A lot of nofappers(people who do nofap) claim that their depression went away after following nofap. They claim that indulging in excessive PMO(Porn, masturbation, orgasm) made them depressed, and giving it up(doing nofap) cured their depression.
In this article, we’re going to discuss whether the excessive use of porn and masturbation can make you depressed or not and whether following the nofap lifestyle can cure your depression or not.
I’ve been following the nofap lifestyle for the past 4 years and I’ve firsthand experienced the depression caused by the excessive use of porn and masturbation. To know about my story and how excessive PMO made me depressed, check out this article.
But, it’s not just me. Thousands of people all across the globe have experienced the depression caused by excessive PMO. Depression is just one of the many harmful side effects of excessive PMO(Porn, masturbation, orgasm). To know about all the harmful side effects, check out my detailed article on the topic by clicking here.
Does Excessive PMO Give You Depressive Symptoms?
YES, indulging in excessive PMO(Porn, masturbation, orgasm) gives you depressive symptoms.
You’d be unmotivated, lazy, and lethargic. You’ll not want to do anything, talk to anyone, and will just feel like laying in bed and feeling miserable.
Excessive use of porn and masturbation will also make you socially anxious. You’ll not want to talk to anyone, not even your family members and close friends. You’ll always feel sad without any reason. It might feel like life is not worth living. You’ll also have brain fog most of the time and can’t think properly. These are all clearly the symptoms of depression.
You can go to the online NoFap forum on Reddit, r/nofap, and read many stories of people stating how porn and masturbation made them depressed. Here is one such story:- “I now know that PMO actually CAUSED my depression“.
It’s no doubt that excessive use of porn and masturbation can make you severely depressed.
I asked this question to people on my NoFap Instagram page(@the_fapstronaut). Let’s look at what they say.
96% of people said that the excessive use of porn and masturbation gave them depressive symptoms, while only 4% said it didn’t.
Why Does Excessive PMO Make You Depressed?
Excessive PMO makes you depressed by desensitizing your dopamine receptors.
Whenever you indulge in PMO(Porn, masturbation, orgasm), your brain releases a chemical known as dopamine. Dopamine is a feel-good chemical that gives you the sensation of pleasure. That’s why those activities feel so pleasurable.
Because of the huge rush of dopamine released by porn and masturbation, your dopamine receptors get desensitized, meaning it’ll now need more amount of dopamine to give you the same pleasure as before. As a result, activities that can’t provide you with the same level of dopamine as porn and masturbation stops giving you pleasure and you start losing interest in them.
Activities such as exercising, working, studying, socializing, etc. stop giving you pleasure and you keep going back to porn and masturbation to give you pleasure. You start losing interest in normal day-to-day activities. After a while, even activities like taking a shower and brushing your teeth start feeling like huge tasks.
Low dopamine levels have been linked to depression and various symptoms of depression.
Is Excessive PMO the Only Cause of Depression?
No, excessive PMO is not the only cause of depression. There are many more reasons behind it.
In his book “Lost Connections“, the author Johann Hari has stated the 9 causes of depression. Those 9 causes are:-
- Cause one: Disconnection from meaningful work
- Cause two: Disconnection from other people
- Cause three: Disconnection from meaningful values
- Cause four: Disconnection from childhood trauma
- Cause five: Disconnection from status and respect
- Cause six: Disconnection from the natural world
- Cause seven: Disconnection from a hopeful or secure future
- Cause eight and nine: The real role of genes and brain changes
The author also states that depression is not a mere chemical imbalance in the brain as many people believe. People believe that depression is caused by the lack of the chemical serotonin in the brain and the way to overcome it is to take medications that will raise your serotonin to the normal level. The author debunked this myth and mentioned the real causes of depression and how to overcome it.
More and more people are finding themselves depressed and anxious these days because of their lifestyle. He cites the results of many experiments and the advice of many experts in this field to back his claims.
If you want to understand depression better or mental health in general, I highly recommend reading the book. It’s the best book I’ve read on mental health. Check it out on Amazon.
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People usually indulge in porn and masturbation to fill the void of loneliness. But, instead of filling that void porn and masturbation make you feel lonelier, and make you depressed.
Will NoFap Cure Your Depression?
NoFap will certainly help in curing your depression. If you’re indulging in PMO excessively and are feeling depressive symptoms, then quitting porn and masturbation(doing nofap) will definitely make you feel better.
When you quit porn and masturbation(do nofap), your dopamine receptors become sensitive again and the activities which couldn’t give you pleasure before, start giving you pleasure. You start enjoying little things in life.
The brain fog disappears and the social anxiety goes away. You’d be much more willing to socialize and talk to people on nofap.
When your dopamine receptors become sensitive again, even the smallest of things start giving you pleasure and you start enjoying things more.
But, keep in mind that there are many reasons behind depression and if PMO wasn’t the reason behind your depression or if your depressive symptoms were not due to excessive PMO, then nofap can’t help much in that case.
Having said that, if you indulge in PMO excessively, you’re going to experience its harmful side effects. When you quit it, the damage done by it gets reversed.
You can read many stories of people stating how nofap cured their depression or at least gave them some relief on the online nofap forum on Reddit. Here is one such story:-
What Else Can You Do to Cure Your Depression?
I’ve suffered from depression too. Here are the things that helped me in addition to medication:-
- Exercising
- Gardening
- Journaling
- Yoga
- Meditation
- Socializing
The best advice I can give you is to socialize more and build stronger connections with people. It’ll help you in overcoming PMO addiction and it’ll also help in curing your depression. The opposite of addiction is connection.
In addition to following the nofap lifestyle, you should also exercise and meditate daily. Exercising and meditating helps a lot in nofap, they make your nofap journey a lot easier.
If even after giving up porn and masturbation you don’t feel any relief in your depression, you should consult a mental health professional.
Summary
Excessive use of porn and masturbation can make you depressed and quitting it(doing nofap) can reverse the damage.
Indulging in excessive PMO makes you depressed by desensitizing your dopamine receptors. When you indulge in porn and masturbation, your brain releases a feel-good chemical known as dopamine which gives you the sensation of pleasure.
Due to the huge amount of dopamine released by porn and masturbation, your dopamine receptors get desensitized, meaning now it’ll need more amount of dopamine to give you the same pleasure as before.
Due to this desensitization, the activities that can’t provide you with the same amount of dopamine as porn and masturbation stops giving you pleasure and you start losing interest in them.
When you quit porn and masturbation, your dopamine receptors become sensitive again and the activities which couldn’t excite you before(when you indulged in excessive PMO) start to excite you again and you start enjoying little things in life. NoFap cures your depression by making your dopamine receptors sensitive again.
