psychologytoday article

[Rowlf]

*** Superabundance II | Psychology Today

Very interesting article that a friend as just sent me. I recommend a read - it's not too long. I had to override my K9 filter to get to it, but it was worth it - it's safe, just got one of my banned keywords in the title.

It's basically talking about the disruption of brain chemistry caused by over-stimulation.

A few lines that stood out for me were;

• Chasing after today's potent array of superstimulation can easily overload our vulnerable reward circuitry. (inherited genetics)
• The more extreme the stimulation (whatever our individual thresholds), the more dopamine surges in our reward circuitry. And the lower it drops afterward or the less sensitive we are to it.
• The more extreme the stimulation (whatever our individual thresholds), the more dopamine surges in our reward circuitry. And the lower it drops afterward.
• After dopamine soars in response to extreme stimulation, it drops unnaturally low. Withdrawal symptoms, such as restlessness, irritability, frustration, desire for isolation, and apathy are signals that we're not yet back to equilibrium at a brain chemical level.
• Surging dopamine is hard to ignore, so we want to "feed it,"
• we can easily fall into an accelerating cycle, medicating ourselves with more stimulation every time we get The Urge.
• we may forget entirely what balance feels like.
• Once we recognize the vulnerability of our reward circuitry in the face of today's superabundance, we can see the real challenge before us. It is to get our dopamine levels back in balance and keep them there. (my emphasis!)
• Balanced dopamine is associated with feelings of well-being and satisfaction, pleasure in accomplishing tasks, healthy libido, good feelings toward others, motivation, optimism, sound choices, healthy risk-taking, realistic expectations and healthy bonds with others. Ahhh!

Hope you find it as interesting as I have :D

[Vorlan]

I missed this when you posted it Rowlf but this is a really great article. It backs up a lot of what we've worked out by trial and error on this site.

Thanks for sharing it!

Best wishes,

Ben

[dave42]

Thanks, Rowlf! It's this point that I especially like: "Once we recognize the vulnerability of our reward circuitry in the face of today's superabundance, we can see the real challenge before us. It is to get our dopamine levels back in balance and keep them there. (my emphasis!)" Here's to the great balancing act!

[Daniel]

Brilliant! Thank you very much Rowlf.

Back to that axiom: "Knowledge is Power!"

[Rowlf]

I missed this when you posted it Rowlf but this is a really great article. It backs up a lot of what we've worked out by trial and error on this site.

Yes, I think you're right that we know this through our own experiences here. I think it shows 2 'rules' / principles for this;

1. We can't trust ourselves / self judgement when 'using'
2. It take a time to reset the brain - Once we've got sufficient clean time then there is a real change in us with the brain chemistry in a different and I would say much more balanced place.

I think it takes 3-6 months for this brain chemistry rebalance - what do the rest of you think from your experience?

For me, the celibacy contracts I had with myself were an very necessary part of giving myself enough space to do this.

I still think there are psychological triggers active in our make-up that would like to lead us back to P when life gets too stressful - a permanent weak spot if you will, that requires mindfulness. But it's much easier to do that if not 'in the grip' of the brain chemistry stuff!

[Vorlan]

I think it takes 3-6 months for this brain chemistry rebalance - what do the rest of you think from your experience?

Yeah, I'd go along with that although I'd say it depends quite a lot on how long you've been using. Habits of a lifetime would take longer to rebalance than habits of a few years.

I still think there are psychological triggers active in our make-up that would like to lead us back to P when life gets too stressful - a permanent weak spot if you will, that requires mindfulness. But it's much easier to do that if not 'in the grip' of the brain chemistry stuff!

Yeah, definately. I mean I don't consider myself to be "addicted" anymore as I don't compulsively relapse anymore. I am in control therefore I'm not addicted. However I know that I still have a pre-disposition to P as I used it for so long to "medicate" depression. It's much easier after you get over the chemical high and low cycles.

[Daniel]

I think it takes 3-6 months for this brain chemistry rebalance - what do the rest of you think from your experience?

That's a good range for the time to recover the brain chemistry equilibrium I'd say. And like Vorlan said, it always will depend on the individual circumstances.

I still think there are psychological triggers active in our make-up that would like to lead us back to P when life gets too stressful - a permanent weak spot if you will, that requires mindfulness. But it's much easier to do that if not 'in the grip' of the brain chemistry stuff!

Definitely. To this day there are moments, processing a trigger, when I get hit with the flood of physiochemistry.. the 'weak spot' in action.

And Rowlf, thanks to some of your posts, rather than run away in a panic, I think about what I'm experiencing and process it in such a way that I don't have the equivalent of a mental panic attack if I see something edgy. I can "put it in its place" so to speak, or de-horn the terror of the moment, if that makes any sense.

Certainly in the grip of addiction and adrift in rationalizations, with the brain chemistry doing loops, we can't see life in any other light.

Not anymore thank God!

Good stuff as always,

Daniel

[Scooter]

This is an absolutely amazing article - thank you so much Rowlf for posting it here. I feel excited about better understanding my problem.

[lightseeker]

Thanks for this article, this is really interesting, i cant say i have ever reached that stage but now it is a great motivation. I have suffered these symptons for such a long time and i want to rid myself of them, knowing that most of my negative feelings and constant fatigue are because of this addiction is an eye opener for me!

[riseandfall]

great article, thanks. I have a question for those who abstained from having orgasms for 3 months or more, what changes did you notice in yourself mentally, in terms of your personality, appearance etc?