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  • - Your Brain on Porn: Internet Pornography

  • and the Emerging Science of Addiction, by Gary Wilson.

  • Like the bible is to Christians, this book is to NoFappers.

  • I've explained what NoFap is in another video,

  • so if you don't know, it's important you watch

  • that video first, that I've linked in the description below.

  • The thesis of the book, in Gary's own words:

  • "Pornography poses a significant threat

  • "to the emotional wellbeing of many of its users,

  • "and it would be irresponsible not to acknowledge

  • "that threat as real and pressing."

  • With that said, Gary makes it clear from the get-go

  • that more research is needed into the neuroscience

  • of porn addiction and for therapeutic responses.

  • No let's move on to the lessons.

  • The first is the rise of NoFap.

  • It began in 2008, when people were freaking out

  • and posting on forums about their erectile dysfunction.

  • But they could get an erection to extreme porn

  • and the help of the good ol' death-grip-style masturbation.

  • When a dude went on his first 80-day NoFap streak,

  • more commonly known as a reboot,

  • he started experiencing incredible benefits,

  • which NoFappers refer to as superpowers.

  • These fapsters began to come out of their closets

  • and share their success stories.

  • Soon the NoFap subreddit on reddit.com blew up.

  • It's now accrued over a quarter of a million followers.

  • You can find over 2,000 accounts

  • of people's rebooting experiences, including my own,

  • over at yourbrainonporn.com/rebooting-accounts.

  • I've also made a video that shows you the 10 most common

  • benefits people experience when they quit porn.

  • Now for some studies.

  • Moderate porn use is correlated with reduced grey matter

  • and decreased sexual responsiveness.

  • This was presented in the prestigious medical journal,

  • JAMA Psychiatry, in 2014.

  • The researchers cautioned that the heavy porn user's brains

  • might have been pre-shrunken rather than shrunken

  • by porn usage, but favoured the degree of porn use

  • as the most plausible explanation.

  • The next lesson: frequency of porn viewing

  • correlates with depression, anxiety, stress,

  • and social malfunctioning, as well as less sexual

  • and relationship satisfaction and altered sexual tastes,

  • poorer quality of life and health,

  • and real-life intimacy problems.

  • The studies can be found in the description below.

  • Lesson four: nerve connections between the reward circuit

  • and prefrontal cortex worsen with increased porn watching.

  • This is what experts at Germany's Max Planck Institute

  • found when analysing the brains of internet porn users.

  • They say, "Dysfunction of the circuitry has been related

  • "to inappropriate behavioural choices, such as drug seeking,

  • "regardless of the potential negative outcome."

  • This is evidence of an association between porn use

  • and impaired impulse control.

  • Gary backs his arguments with 197 citations

  • and plenty more studies, so if you're interested

  • in exploring the science further,

  • I recommend reading the book, which is available

  • for the best $5 you'll ever spend

  • over at yourbrainonporn.com.

  • That brings us to lesson five.

  • The last part of this book shares the most common tips

  • to help people like you during their recovery process.

  • Here they are.

  • Delete porn from all your devices.

  • Move your furniture around to eliminate environmental cues

  • that could potentially trigger you.

  • Download a porn blocker.

  • Track your NoFap streak with a day counter.

  • If you feel urges, do push-ups instead.

  • Exercise.

  • Get outside.

  • Meditate.

  • Keep a journal to record your progress.

  • Do keep in mind that rebooting is not a linear process,

  • so if you're high on life one week and down in the dumps

  • in the next, be sure to stick it out.

  • Pursue a hobby you've been putting off.

  • Get inspiration by reading success stories.

  • And last of all, my favourite, educate yourself.

  • Watching this video is a great start.

  • It blows my mind how sceptics will sit back

  • and make pithy comments about NoFap being pseudoscience,

  • without actually making an effort

  • to try rebooting for themselves.

  • Given that thousands of others are reporting

  • the benefits they experience, the emerging science

  • presented in this book, along with the fact

  • that there is a huge potential upside,

  • and essentially no downside to trying,

  • then any logical person would deduce

  • that simply giving it a go is superior to continue pursuing

  • a diminished sex life and poor well-being.

  • So when I do videos on porn and NoFap,

  • you guys always have questions,

  • so please ask in the comments below,

  • and I'll answer them to the best of my ability.

  • Thank you for watching,

  • and don't forget to check out my other NoFap videos.

  • Cheers.

- Your Brain on Porn: Internet Pornography

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