How Do You Know NoFap is Working?
Also read the article, as there are more signs down below…
How do you know if NoFap is working for you?
Well, today we're going to look at 7 signs guys often start noticing when going on a NoFap journey. And they are indeed very good signs that NoFap is working for you.
The first three signs were covered in the video above and I assume you already watched it?
Great!
Then let's move on the the rest of the signs down in the post…
How To Tell if NoFap is Working…
Sign #4: You start noticing how you have more confidence and are less socially anxious
One of the most common benefits guys who start doing NoFap report are increased confidence and decreased social anxiety.
Let's take a look at a few quotes…
Quotes from a couple of subscribers…
It's day 88 and I feel like I've gone from being a shy introverted coward to a strong, almost fearless lion. Never did I expect this. I gave up porn because I wanted to be able to connect better with real life women, and oh man…of course I'm happy that I got more than I expected. I can literally talk to everyone without having any feelings of inferiority at all. -Anon-
I had come to terms with being an introvert. Nothing wrong with that. However, today at 122 days of nofap I would actually classify myself as an extrovert. If I see a girl I find interesting I talk to here, just like that. I no longer have that nagging voice of weakness telling me to stay away from things I want in life just because I might fail. Fuck tha! Who cares if I fail? Bring it! -Mark-
So what's going on?
Yes indeed, this is one of the absolute most common benefits guys start reporting after having been on NoFap for a few weeks or so.
So, why does this happen?
Well one could argue that it's mainly because they notice how they are in control of something that is actually difficult to have control over, and thus they get a sense of pride and achievement. And for sure, that has to play a part it in as well…
…but there's more going on!
Down-regulated dopamine D2 receptors…
You see, over-consumption of adult sites can down-regulate the dopamine receptors in the brain, causing a desensitized reward system. This down-regulation mechanism happens in all addictions, not just porn addiction.
Down-regulation can happen pretty much whenever you overuse so called ‘supernormal stimul'.
…like for example…
- Eating too much junk food
- Alcohol or other drugs
- Scrolling too much on social media
- Gambling too much online
- Playing videos games all day long
- Phone addiction, in general
- Porn addiction (this is the worst one of these if we exclude other – heavy drugs)
And here's the ting, studies have shown that having less dopamine d2 receptors correlates with social avoidance, decreased risk taking and lower social status. While having more d2 receptors correlates with increased social support, dominance, status and willingness to take go out there and ‘take risks'.
In other words: guys who are using a lot of porn are literally fapping themselves into becoming more socially anxious and less “alpha”.
Up-regulation and down-regulation can happen quickly…
Now, here I need to point out that down-regulation of dopamine receptors can happen without a person being addicted. In for example rats they have seen that, bingeing on junk food for a few days in a row significantly down-regulated their receptors.
So I repeat, you don't have to be an addict to see down-regualtion. However, addicts are more often severely desensitized (term for describing down-regulation of the dopamine system).
NoFap reverse the down-regulation…
Then when guys go on a NoFap journey and give up on porn, they will slowly but surely start noticing a reversal of the desensitization. I.e. the dopamine receptors are starting to up-regulate.
I believe that it is this up-regulation of the d2 receptors that makes guys who do NoFap start feeling less social anxious while starting tofeel more “alpha”.
To put it more bluntly, studie on both animals (rats and monkey) and humans, have shown that having less dopamine receptors correlates with being more submissive while having more dopamine receptors correlates with being more dominant.
How To Know if NoFap is Working For You…
Sing #5 You're starting to get harder erections
Getting harder and more reliable erections in another cool benefit of doing NoFap.
Here's a few quotes from a couple my subscribers…
I'm on day 51 and I'm feeling much better, having no more erectile dysfunction during sex. Thanks for your tips sir. -Bhupinder singh-
12 weeks into my NoFap journey and at least 5 days of the week a wake up with a rock hard erection. That's fun, but what's even more exciting is that I don't have to worry about soft erection when having sex with my GF any longer. I'm 37 years old and now I'm literally popping boners like I did back when I was 15. It's amazing!!! -David h-
So what's going on?…
One of the most common resons for why guys start doing NoFap in the frist place is because they feel that they have low libido for real life people -and perhaps weak and sluggish erections- while they at the same time they can get a pretty solid boner to different kinds of porn online.
The weak erections and the low libido for real life people is mainly caused by two things…
- Desensitization…
- Sexual conditioning…
Here to, just like in point #4 (confidence), giving up fapping to porn will reverse those problematic brain changes and ‘reset' the brain…
…reset” just referring to going back to it's natural state of being highly attracted to real life girs again, all while being able to feel more pleasure from the smaller day to day activities again.
Even strength of morning erections, I.e morning wood, is something NoFap guys start to notice improvements in.
How Do I know If NoFap is working…
Sign #6 You start noticing that you need less stimuli in order to be satisfied
So what do I mean by this?
Well, by fapping to porn we become very used to instant gratification. So much so that it often spills over into other areas of our lives.
This is why doing low stimulating things feel way too boring. Like for example…
- Reading a book
- Going to to the gym without listening to music / a podcast
- Eating dinner without watching YouTube
- Journaling
- Writing or reading
- Etc…
What you'll find when doing NoFap is that you slowly, but surely, start to become satisfied with less stimuli at any given time. This is a very good sing that NoFap is working for you.
For me this was always one of the first ‘benefits' I started noticing, and I didn't have to go that many days before it manifested. Most often I started seeing it as soon as somewhere in the second week. But it kept getting better from then on forward for 2-3 months…and perhaps even longer.
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It really says something about today's super stimulating world, when most people can no longer read a book for 30 minutes without constantly loosing focus or getting bored out of their mind.
For sure, there are other factors that play into this, like phone use and social media in general. But fapping to porn sites is the worst of those, since it really trains your brain to constantly chase “the next best thing”…
…you know, the perfect scene to finish on, so to speak.
How Can I tell if NoFap is Working…
Sign #7 You are less prone to procrastination…
Working on your goals is never easier than when you're riding on a good NoFap streak. This one is obviously related to the previous point and how your brain is needing less stimuli after giving up porn.
You see, when you stop hammering your dopamine system with all those dopamine driven porn sites, you get more sensitive to dopamine again. This is the up-regulation of those small dopamine receptors we talked about earlier. The neurobiology behind it.
When this happens, you feel more motivated to work on your goals, even if it's less stimulating than playing video games. Simply because your perception of dopamine has changes so that working on your goals now feels way more interesting than it did before.
Another way to put this is, you need less dopamine to get the same effect!
That, if anything, is perhaps the best sign that NoFap is working for you as that process is in essence the opposite of an addiction. Or, the very reversal of an addiction!
NoFap tend to make guys more successful in general…
This is why you see so many guys who are taking NoFap seriously become pretty successful.
It's not just once or twice I have been following a YouTuber who's doing very well, with more than a million subscribers, only to later on find out that they gave up porn a few years ago. Every time this happens I go, “Well I'll be damned.. he too decided to give up porn?”…
yet, at the same time, I'm not surprised because NoFap really is a key stone habit, that more often than not, also leads to other good habits. And before you know it, your whole life has turned around.
Naturally this is gona take you places in life.
Thanks for reading.
Scandinavian Bob
Other posts you might find interesting…
- 7 Actionable things to do after a porn relapse
- Why do I keep failing NoFap?
- Best NoFap supplements
- Best NoFap books
- NoFap how to stop relapsing forever
Have all the distractions the modern world offers made your dopamine system underperform?
Discover if you have your dopamine system on your side or not…
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— Dopamine Fasting Secrets (@pmodopaminefast) March 16, 2023