the past month alone.

Another big thanks goes to the NoFap community itself for offering advice and tips whenever I asked for it. At one point, I was just going to give up because it was too difficult, but /u/Eternal_Horizon helped me out by linking me to some pages from www.yourbrainrebalanced.com and they have helped me improve in big and dramatic ways. I love this community for what it is and it was the one reason why I created a reddit account.

10 Years Of Masturbation, Abstaining For 30 Days, What I Felt!

Believe me, it really improves your memory (I Don’t struggle with remembering words or names anymore, you just think it and its there for you!). Much better focus and attention, as I’ve told earlier you live in the moment , you try to process every information that your eyes see, (That’s what I meant by living in the moment) rather than staring at a thing like a zombie. You guys may think that I am Exaggerating it, but you feel like you walk up straight and with more confidence. This is what I felt so far, Don’t have any girl yet (STILL SINGLE)…….. 😉

It really improves your way to life guys, so let’s keep motivating each other and QUIT THIS SHIT FOR LIFE!

Nofap And Studying ! HOLYBRAIN !

This is absolutely amazing guys from the day i discovered nofap now im having less brain fog and fatigue today the teacher complimented me AND IM SO SURPRISED BECAUSE IM VERY BAD AT HIGH SCHOOL AND I FAILED A YEAR IN SCHOOL ! im going to start a new journey! Thanks for you all !

I have fucking photographic memory now! Read this

NoFap Day 55: So I was in school doing a lab for chem class and teacher is drawing some important stuff about the theory of lab on the whiteboard. Everyone runs to get their noteblocks but I feel something weird, it’s like I know I’m gonna remember that shit anyways, and when I get home later, I have photographed the whiteboard in my mind. I remember every fucking thing there 😀

Stay strong brothers

What improvements have you seen giving up on porn? (Motivation needed)

dekrizs

The clarity of mind was the absolute best benefit. My brain wasn’t playing a tug of war between being normal and sexualizing every woman I saw. I also had more mental and physical energy to devote to hobbies, relationships, schools, etc. I was amazed how much porn sapped from me after I quit.

mightaswellgetstoned

I think it’s allowed me to focus more on making decisions in my life that I used to just avoid and turn to porn. I started having issues with death grip and that’s motivated me to stop using porn. I’m able to stay on task with other things in my life. I literally have a to do list that has shit on it from 3 years ago that I’m finally addressing.

schodawg

For me the simplest, and biggest, improvement was that I sleep more. I don’t spend time at night surfing for that perfect video so I can bust a must before I go to sleep. To me it’s absolutely revolutionary how much time at night I get back simply by not watching porn.

Fall 2015: Placed on Academic Probation. Spring 2017. Dean’s List. Highest GPA in my life.

I can’t remember when I started masturbating (I think 6th grade, so 12-13ish). But it was when I was in middle school and gradually got worse and worse all the way to Christmas time of this year (20 year old Junior in college). By some grace of God I found Nofap and it changed my way of thinking. I’ve been on this quest since Christmas. I’ve failed twice and I got back up and kept going.

I was never an applied student ever before last semester. I got by and I did the bare minimum. But I slipped still and eventually landed on Academic Probation at my school after the Fall semester of 2015. This meant that if I didn’t get my grades up within the next semester I would be kicked out of school. This was at the peak of my addiction I feel. I was watching every day for hours. Was out of shape. Didn’t care about myself, or my studies, and became severely depressed to the point of wondering if I even wanted to be around anymore.

But since NoFap came into my life I applied what I learned from you all into my own life. This semester I achieved a 3.45 GPA and not only am I off Academic Probation, but a year and a half later I am on the Dean’s list. I love learning and love my life. I have a beautiful girlfriend who supports me and has shown me what actual love is like, not just a screen with fake unrealistic girls. I’ve now truly realized that porn is something I can live without, something that I NEED to live without.

Life is so much more beautiful and fulfilling. Work hard brothers.

The brain fog is no joke.

This is just a vent to come back to when I need it. I’ve suffered from a clouded mind for a long time. Then I got a streak of over 50 days going and combined it with going to the gym, eating healthy and an overall positive mindset and sure enough, my clear head was the major benefit that I’ve noticed. I haven’t felt this much in control for a long time. For some reason, I’ve allowed myself to relapse once after 55 days or so. And to be honest, it wasn’t even that bad. Disagree with me at this point, but this is my experience.

That one relapse alone didn’t hurt me. I guess the second one 10 days after the first didn’t either. What did hurt me was this made me develop a mindset that porn isn’t actually that bad that allowed me to relapse more and more with less days in-between until I was right back where I started. And guess what? My mind is so foggy today that I can hardly concentrate on anything. I slept like hell the last few days. I’m sad all day for no reason. Things will get better again eventually, I’ve seen it myself and I know it’s true. I just need to push through and not allow myself to relapse again.

Did abstinence from porn sharpen your memory?

lostwanderingman

I don’t think that it sharpens your memory, more like you are less distracted, therefore you can concentrate more and remember?

Tim-112

I’d describe it as clarity of thought. Compulsive pornography use is typically coupled with and/or induces a hypersexual mindset. This means the brain frequently gets distracted by sexual cues, either internal thoughts or stimuli in the external environment. Without those frequent distractions and their co-occurring physiological responses [mini “highs”], the brain functions smoother.

Niddo_87

I too think that the correlation is this. You tend be less distracted with sexual thoughts therefore you fill up this “space” with useful things instead.

bigboobz74379

Yes. Not only memory improves though. I feel like my logic and reasoning capabilities shot up as well. I got very good at math this year when I decided to quit.

His_Dudeness1993

Yes porn numbs your mind it literally shrinks the brain, fucks up the reward centre, hippocampus, frontal lobes.

ADHD and nofap.

Hi. I started nofap to cure my ADHD. Now I was skeptical at first but then I did some research on Wikipedia. I used to take Strattera and Wellbutrin. Sttratera increases norepinephrine and Wellbutrin increases norepinephrine and dopamine in your brain. (ADHD happens when you have low norepinephrine and dopamine in your prefrontal cortex.)

Then I researched what happens in your brain when you experience an orgasm. Orgasm is basically a dopamine and norepinephrine feast in your brain and nerves. (After an orgasm, increased norepinephrine is detected in your bloodstream.)

I connected the dots and decided to try nofap. After years of PMO, my norepinephrine and dopamine receptors must have been dulled, causing ADHD symptoms. I consulted my psychiatrist and she was skeptical. But I decided to give it a try anyway. I quit ADHD meds and started nofap.

The first few days had been absolute hell. My ADHD was on steroids. I couldn’t even finish watching a 3-minute YouTube video. I was restless and I couldn’t stay in one place for more than a minute. My nose was stuffy and I wasn’t living. I was barely existing.

Then after a week the symptoms started to subside.

Long story short, I’m 46 days in and my ADHD is gone. I can finish tasks and this is unheard of in my life. I wish I discovered nofap when I started high school because my GPA is very bad but I am so hyped to build my own life with my newfound focus. In the meantime, I learned to code and made a simple app and it’s giving me a few bucks every day in ad revenue. It’s really nothing but it’s still the first ever achievement in my life and I’m proud of it.

I don’t care about getting girls or being alpha or anything. Being free from ADHD alone is worth it. NoFap works. I no longer waste hours browsing useless websites on the Internet. And I simply don’t want to. I don’t even browse Reddit all that much. I have so much time every day.

Originally I was going to write this post when I hit 90 days mark but decided to do it today.

Good luck on your journey, fapstronauts.