I don't think porn is a cause, but a consequence of a less active lifestyle. I've been using porn for years as some sort of escapism. Sometimes multiple times a day. But I've never been addicted like these guys who watch hours of porn PER DAY and have terabytes of libraries on their HDD. This is what you should be worried of. Not the usual testosterone kick that comes and makes you horny. Because this, is just some sort of natural body response.  On the topic of viewing women as objects, I don't also think porn makes you this way unless you really are a problematic consumer. This sounds a bit like feminist propaganda and trying to be more attractive to young women that also hold these views. And listen, on this topic, women mostly don't understand because they don't have testosterone like we do. No resent, it's just the way it is. Funnily enough, there are studies out there showing that male to female trans experience a huge decrease in libido when taking hormone therapy. Reverse is also true for female to male. This tends to show that our hormones really have such a big role in these needs. It's not all, nevertheless, it's a big part of it. You shouldn't be ashamed of what signals your body gives to you.  The problem here might be more inexperience. I remember before having my girlfriend how insecure I was around women. I've dabbled with the idea that porn was the problem, but in reality it was just me not having a girlfriend when I was younger that made me feel so insecure around them. Now that I know people I like can want me, can desire me, can love me back, and that also they can't if they don't and that it's okay because there is plenty of "fish" anyway, I can speak to girls so easily. I don't see them as "just bodies", and I make most women comfortable because, well I'm comfortable having or not having a sexual relationship with them. The ambiguity doesn't bother me anymore. In fact, I've never been so successful with women now... Also, the porn industry is so large, you can't really make that big of a generalization. If you watch "amateur"/self-made models, which is basically most of what you would find today if you're consuming free porn anyway, then there is not really any abuse, mostly. You have the OnlyFans pimp thing nowadays, but it's mostly just financial arrangements. For studios, this is different, but this is also a different business model and you would have to pay, anyway. Most girls don't do more than 3 videos anyway because the industry disgusts them. The ones who stay are conscious of everything, even the drugs and in a way like this lifestyle. In the end, sexualizing others is not a big deal as well. What I mean is, we have bodies; we find some features attractive in some bodies. That's ok. There is nothing wrong with that. Where it's wrong is if you allow yourself to touch these bodies without consent/be creepy. It just seems to me you're very sex ashamed. The problem is that denying your libido won't make you more powerful, more pure, more of a good person. Engaging with it fully won't also. Aim is not to become a sex maniac. But to have a healthy relationship with it. Not be disgusted by it, not be obsessed with it. Just accept it's a part of life and human relationships and that it's not actually a big deal. I don't say you should watch porn, because I consider it as a waste of time anyways, and have better to do with my time most of the time. But unless you really watch hours every day, I wouldn't work actively on this as a problem worth solving. Priorities.

You know what they say in Alcoholics Anonymous?   Focus on not playing today. Stay sober, focus on what you can in life, which is what is right in front of your eyes.  I think you're on the right path. Someday, shit might hit the fan, and you might want to remember why you didn't want to play in the first place.

Hey man, I've relapsed a few times. Can't say I won't this time but I'm pretty confident because the reasons that pushed me to stop are stronger than ever this time. So maybe you could dig onto these first. What made you stop in the first place? Why did you want to stop 2 months ago? Reminding this yourself all the time is so important. By example, one of my reasons is I didn't feel I had the time for anything than just work, and I hated this feeling of being in a "Work, Sleep, Repeat". I usually played for hours, so it became my main activity after work. Also, time passed so fast when playing that now every other activity felt so slow in comparison. These 2 things made me immensely frustrated of how little time I had on my hands. Not saying this is your reason. If it is, that's great. But my point is, you have to find something that makes you really reluctant to play.  In the case of an ARPG, I don't know. What game are we talking about? PoE? Diablo? V Rising? In any way, these games are great but what's the end goal of them? In the end you're mostly just optimising your characters for marginal gains. There are other reasons to play though: - If you are trying to compete with the best on the servers, then you're in for 18 hours a day, 7 days a week, during the whole league/season... Or you will just be a wannabe. Try to imagine the people who are the best on a server... What are their life like? What do they look like? What do they even smell like? Do you want to be these people? - If you are just trying to use OP builds, then what's the point? What's the point of feeling OP? You don't feel OP in real life so you need a game to make you feel this way? (this is not an attack, this was my feeling playing competitive FPS and destroying lobbies, probably filled with kids/nolifers...) Are you really missing out on playing the best builds of this season? Unless you played every season on the game, you probably already missed thousands of builds anyways... - If you are just trying to theorycraft... What are you crafting for? It's virtual crafting, virtual creation of value. The value is only real in that realm, to people you might not even admire in real life? Who do you admire in real life, who would you want to be like? Would this person admire your craft? Again, there are multiple reasons you might be playing, but what are yours? What are your deep reasons for playing this game, and are these reasons actually sufficient enough to justify playing that much? You might need to find these reasons and then put them to the test to your actual values in life. Will these reasons make you someone more valuable in your own eyes? We're in this together brother. I have a competitive FPS addiction and for me, it's the feeling of being better than anyone else that's so addictive. But then again... feeling better than whom? People who don't take showers? Kids that have nothing else to do? Mostly depressed people or people just playing for fun after work? What's so mighty about feeling better than these people then...

Hey guys! Just a heads up, still didn't touch a game! It's been 12 days so far. I do have a small itch sometimes but nothing serious. I have so much things to do right now. I was sick all last week so I didn't have the energy to come here, give a bit of news, or studying or doing anything productive for that matter. With my girlfriend everything has smoothed out, we're back in love. It was something like 6 months our relationship had stalled and we just got a kick again. Finally. It was so hard for months, thought it would never end and we would just break up. Maybe it's summer, maybe it's what I just did, maybe it's me not playing anymore, maybe it's me having a good job... or maybe a mix of all of the above. Still have trouble studying and such, but everything will get better with time I think. See you guys

I would like to share the techniques I used during my 15+ years of game addiction. 1. Games with progression systems or item collections - There are often options to deal with your accounts (permanently delete, change your email and password to a random one so you can't log in again, sell your account, get banned, destroy all items). 2. Offline games - Watch the ending on YouTube or cheat the game until it's no longer fun. In your case, Mibb, I assume that you have all the heroes and many items. There is still an opportunity to destroy this progression, which may help reduce your craving.