INTRODUCTION
Let me delve into a topic that seems to not be stressed enough, and that is dopamine abuse. What is it? When does it happen? Does it solely mean abusing drugs or something else? Let's jump right to it.
DOPAMINE ABUSE There are a list of things, not just drugs, that are destroying your sense of achievement, your confidence, and your sexual drive. And here they are:
- Pornography, excessive masturbation
- Stimulant drugs and medication
- Video gaming
- Lack of sleep
- Your bodily desires
- BONUS - lack of exercise and the long waited, "Do you lift?"
These, in turn, are killing your game. Why? Let's think about it from both scientific and logical standpoints.
Pornography Pornography stimulates your body and arouses you physically. It increases neural activity in your brain, which means that pornography is, by definition, a stimulant. Think about the time when you were a kid and you REALLY wanted to do something. You would get super excited about it and you would in turn get hyper. Excessive masturbation and pornography, as a result of being stimulants, abuse your dopamine pathways in your brain. They either prevent the reuptake of dopamine (similar to cocaine high), or they increase the amount of dopamine neurotransmitters (similar to methamphetamine). So when the time comes that you don't have that source of dopamine rush, you feel depressed, you feel shitty, and you just feel down. That makes it it difficult for you to work on everyday tasks, such as cold approaching women, working on homework, taking care of chores, showing up to work, etc. Why does this happen? It's because you have abused your dopamine, that inner push that compels you to do what you got to do. Without dopamine, you wouldn't ever get out of your bed and strive for excellence.
Stimulant Drugs Stimulant drugs and medication? Don't get me started. You know the deal. I don't need to explain it in detail. Look at the previous paragraph if you're looking for the scientific explanation behind why they are bad. Also your common sense. Also, if you can, cut out caffeine from your diet, also nicotine and other things that just make you attached to drugs.
Video gaming Why are more kids developing "ADHD" through each subsequent generation? Well I'll tell you why: light is a stimulant. It is received by your eyes, which is processed by your parietal lobe, which then causes your brain to be stimulated. Why is it hard to sleep with the light on? Well you tell me. Similarly, combine light with stimulating activities such as that of video gaming, and you have just answered the whole ADHD crisis of today's generation. And then they give kids what they shouldn't be given in the whole goddamn place! Adderall and stimulants! That makes so much sense! Anyways, tangents aside, video gaming abuses your dopamine just as much if not more than pornography. It has an addiction factor. Once you take it away from yourself, you feel empty, like you lost something that once made you happy. Lastly, consider the effect of flashing lights on those who have epilepsy. Now not everyone has epilepsy, but what happens when a person has an epileptic crisis? They shake and tremble, and they fall on the ground. Why? They are overstimulated. Take a moment and think about the effects of light on neural stimulation and dopamine alteration.
Lack of sleep Lack of sleep is also the culprit for lack of serotonin in the brain, which is the neurotransmitter associated with depression, sleep, and memory. Combine that with dopamine alteration caused by the lack of sleep, you get yourself a working zombie during the day. Are we actually gaining energy when we sleep? No, we are burning calories. Our brain shuffles everything around during REM sleep, causing us to feel refreshed in the morning.
Bodily desires What do I mean by bodily desires? Well, I mean the fact that we are human and part animal. For instance, we all need food and nourishment in order to survive. But when it turns into gluttony, we depend on food in order to become happy. That is dependence and attachment. Also, think about how this applies to masturbation, sex, desire to drink and party, etc. We all want those things. It is part of our human nature as men. But once those become the things that we obsess about, we find it difficult to work on everyday tasks, such as homework and other assignments that life brings for us. Bodily desires and attachment to worldly things, then, are a form of dopamine abuse as well. Let's recap for a bit. Dopamine is a stimulant. If you abuse a stimulant, what happens to you? You become attached to it. You want it more and more until it runs out. Same thing applies to bodily desires. They stimulate you in a way that causes you to want things. There is a saying that says that a man should think with his head, not his genitals.
Lack of Exercise and Lifting What happens when you exercise? Well two major changes are occurring in the neurochemistry of your brain. Your brain releases both dopamine and endorphins when you work out and exercise. Endorphin is a hormone that makes you feel less pain. Dopamine, again, is a neurotransmitter associated with confidence, desire to keep pushing forward in life, etc. So when you don't exercise or lift, you are depriving yourself of these two blessings that your brain rewards you with after you exercise. So do it. As always, no excuses. If you can do this everyday, think about how confident and full of energy you will be instead of say, going to the gym three times a week? You get the picture. You get to the point where going to the gym is a habit that defines your personality. You workout, you get the good push to do things in life, such as socializing, doing your work, approaching women, you name it.
RP AND AVOIDING DOPAMINE ABUSE
Why is it important to discuss the nature of dopamine abuse? Well, it's probably because one of the few listed things above are killing your game or making it difficult for you to achieve potential. Yes you should think with your head, but your end game is to fuck that girl. But in order to do that, you need to have a working brain, one that hasn't abused dopamine. Consider all points carefully and elaborate about it in the comments below.
I was at my lowest point when I was dipping a tin a day of tobacco, staying up til 4am on my phone because of it, constantly on the computer and fapping every day. And I wondered why I felt like shit 24/7. It's a hard rut to get out of once you're in it.
Why is it hard for a meth head to stop ingesting drugs? Same concept, except people don't realize how their everyday choices can be just as bad! (Maybe not as severe, but getting there) But props to you brother for learning about the importance of avoiding dopamine abuse, even though you had to go through it the hard way.
Thanks man, almost there. Next step is stop watching porn
Same exact boat. Finding porn to be much harder to quit than dip though. Hopefully twice as rewarding.
Yeah, dip is harder initially I think due to the nicotine but once you get past one or two weeks you stop thinking about it almost completely.
With porn, you'll always have that desire for a quick release so long as you have a sex drive.
Yeah man, I haven't watched porn since March 2nd, it does get a lot easier. I was watching porn every night for years, and stopped cold turkey when I discovered the damage it does. Like I said, it gets a lot easier after a few weeks, but some late nights when I can't sleep, I get memories of my favorite videos/clips and it's so easy to just pull up that video on my phone in like 15 seconds but I know I'll really regret it the next morning. Keep strong man.
Yeah that's the unfortunate thing. You can get rid of your substance dependence, but unless you're like 80 years old or something your desire for sex never disappears.
Any tips on quitting? I run through almost a can a day at this point.
Is it really that hard to stop watching porn, or are you also including masturbation in that? So far i've gone 3 weeks without intentionally viewing porn, and I only jerk off when I can't sleep (every 3 or 4 days) and with my imagination.
I think it's a situational thing as well. If you're a decent looking guy who gets laid very so often, has a social life, keeps busy, and is proactive, then not watching porn isn't that difficult. If you're a hermit who has a minimal social life with every negative side effect that comes with it, porn can become quite the hobby, if not a bad habit. The key here is to find things to make your life more enjoyable for the sake of enjoyment, not to just watch porn. I was in a rut for a while until my social life expanded and now watching porn seems somewhat of a task. I had to obtain the mentality of increasing life pleasure before I was able to quit porn all together.
Work your way down. If your porn is kinky or exotic work down to regular porn, then to just pictures, not videos, then just use your imagination, then stop all together.
to be honest, fap once a while that bad? I remeber in military i went out fapping for three weeks, and when i came home i thought litterally how it would be to fuck every women i saw on the bus home. The fap was the best one ever thoug
I don't get the no fap crowd. Yes, if you master that then you prob have the self discipline to master just about anything, but it decreases your T and all it ever does to me is give me temporary insanity to where I'm trying to bang chicks I wouldn't even bother with at normal times.
But, if it's an addiction for you, and hinders your life because porn, then by all means no fap. I however find myself cringing at the shit I do whilst no fapping.
Started hitting on girls at work. Went "u wot m8" in traffic, got out of the car at some fat lady who cut me off, tried to start some shit with some douchebags in a club .. not cool.
You need to meditate if you go nofap or something, otherwise you might fuck shit up.
How does going fap-free decrease testoterone? I thought it was the other way around. (serious question)
I have a pelvic floor injury and my dick doesn't work. The only way I can fix it is if I don't fap. Otherwise I would be fapping once a week or so. I think fapping without porn is healthy if you're already healthy down there. I don't understand the nofappers going crazy over fapping. Porn I understand because it's not natural, but fapping imo is.
And this is the big misconception. Porn is a problem, masturbation is generally not. So many people think they have huge sex drives when really they are just porn addicts. When they truly cut out porn entirely..... the masturbation frequency decreases dramatically, to a healthy rate. Too many people do not understand this. Porn is the problem.
could´ve been a better experience to fuck one of all those women you saw and felt attracted to
30 second experiences usually aren't world changing.
u/subjectivealpha & u/Noonanimal
Do it mate(s).
It's not easy. It's fucking difficult. But the more you watch, the worse it gets, and harder to quit.
One of the techniques I use that has worked very well is positive punishment: self inflicting pain. I do this every time I think about porn, and then force myself to refocus on something else. My method of choice is either pinching back of hand, up to full on slaps to the face.
You don't have to be as extreme as this but I've found that it works well because the punishment is instant, which both helps the brain to associate that particular thing as bad and is independent of you sticking to your method of punishment. The opposite of positive punishment is negative punishment, where you would deprive yourself of something, such as no videogame (another habbit you should kill) for the rest of the day. Negative punishment is dependant upon you actually following up it, so I've found it not as effective.
...
I really should get myself unbanned from nofap so I can post this there.
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I think the answer is self evident. It's not a what if. It does increase your game. But at what expense?
If you need to take drugs to improve your game, your game is fucked from the beginning.
Yeah that is the key here. Sure alcohol and meth, of all things, might help you, but you shouldn't have to take such things to begin with.
Speed lowers inhibitions. I know this girl who spent a lot of time homeless and abusing meth. It definitely increased her game, but not in a healthy way. She'd constantly find random people to smoke with and fuck them.
Good point. I know some people microdose MDMA when they plan on being a PUA, and it has great benefits with few side effects (considering the dose)
Purely hypothetical -- is microdose like 1/5th of a pill or 1/10th? or 1/16th?
It's all about personal preference, I would start at 1/16th and if you feel completely in control or you really need more than move up. It can really effectively boost confidence, but too much will make you seem weird/crazy lol.
Then it will decrease your game when your teeth start falling out of your junky mouth. Speed is poormans cocaine and will in no way have any long term benefits
This is how people wind up with addictions. You start to believe it's necessary for you to increase your game; and sure, maybe it will, but eventually you'll become chemically addicted. After that, it's just an endless cycle.
I suffer from severe social anxiety issues due to my upbringing, and it's causing me a lot of stress and failure. I am in college right now, and I can't bring myself to get and bang attractive girls because of low self-esteem and severe social anxiety. I am struggling right now but it's really painful for me. Masturbation has been a temporary solution but I'm really frustrated because I can't seem to be going anywhere right now, because of this. However I don't watch porn and never really got into it.
I am trying to look into the sidebar resources, but then whenever I try to approach, the whole crippling social anxiety creeps in; it's like my mind is subconsciously self-destructive and has negative thought patterns preventing me from going anywhere. I end up in cycles of not doing anything and feeling frustrated and angry, when I see beautiful girls and not taking action and just overthinking everything to the point where I end up feeling terrible about myself. I am also a perfectionist and introvert, which just adds up to the difficulty in trying to get around this.
Already for several weeks I went into periods of severe panic and worry and frustration because of all the attractive girls I saw and all this worry and thoughts of negative self-worth that started creeping and flooding in like a tsunami; and it's really hurting my life right now and I just can't seem to get a grip on it. I have this internalized self-destructive belief that I'm just not worth enough to get any girl's attention because I am just a lame person not worthy of respect. My subconscious mind believes it, my conscious mind doesn't. And I have been told I was a good looking kid in my youth, and I am not fat or that short either.
On top of that, I have an extremely hard time making fun conversation and just bantering and flirting, and understanding social and body language cues. And this is really really really keeping me back; I hate to admit this now, but due to these issues I am not that sexually experienced at all and I can't seem to do anything about it because I don't seem to be successful in taking action.
It's really disturbing and causing me a great deal of pain right now. When I see other guys regardless of looks, but amplified when the guy is average/ugly looking, with cute to hot girls, I start to feel extreme envy but also worthlessness and failure. I really start to feel like shit and a loser who is going nowhere and is a failure. This is a wrong mentality to have, but my mind just seems to internalize that.
I would gladly appreciate any thoughts and input on this, but I feel like I am being tortured in a silent cell and no one is hearing me or cares to hear me, and I can't get out of it no matter how much I try and no matter how much I writh in pain trying to escape it....
There was a post here on TRP about a guy who had even worse social anxiety than you -- his method of dealing with it was to literally just lie down on the ground on a busy sidewalk and make people walk around him. He said it scared him shitless for like the first 2 minutes but after that, he reached a level of calmness and peace upon accepting the fact that his "inner dialogue" was sending him completely bullshit warnings and fear-induced panics that had no basis in reality. He had the feeling like he will die, he needs to run, he needs to escape, etc.... once he realized all these lies were just 100% pure bullshit, he learned not to listen to those thoughts within his inner dialogue anymore.
He did it like once a month for 6 months and has been "cured" ever since.
can you link me to the posts as well as other posts that could help me? I have been feeling terrible and awful lately and it doesn't seem to stop at all. I can't even bring myself to talk to girls and i'm in my 20's and i see all these beautiful girls that I can't bring myself to get because of this and because I don't even understand how to converse properly....
/TheRedPill/comments/3lyqpr/silent_majority_social_anxiety/?st=iuau8y1y&sh=4678a685
This isn't it but I thought i would share it since it's kinda useful maybe -- I'll keep searching.
Ignore the sidewalk advice, just focus on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
Nothing I say will fix your issue.
You care too much. Other people's feelings don't matter. It is not a sin to cause other people to feel badly if you are not doing bad. You don't need to own other people's negativity.
You can still be kind, good, caring, etc., You don't need to be a jerk, but you need to care about YOUR feelings. Do things because you enjoy them. This is important to practice. Do not respond to cues to reign your enjoyment in if there is no reason to (i.e. your job). If that means laughing at someone or saying something interesting do that because its fun. You are not hurting them. You have to truly feel fulfilled.
Honestly, if the girl doesnt liek your interesting conversation that you really are enjoying, who cares? Move on. Find women who actually interest you.
Dude, i spent 2 hours at the bar the other night talking to some asian chicks about how amazing donald trump (i dont really give a shit about the dude) but i made it fun and it was fun to joke about it. They dont even like donald trump, but who cares, i find ways to make the conversation balanced, but i have fun with it.
Sex is not the goal, it is a bi-product of a happier more balanced personality combined with lowered inhibitions.
You need to look at what you have achieved in life, outside of sex and romance, and take pride in that, and see that as the new foundation of your self-esteem. You should also focus on what you want out of life in the future, apart from women, what your anxiety isn't holding you back as much from doing, and what you can do to achieve that. Having a negative view of the future will destroy your motivation. Don't ever think that you know exactly how the future is going to pan out. You have to work towards the future you want with your passions, and you could work for years and fail horribly; and I have, I have had little luck with women, I was going to college to learn Culinary Arts and dropped out because of Algebra classes, and I spent 8 years writing one novel and wanted to become a professional writer and I failed completely. But if you want stay passionate and improve yourself the most, you have to hold on like hell to your desired vision of the future, regardless of how improbable it is.
Being considered insane by everyone around you, and obsessively acting towards a future that is highly improbable, and is the future that you want, will bring you the most happiness, because its aligned with what you are passionate about.
I remember reading someones controversial opinion on this subject.
These addictions are started at a young age.
You give your child a meaningless toy that goes into the garbage in 1 day contributing to a future drug addict.
Anything that only contributes to the happiness of your mind and not the plentifulness of well being, one's whole body, house, society or ecosystem is wasteful.
If it only creates happiness of your mind, then it leads to loss of time & depression.
Society tends to make their children seek things that create happiness only in their consciousness like an expensive car, bad food, etc.
But it will never satisfy them, they will always fall in depression again and again, because it's vain, it lasts for a short while and does not create complete well of no one. Not even their self.
I have smoked meth and masturbated for 8 hours straight to the most depraved shit I could find, smoke some more and then stay up for another 25-36 hours. It is better than heroin as far as dopamine release, though. Kids, don't do meth.
Okay, so how did you start going to sleep on a regular time schedule? I'm really struggling with this right now.
Not the OP, but I'm a programmer and we're notorious for having bad sleeping patterns. As a result I have a lot of experience in managing my sleep and have learned what works and what doesn't
I think this is a huge part of modern sleep problems. You didn't hear anything about sleeping problems when we were largely an agrarian culture centered around physical labor. There's no better feeling than falling asleep the minute you hit the pillow because you had a hard days work.
This the hardest one for me too
Great list, sir. I have to give sleep hygiene advice to my patients from time to time and this is more than I normally do!
Thanks for the tips man! I'll definitely work at that.
Also Twilight for Android phones. Apple has its equivalents too.
two methods that work for me to reset a bad pattern: 16 hours of not eating, then eat breakfast when you want to wake up. it works via a survival gene to wake you up when food is most easily available.
second is don't sleep one night, then go to sleep at the time of day you want to sleep. this method sucks and should be done without caffeine or any naps. its also extremely effective at resetting.
after you've reset, just make it a point to go to bed at the time you set, no phones or other items in bed to distract you. you'll find that you start getting very tired at the new bedtime you've set, that's good and should be used to fall asleep. don't push past the tiredness or your body with use adrenaline and other chemicals to wake you up.
This is also what I call the "nuclear option" like if I gotta work the next 4 days in a row and my schedule is bad, I just stay up all night on the 1st day of work
nuclear indeed. its brutal, but effective.
Honestly the biggest thing for me was waking up everyday at the same time. Do this everyday for at least 2 weeks and your sleep schedule will reset.
benadryl 2 hours before your desired bedtime. stop taking once sleep schedule is back on track
How in the fuck did you learn this hidden secret about benadryl?
Can't tell if you're being sarcastic but I was only trying to help. Anti-histamines are known to make you really drowsy
Benadryl has been one of my best kept secrets regarding sleepiness and avoiding the "come downs" of stimulants, hypothetically speaking, of course..
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Started taking small babysteps rather than quitting everything at once. Wrote to do lists and kept everything I needed to do in a prioritized list. Started working out again and limited bad habits. Eventually eradicated most of them. Still in the process of getting my life back, but doing better than ever.
I haven't had a dip in four years, but it's been a rough week, and a nice chew has been on my mind constantly. That monster in the cage may sleep, but every once in awhile he wakes up and rattles the bars a bit. Stay strong.
Congrats on quitting, I'll admit I've slipped up here and there and packed one but came to my senses and threw out the tin afterwards.
deleted What is this?
Personally the thing I'm terrified of is missing out on something else like TRP that will improve my life. Think about it, without the internet, you would have never found this site. And if you were like me, you found it during one of your hours long sessions. FOMO is a real killer.
What did you do that helped you get out of this rut?
Reading too much TRP is also dopamine abuse.
Shit, you're right. Back to lifting.
The Opponent Process Theory basically sums up this idea. It's so simple really. The less dopamine you allow yourself, the more you appreciate it when you get it.
Honestly my personal theory is that overstimulation of dopamine receptors is one of the main causes of depression in this day and age. I dont have any evidence to back that up, only personal experience with depression and the use of self-discipline to fix it, and the fact that it seems pretty reasonable, considering how easy and readily available high-dopamine activities are these days.
I'd also anecdotally agree with your theory. In my experience simply removing 2-3 dopamine sources has huge boosts in mood. For me it was limiting ejaculation, alcohol, and sugar. Suddenly something like a nice breeze would make me incredibly energized and happy.
I will say though it's incredibly hard to stay off dopamine sources and I always eventually find myself back masturbating or drinking.
Totally agree.
I hit 6 miles during a run the other day... and the sun was just peaking... I felt the warmth of the sun followed by a nice breeze. It was one of the most rewarding things I've experienced since cutting back on sweets, beating off.. and cutting back on booze.
I find my mind enjoying things that are truly simple. Keep up your good work sir.
Great article.
Thanks for pointing out
On the contrary, self disciple in itself is a great mood booster. Knowing that you're on top of your shit and getting things done is more satisfying then temporary dopamine highs.
But without a doubt when the good times get rolling, you tend to appreciate the fuck out of everything.
If you read the article he linked to, it agrees with what you've stated.
After reading this, I took a shower completely with cold water. It was great. Till then I showered as nearly as cold and switched at the end to completely cold.
Of course after the gym where your core is hot as hell, it's really easy. But I was on my bed reading this article.
Correct me if something is wrong. English isn't my mother tongue.
Isn't there a correlation between dopamine and Parkinson's disease?
Great blog, thanks for sharing.
You know what else releases a fuck ton of dopamine? Reddit.
Everything in moderation gents.
Certainly. Dopamine isn't the reward but it guides novelty seeking behaviour - ie every brand new link you click releases a little burst of dopamine. At the end of a few hours you will find yourself feeling a little exhaused and not wanting to do much else
This is backed by studies which I'm too lazy to find
Absolutely - the system is the same as Facebook where you keep scrolling as a gamble / behaviour and the reward is stimulation.
True. My TRP addiction has made me fit, high energy, dressing well, waking up at 5AM, financially advancing, and killing it with the ladies.
BETTER CUT BACK.
Elaboration for the stimulant section:
Caffeine acutely raises dopamine release and lowers dopamine reuptake (in different areas of the brain). If you have motivation/perseverance problems and you also take caffeine, QUIT THAT SHIT. Coffee is for closers (people who can put in the effort to get shit done without chemical assistance).
I'm not sure if a post has been made on this but I would be interested to know more about these two mechanisms. Popular science and nofap articles on dopamine do a shit job of explaining why some dopamine activities are bad (porn) and some are good (exercise) and it seems like this release/uptake interaction must have an effect. Maybe you could elaborate or even make a full post if you are an expert on this?
The difference is the amount of release as well as what other hormones and transmitters are released. The effect of exercise on dopamine is trivial next to porn, and you also get a testosterone and growth hormone secretion with exercise.
This is probably well off-topic, but recently I read that music is enjoyable because it releases dopamine. Most of my spare time I'm listening to something, often at a decent volume. Also recently I'm becoming aware that too much dopamine isn't a good thing.
Does anyone know where music fits into this?
This is a good question because I am listening to (stimulating myself with) music just about 12 hours a day.
in the same manner that looking at porn is nice to look at or certain foods smell good to eat; music is a dopamine rush from just another one of your senses. However, dictating what dopamine hits are good and bad for you is something you yourself have to figure out. If you want to feel useful while listening to it... listen to music when doing something grueling or mundane. I think it's beneficial like a supplement drug to get you through chores/labor that have to be done but provide very little dopamine/reward for doing it.
You are perfectly dancing around the issue I'd like to draw attention to...
HYPOTHETICALLY what would the "ideal" dopamine schedule look like from when you wake up until when you sleep -- would it be graduated up like stairs and then smooth, steady decline until bedtime?
What would the graph look like to those who draw information from pictures very easily?
Think of our ancestors. Low as fuck 24/7, the only highs being what you get from games with your tribe. The whole dopamine issue is so underrated and under discussed when you think of it through a paleo lens.
I think that may be to out of scope for me, really don't think you can evaluate dopamine like that because the body is at a constant want for it all the time. I think it's like asking when would you want to to take cocaine in the day.. Yeah at first you may prioritize to some important part of the day but eventually you'll resort it for everything.
The goal should be to obtain your dopamine in the most natural manner as much as you can. If anything the goal should be to aiming for long term dopamine rushes.. I think long term goal accomplished provides more to someone than short immediate accomplishments which only provide short term dopamine rushes
Take it from a musician and a meditator, music is a very strong stimulant and changes your feelings radically.
Yes it is a good thing, and everbody likes music so I don't mean it is bad, but the way we use it is problematic.
Most people put up music when they study, workout, doing housework etc. The problem is that it takes some part of concentration away. It is not white noise, so your brain tries to understand it and gives some of it's resources to it.
Like the OP stated, you should limit the stimulants in your life. Nowadays when I listen to music, I put on my headphones, lie down and do nothing else. Feel the beat to it's fullest so to speak.
Another point that could be taken from the OP is, do one thing only, and give your full attention to it. Working out? Leave those headphones at home, and feel how your body is reacting to the exercise. Even a mundane work like washing the dishes should be done with full presence.
Also a musician here. I completely agree with listening to music at dedicated listening times, like lying back in bed. I get way more out of it when I do listen to it. If I become a passive listener instead of an active listener, I become complacent and uninspired, leading to depression.
You can smoke weed, but maybe once a week or less and you really get to enjoy it.
You can have sex, but with real women, not virtual women, and you get much more out of each experience.
Less is more
A great album by Marillion :)
This is spot on. The music is so over-used in our daily live that it becomes a struggle to block it and have a productive time.
Case in point: Asked gym director to make a time-slot (early morning) where no TV's or music are on. If we voice our desire for a proper place to lift for example, we can make it so.
Music and TV during lifting ...especially cancer pop music is very draining.
I agree with you on everything but the working out without music part. I can't work out if I don't have my headphones, music helps me push past failure and motivates me. Without it, I'm too focused on everybody else's grunts and the shitty music playing over the speakers.
I never understood how people listen to the music and something else at the same time. I always tune out one or the other.
The answer is easy,
They have an attention lifespan of a child so that they even don't understand that they are not concentrated on the task at all.
The worse, they forget why they sit down in the first hand
My input. I listen to music when doing mindless work. It motivates me and, I feel, takes nothing away from my performance while dusting, cleaning, mopping...
It is a value add to the experience for me. When I have to swing a mop or a dust rag... some bass-heavy, upbeat music makes the whole thing better.
I have a playlist called white noise that is one song: the sound of silence, on infinite repeat. I play it while concentrating. when i find myself paying any attention to the music, its my cue to refocus my attention. it works exceptionally well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4
I prefer the original Simon and Garfunkel version myself, but that one is good too.
Solid question. I notice that when I don't listen to the music I like for a long time, I enjoy it way more when I finally do listen to it.
Yeah me too. I lost my earphones and went a week without them. When I got a new pair - eargasm!
Dopamine receptor sensitivity compensation.
If you don't use your dopamine receptors, they compensate by becoming hypersensitive. (think of like 3 months no fap then you see a solid hb-5 and admit you'd do anything to fuck her)
He also says lifting is good because it releases dopamine, and tries to spin as a good thing, so I wouldn't read too much into his theories.
I used to drink a shitload of coffee and listen to music. I didnt realise it at the time but I was just hooked on the dopamine release. After doing it for a few hours I told myself I was energised and ready to do more work but found it much more difficult to get started.
These days I no longer listen to music except at the gym. And even at the gym I often will only listen to music during a set.
Pound of gummy bears for whoever can tell me the cure to this particular problem!
Given the "open office" trend nowadays with noisy workplaces, I find much easier to concentrate putting just one song on loop and doing my job. I did this through undergrad and was OK.
Every 2-3 months someone on here posts some shitty, un-researched, scientifically naïve post about "dopamine" and how it causes you to be an addict and a terrible person.
You guys need to stop this shit. Stop making posts about dopamine because it just perpetuates shitty science to all the guys on here that think every post is dogma. It also causes people on this subreddit that have heard of dopamine once to come out and post their shitty opinions and unresearched ideas about dopamine. Dopamine is the new "broscience" of lifting and you guys gotta stop posting about it here.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter released when the body experiences pleasure, serves a primal need (acquiring food or sex), or in anticipation of a pleasurable event after you have been exposed to it numerous times. Excess porn is bad, excess masturbation is bad, excess eating/gambling/video gaming is bad, yes, but PLEASE leave dopamine out of it. You can't change your dopamine levels in any meaningful way (other than stopping/modifying the addictive behavior), so using the word over and over again and explaining (incorrectly) how dopamine acts in the brain does not make the reader any more equipped to deal with addictions. So just leave the mechanism behind addiction out of it, as it just confuses the situation. Now for the more specific criticisms to you and some of the posters in here:
Video games are not the driving force behind our ADHD "epidemic." Video games can cause it sometimes or worsen it, sure, but the numbers are rising so quickly because it is diagnosed more and more, because parents/teachers/society don't (doesn't) know how to discipline anymore, and because boys are not allowed to be boys anymore. Read the article someone posted about ADHD in France.
Stimulants do not fix ADHD by "stimulating" kids and making them more hyper...that's not at all how they work, so making a claim like, "hur dur you stupid doctors give stimulants to a stimulated kid" makes you look like an ass. ADHD meds help the brain FOCUS, because kids with ADHD have a lot of trouble staying on task. They process stimuli so quickly and cannot stay focused on one thing for long enough that they require something to help them essentially put on blinders and focus more on one or two things.
Eating more chicken does not increase your dopamine. That user needs to stop with the bullshit about tyrosine and protein powder and all this crap. First of all, if eating something like chicken could raise your dopamine levels then we would just tell Parkinson disease patients to eat tons of chicken for 10-15 years until they need strong medicine. Dopamine does NOT cross the blood-brain barrier, which is why we do not give it to Parkinson patients...we give them the precursor to dopamine (L-DOPA). Serotonin is rich in tomatoes, but we don't give depressed people a pure tomato diet. Know why? Because it does NOT cross the blood-brain barrier. No matter what BCAA formulation or protein formulation or whatever you use, you are not affecting your dopamine levels directly.
Dopamine is just the body's mechanism to tell you you're feeling something or going to feel something pleasurable. It's not that music is some mystical thing that has ungodly powers to alter dopamine. If the music is enjoyable, then dopamine is released in your brain. It's that simple. All you guys are doing is just explaining the normal mechanism over and over again of how your brain secretes chemicals to tell you you're experiencing pleasant thoughts/feelings. Saying "porn causes dopamine release!" does not say anything about porn other than that it's pleasurable. That's it. "Fucking chicks causes dopamine rush." Well is it enjoyable? Then yeah, no shit it does. If you enjoy hoarding or fucking a couch cushion, then that's gonna cause a dopamine rush too. The only thing you're doing by using the word dopamine is creating a synonym for "enjoyable," you're not discovering anything new about your activities or your perception of them.
You are totally right in your post that you should not live a life of excess, be it food, porn, masturbation, caffeine, whatever. But please, PLEASE leave dopamine out of it. There are too many of these posts and both posters and commenters just butcher the hell out of the science until you're all believing some nonsense pseudoscience and have zero understanding of how the brain and body work.
Then why do all these stimulating things make us depressed and tired in excess? What mechanism is behind it?
I have a degree in biomedicine. OPs post is very accurate except the ADHD comment
And I'm a physician. I disagree about his post being accurate (except the ADHD comment).
Porn addiction leads to excessive dopamine and delta fosB build up. Same is seen in drug abuse, video game addiction. Causes physical brain changes.
Excessive masturbation/porn Videogames and drugs are worse for dopamine production as they produce so much. You should get it from natural sources such as exercise, physical sex not virtual.
I don't disagree with you on this, but this is hardly how OP represented it, which is my qualm.
According to whom? Your mesolimbic system doesn't care, it just sends stimuli from VTA to NA. Porn is so stimulating and addictive because we innately get such strong stimuli from sex and food as they are integral to our survival. If you could conceivably have a room of 50 extremely hot naked girls of all types and varieties, that were willing to do anything with you or each other, you'd get the same pathway with the same A10 neurons with the same strength action potentials.
And I couldn't get the same stimuli from 50 naked hot women. Excessive porn causes porn induced erectile dysfunction which I now have where only Porn gets the junk working
Sorry I meant to say those things are terrible for dopamine productions an it's better to get dopamine from natural sources like exercise
I have to agree with this. Where are OP's sources to this shit?
By the way, he argues one minute that excessive masturbation is bad because of the dopamine it dumps in your brain on a recurring basis, but then the next minute, says that exercise dumping dopamine in your brain is a good thing that increases motivation. So which is it?
Not to mention, sex itself releases dopamine in your brain.
Seems like OP came up with the conclusions first, then either invented or ignored any data or supporting facts to those conclusions.
I'm not saying any of his points are wrong, they are just not supported at all by his bullshit text.
If he had said pornography makes normal women as a whole less attractive, or reduces your sexual urges throughout the day, that would still be unsupported, but at least not self-contradictory with how he believes dopamine works.
You will do more of what whichever one you choose to do. The way dopamine works is that if you do something neutral-ish often, it becomes pleasurable after a while.
The mesolimbic pathway is kinda weird like that but that's just how it is.
I'm not the expert but I do have a worthless psychology degree.
Dopamine >IS< pleasure.
Now different activities can directly punch that dopamine sack in different ways.
The more direct the link (like coke or heroine) the more addictive, especially how immediately the reward comes, and goes away (weed is so gradual that it's actually not nearly as addictive, if at all).
With exercise, sure, there's a runner's high at the end of running -- weight lifting -- from personal experience it seems even milder. But the point is --- to the vast majority of the population, weight-lifting and/ or long-distance cardio is NOT addictive, for whatever reason (unless you have body dysmorphia like Arnold Schwarzenegger or have a steroid-infused super pump). Maybe it's because intense concentration and pain before the mild dopamine effect is enough to negate that.
And masturbation --- well that contradicts your theory too. It's pretty much common knowledge to any male, that the more often you masturbate, the less pleasurable it is, and vice versa. I'm not an expert on male biology (despite being a male) ... but this is simply true.
Also masturbation is CLEARLY pleasurable even BEFORE you climax and dump dopamine in your brain ... there's just a shit ton of misinformation here. OP is playing guessing games.
I think the average person does not spend over 1-2 hours at the gym each day, tops. Unless they are spending more time than that, yes, it would be fair to call exercising and lifting as dopamine abuse.
Also it's a mistake to think that dopamine is a "pleasure molecule". If that was the case, people taking parkinsons medication would be getting the same effect as people taking opium which is not the case at all. Dopamine's exact function in the brain isn't even completely understood. High levels of it cause you to feel relaxed and even higher levels cause you to be stimulated which is paradoxical. Dopamine in the right areas of the brain is also essential for learning.
More personal views acting as law to counter OP personal views.
What op said was interesting, interesting enough to make you write your long rebuttal therefore I think you should relax on his use of technical terms.
How many hours a day is it okay to watch tv or play video games.
Flashback 1800 years ago sex was honestly probably the most exciting thing to do, and the burden of it was Terrible as it meant you going through a painful childbirth.
You can't just use your opinions to overrule OP that's not how opinions work.
What?
I didn't use my opinions. I've studied this subject extensively and I'm using the FACTS that I know to overrule OP's OPINION. I'm not using any opinion to say that's not how dopamine works. My opinion only comes in when I say people on TRP should stop posting about this until they understand it better.
Nothing you said (except you know where op bro science the word dopamine) were actually(your first bullet point) facts rather conjecture similar to op you only back up with your "creditnals"
You don't know for a FAct that video games aren't causing the adhd rate and that's it's just being more diagnosed.
Medical science advances and opinions on things can change.
Hahaha
Any sources on any of this? You're pointing people in the right direction but when you say things like (paraphrased) 'adderal is bad for ADHD kids because it's a stimulant' it makes me doubt the whole piece.
yeah alot of bro-science in this post.
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People have theories about shit, I enjoy hearing them. If you want real science then go find it. If people are not taking conjecture with a grain of salt, then its their fault for being naive.
If OP was talking in speculation, that's cool, but the way he just lays it out like it's truth without sourced evidence to his claims is one of the biggest reasons there is a ton of misinformation out there. Not saying he's wrong, but he didn't prove he was right, he merely said he was.
I can agree with you there. He probably should have said where he was getting it all, and if he was just speculating, yea he should have said.
This isn't bro science. It is the fundamental science behind addiction and the reward circuitry in the brain.
Add is also very strongly linked to certain preservatives and food dyes, not to mention inflammatory food in general causes brain fog.
Yes that part was incorrect as adderal does have a calming and focusing effect on the right people.
Also his reference to light being addictive and thats why we can't sleep with the light on sounds logical but is incorrect. Light enters your eye and suppresses melanin production in the pineal gland. Melanin is the hormone responsible for sleep and it needs darkness in order to be release.
In general though I think his overall idea is correct -> indulging in vices too much = weak human
Not looking for sources but if you look into things like addiction and rat park experiments. Basically you get hits of dope which makes you happy, but if you abuse drugs/porn your "baseline" is a lot higher, so basically the little things aren't really enjoyable or they are boring (playing with sticks and mud was fun before video games). It's somewhere along the lines of too much of something is usually bad. People abusing porn/drugs can usually only get off or enjoy life when their jacking it or getting high.
I think the ADHD jargon is more for how humans have not evolved with technology and we get so much information. The amount of information someone took in on an average day in 1980 is much much different than the amount of information someone takes in today; with facebook, twitter, etc... we have information at our fingertips and are constantly blasted all the time, so any second we aren't being blasted, it's just slow..... imagine driving race cars all day and then hop into a minivan.
Tl;dr- vices when abused are bad for you and fucks up your baseline
The term you are looking for (but are unaware yet that it exists) is hedonistic treadmill: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill
Thanks! Nope never heard of it before
Quiting porn was my turning point. I went from borderline being fired for lack of drive to being a machine people defer to.
I've been taking Adderall for a couple months now to force productivity on myself. I don't have ADD/ADHD. One thing I noticed....for the first 2-3 weeks, I was superman. I got tasks done, I was the man in bed, I was ahead of schedule on everything. Towards the end of my prescription, I realized I was gonna have 2-3 days of no pill before I could re-up at the pharmacy. They were arguably the most unproductive days of my life, to date. I stayed in bed all day and Netflixed, performed poorly in bed, and was a shitty employee at work.
I got back on the pills, and I'm superman again. I seriously need to get off them and just do shit my fucking self like I always did before them.
I abuse dopamine currently by watching cam girls and fapping to them.
Definitely need to stop this behavior and it's been a struggle for years now.
I'm addicted to travelling. The joy I feel when travelling is so overwhelming that living day to day between holidays is just fucking sad.
It can be a decent lifestyle if you make it work.
So I need to stop jerking off, smoking weed and playing Squad. Dammit its gonna be a hard one.
Fucking chicks also gives dopamine rush I suspect - should all also avoid that? It's not about not doing things, it's about doing them in moderation. Drink alcohol, fap, watch porn, do some drugs - fine, but limit the frequency and amount so it won't become the baseline.
That's what's he said. He didn't say abstain from everything that exists
The thing that happens is most Reddit users skim what they read, perhaps missing out the bigger picture. That's ok, for I'm guilty of that myself. You are entirely correct salestrainee. Did I mean to avoid everything all together? Well common sense would tell one to avoid speed and recreational drugs. How about porn and masturbation? Porn should be avoided as much possible, yes. How about masturbation? Maybe do it once or twice a week. Maybe smoke weed once in a while? Okay, it's pushing it, but sure. The theme seems to be then, gents, moderation and common sense.
NoFap day 49 here. Can confirm. Great pist
No you won't because there is no real "ADHD crisis". ADHD has become the go-to diagnosis for young boys who can't sit still in class. So instead of cater to these boys' needs, you just give them the diagnosis and drugs instead (which is great for the pharmaceutical companies).
Sincerely, someone who works in a very related field.
The French have it right.
North Americans and some western European countries are waging war on boys
Perfect, this is exaclty what I meant.
Why? Because it's much easier to just give medication to them, mend their problems, and send them their way. They can't let the kid know, "Look boy. You've got some serious lifestyle changes to make. It will take some time and you won't be able to do it in a day." And the parents just can't take it, they REALLY think there is something wrong with the brain of their kids. But we know better than that.
You know nothing about ADHD and how stimulants act on it.
Can you please add some knowledge instead of just shitting on OP?
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Thanks for sharing an informed perspective.
I think I need to stop taking so many amphetamines.
I'm in college though and they've literally kept me from failing more than once. Any advice?
You're right, /u/stemgang, perhaps /u/audscias should provide some insight to his statement. But I completely understand that it's much easier to just make a comment on a post, get upvoted for it, and provide no further elaboration. But I want to thank you for understanding my position and pointing out both its good and bad points.
Not a Dr. but the medications used for treating ADHD are usually stimulants.
Correct.
Ritalin, Adderal, Concerta are stimulants.
Actually, I beg to differ. I was first diagnosed with "ADHD" in middle school. Don't trust me? Read on. ADHD is defined as having attention deficit, a "disorder" that occurs when your central nervous system is experiencing difficulties sending signals back and forth to your executive order part of your brain, or the prefrontal cortex. As a result, the psychiatrists speculate, you have difficulty concentrating, memorizing things, and doing well in school. Psychiatrists hope that by giving you stimulant medication, they will fill that "void," making it easier for you to take care of everyday tasks. But is there really a void? If there was a void, stimulants wouldn't work. You would be dumb and retarded. That would mean there are no signals going back and forth in your brain, which is absolutely wrong. So they proved themselves right and wrong at the same time. Yes, stimulants increase neural activity, making a person more productive. No, stimulants do not fill a "void" in the brain, or the idea that there is a lack of neural signals going back and forth to your prefrontal cortex. This is my response to Dr. Daniel Amen, who is a strong advocate of medication as a first-line treatment of ADHD.
I was given Ritalin, Adderall, Vyvanse, Concerta, you name all the first-line medication for ADHD. Adderall worked like a charm. Oh yeah, did I mention that it worked like a charm on all my friends? Why do college students take Adderall to study? Because it works. A stimulant is counterintuitive, unfortunately. Why? I'll tell you. Is the underlying issue a problem with how your brain functions or is ADHD, the doctors speculated, something that can be mended with lifestyle changes? Why are doctors so promiscuous in giving away medication? Because it's a quick solve method that offers no permanent solution. Plus it's a way of boosting the pharmaceutical market and extracting your money. Why do drug dealers sell recreational drugs? Same concept, they want the money what else?
I gave up this "ADHD" dilemma by simply stopping Adderall, fixing my awful diet, hitting the gym at least five times a week, quitting video gaming over time, slowly but efficaciously giving up porn, keeping masturbation to a minimum, and lastly, fixing my sleep. Within my second semester college of my freshman year I was already feeling better than I was on Adderall. You simply do not need stimulants to function. Think about the time these medications did not exist. What did your ancestors have to do a century ago? They did fine, and they made the technological advancements we have today. We do not need stimulants to function.
Now if you have some scientific input and counterexamples instead of a one-sentence remark on how I don't know anything on ADHD and stimulants, I'd be more than happy to discuss it with you.
Bingo. You and me have had the exact same experience, my friend.
Either I'm drunk as shit, or this sentence didn't make any damn sense.
If you read further down what I posted, there is a clarification. So I don't think you're drunk.
BUT BUT BUT BUT i'm a special snowflake
I think that this post should be read not in a scientific key but in a philosophical one. It describes a way of life that promotes the virtues of being a real & better man, attracted by pleasures but not prisoner of them: in essence it promotes a deeper strength of mind. And this, I think, is a very important concept nowadays: too many times we, as men, under the influence of the media, we focus only on the exterior strength, that of the muscles. And appearance is a feminine characteristic. On the contrary what really defines a man is the mind, the willpower of being strong and firm both in adversities and in pleasures. Not in an aggressive way, but in a stoic way.
This isn't in any way a new concept: think for example (in the Western culture) of emperor Marcus Aurelius: Classic culture is full of such examples.
EDIT: Wording
Thanks for mentioning MA, my favorite philosopher.
And that was part of my intention with this post. But there are scientific evidences in my post as well. Although not linked to particular studies, I apply my common sense and previous knowledge of dopamine abuse to inform RP of what benefits of making these lifestyle changes. By the way, I really enjoyed reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Also not about dopamine and stuff.
I fucking hate this 2016 reddit dopamine obsession. Like everyone thinks you quit being so addicted to dopa and suddenly your game is going to be great.
NOPE.
Did I say "abra kadabra" and your game is magically going to get better if you stop abusing your dopamine? I mentioned that one of the things on the list is going to either make it harder for you or make it entirely impossible for you to work on your game. This is not a magic show. You earn your lifestyle and game. If this post is not something that you were looking for, then perhaps blow your emotions somewhere else. Your comment is not insightful.
That's because ADHD isn't real. It's just another excuse blue pill betas use for why boys hate sitting in a chair for 8 hours a day in school.
Bold strategy Cotton, lets see how this play out... /stupid joke.
As it so happens, I have the compt V158M +/+ gene variant so I have high dopamine in my pre-frontal cortex all the time. Let me tell you - it makes me pretty boring at parties, haha.
Anyway, I just wanted to point out that some people have high dopamine in various parts of their brain all the time so there's not much they can do about it.
One thing you really missed that should be on here is spending money. Girls buying shoes and decorations. Guys buying tools and toys. All of that gives you a dopamine hit as well. This is how people like my Step-mom got into debt. She couldn't give up buying her candles and decorations, but she sure as fuck expected everyone else to give up their hobbies to help her pay for hers. Now I will let you guess as to why she needs to find another source of dopamine. My dad had this same problem, he is incredibly impulsive when it comes to buying things, because he is so dopamine starved.
Don't let spending be part of your addiction, and make sure you have a healthy source because withdrawal and addiction will be your worst enemy.
Thanks for this post. I really needed it.
Today, I felt like total crap. I couldn't pinpoint it and was venting a bit about it through a text convo. The answer was right there in my text, but I didn't realize it until this post.
I was complaining about life being so boring. That I knew there were a lot of things I needed to be working on, but I just didn't feel like doing them, so maybe it meant I shouldn't do them or I should pay someone else to do them.
What I didn't cover in the text conversation was that I had no motivation to go hang out with this one chick that I know wants to fuck. It's totally in the bag. I was debating whether I should keep talking to her, and started mentally picturing some of her less attractive qualities and personality quirks. I just mentally put her on the back burner.
Anyway, how this all relates to this post is that I'm a recovering addict, and have been slipping back into my old habits. I scored some drugs a week ago and was on a binge for the entire week. Drugs, alcohol, strip clubs, and porn.
Way too much dopamine.
That's why I felt so shitty today. I was craving that rush from the drugs that would get me instantly fucked up and get me back in the loop. And then the sexual situation, why was I debating getting laid? Because I have the hottest chicks at my disposal, instantly, right here at my finger tips. Why bother with a basic bitch?
I'm fucking up and I see it now.
How could you leave out social media from this list. Constantly checking E-mail, Facebook and Reddit (including /trp) is probably one the highest items on this list.
Actually, I did not leave it out. It would be part of the bodily desires section. But yeah, obsession to mobile devices, anything that emits light and attracts attention, is high on the list.
Technically all of the items on the list could be under bodily desires. I still think it deserves its own category as much as all the other ones on the list. It's not mentioned under Bodily Desires and most people don't think of social media when you say something vague like "bodily desires".
Ok thanks for the clarification bud.
Pornography - The Porno industry is 100% owned and dominated by Jews.
The biggest pharmaceutical corporations are 100% owned and dominated by Jews.
Guess who owns the companies that manufacture and are pushing out all of these sources of media entertainment? Jews.
Wanna guess what most people that stay up late are doing?
5.& 6. See all the above.
Guys, there is a group pushing all of this poisonous shit on the west, its not a conspiracy. Some call them big business, some call them the elites, some call them evil corporations, and some call them globalists or zionist jews, but dont take my word for it...do 5 minutes of research and find out who is pushing for all of this, and who is behind the curtain.
These people have been expelled from EVERY SINGLE COUNTRY theyeve ever inhabited except the USA, wanna guess why?
At some point in my adolescence I became conscious of this and decided to dedicate some serious time into researching who the people pulling the strings were. It is in fact the Zionist Jews, following an ancient agenda to corrupt the gentiles. I hope more people realize that we are in the matrix because these Zionist Jews have so much power that they dictate everybodies reality. Massive brainwashing, fluoride and other chemicals making us docile, porn is a psyop, creating false problems to keep people divided, feminism, the list goes on. I think this is what the red pill is about.
Solid post. I think dopamine celebrations need to be cut back to 1 or 2 times per month. You need it to be happy, but yep, totally hoses your game.
In Roko Belic's movie Happy, they do say dopamine is part of being happy. Some sources are better than others. Exercise is the best source, and they say you can multiply it by making it silly like going for a run in a gorilla suit or something.
I've totally got the vice grips on alcohol/dopamine these days. The day after I not only abstain from alcohol but also sugar. Annihilate your competition on nights out by showing up without a beer gut. So many people drink every day, and they even have doctors saying "1 beer a day isn't bad for you." Oh yes it is, when you show up looking fat and tired and can't meet chicks that's bad for you. So many dudes equate drinking with machismo, it's cartoonish. Macho is hitting the fucking gym, not putting on belly fat at the bar. Sterling Archer is a cartoon character and you cannot drink like he does without being a fat disgusting fuck.
Yeah this is a good point. You're not supposed to just throw any bodily satisfaction to the wind, but rather just keep it a reward and in check. You can do basically anything in moderation without ill effect, but when you're doing something every single day then you start to have issues.
Why does making exercise silly make it an even better dopamine source? Does this apply to anything? Any source on this, this is a rather interesting finding.
I forgot the details, but they were covered in the movie Happy by Roko Belic. I just think people like to laugh and be silly. "Laughter is the best medicine" sort of thing. It's why I use the shitty hub on Reddit.
i think its that you don't need synthetic dopamine. Don't fap, fuck. Don't play Madden, go join an intramural football league.
Obtain dopamine the natural way and you're golden. You can do that through a healthy diet. Tyrosine is an amino acid that your body converts into dopamine. If you take protein powder you will notice that there are tyrosine in them. Chicken and and dairy foods are also a good source. Music also release dopamine but only for a short period of time.
Eat chicken while listening to music, I bet you'll feel a little better ;).
Is this why the funky chicken is so popular?
The only catch-22 is that your body will synthesize less dopamine to compensate so that the net effect is zero.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synaptic_scaling
But most importantly, don't forget the chicken ;)
Add TV to that list. Everything you wrote about video games can also be applied to TV as well, except its even easier. If you suck at videogames you won't get that dopamine release, just maybe you'll be discouraged and do something more productive instead.
However, with TV your brain is literally being spoonfed information that much like videogames are made to be enjoyed and release dopamine.
My job has me working very often and usually 2 or 3 weeks between days off. Every day off I always have a big list of things to do like laundry, go swimming, clean the car, call a lot of family members, etc. But I always seem to play video games all day and get nothing done.
Adhd is more closely related to the child's very very early relationship with the main parent (often mother), it is no wonder we see it so often today when we rip the babies away from their mothers as soon as we can send her back to work. I bet the rates are much lower in traditional families.
Stop eating tasty food too because that gives you a dopamine rush too.
Great post, I was thinking about this the other day and most of the population are addicted to drugs, even those who haven't taken any. u wot m8? Games, porn, internet, all those little dopamine hits. All those moments you can't shut your brain up and have to crane your neck down to get the next dose from your phone. Or you're sat in a cafe and feel fucking weird because you've got nothing to look at and you don't want to be caught sitting there like a loser that has nothing to do, as if there were something wrong with that. It's normal now to be engaged in some kind of quick-fix activity for 90% of the day, and it's frying our brains and keeping us depressed, lethargic and useless. The worst part is realising just how many years our minds have been that way, and you begin to see the magnitude of the task before you in trying to wipe that slate clean and retrain yourself to be human again. Funnily enough that same problem brought me to the red pill for a 'quick read' to see this thread...
I just wanted to stop in here and say you are absolutely fucking right. I feel like when my dopamine levels are being "stored" and not depleted, I am the most clever and witty motherfucker when it comes to pick up lines.
No Masturbation + Gym + Low Stress Levels And A Positive Attitude and I feel like a fucking PATRIARCH
Another huge dopamine addiction people have especially people my age (college level) is Netflix. Can't tell you guys how many times I have walked around the library and it's just students procrastinating just watching Netflix. Fuck the reason I am writing this was because I was watching Sons of Anarchy instead of grinding for a stat and econ midterm coming up. Dopamine rushes and addictions come in all different forms, people just need to be well aware of them.
I get the feeling that excessive caffeine absolutely wrecks me and causes a burn out like state if I over consume for too long.
Tea is more easy going but also not without danger.
This is actually what the Marilyn Manson song "the dope show" is about.
Fuck that.
I'm 30. I'm done making sacrifices for women.
I'ma play all the video games I want, jack off, and eat what I want. Women can fuck off if they don't like it. They never cared when I was 10 years younger and a little better looking, so I'm good.
This is the male version of the obese, tattooed, blue haired, "healthy at every size" Tumblerina feminist. You're going to take on hobbies and qualities that make you less of a man, like the fat acceptance movement makes someone less of a woman.
No. The male version on the tumblerina is the thirsty douchebag who hits hard on every passable girl he mets and make them feels like they are demigods
u/mrjowee is correct. Thirsty douchebags that hit hard on women have some sort of SMV. u/casemodsalt does not.
An AFC is analogous to the typical 5/10 woman. Cheto eating, video game playing, fat ass neck beards with no drive to improve themselves are the lowest you can be; a MGTOW rated at 1/10.
Less of a man in your estimation? If a man is choosing his own path, happy and content while still paying his bills and maintaining his career, what's it to you? No hostility, just a question?
Video games and a beer gut don't make you a winner.
It depends on how the individual person measures things. It does not depend on what you think. Remember, IDGAF?
You should give a fuck. Hence TRP instead of MGTOW. One is about improving yourself, the other is giving up because you're a fucking loser.
You do give a fuck. Everyone in the thread gives a fuck. If they didn't they wouldn't be reading this.
Then what are you doing on TRP?
every long term relationship is about sacrifices. pussy hunting does not have to be, necessarily. are you too outcome dependent? fuck outcomes, way more fun without em
Exactly. Why the fuck would i give up my hobbies for the golden vag
It's for yourself, not for anyone else.
video games, jacking off, eating arent fucking hobbies
video games are a fucking hobby. jacking off is quite healthy but not with porn. eating i guess not. i never indulged in it.
Video games are a hobby you fucking retard. I never said anything about jacking off or eating, i was speaking about MY hobbies. Try reading
Not to mention the money.
They are all gold diggers. Every single one of them.
If they're not digging for money they're digging for good genes. Women are the universal takers. Men are producers.
Well I have good genes and trust me when I say that they only care about money.
Won't contest you there. All women are scheming gold diggers. Some womens' antics are just easier to spot than others.
You're more attractive to women at 30 than 20, provided that you didn't get out of shape and become a pussy. What you considered your prime wasn't that to society and you were wasting your time sacrifising then, due to hypergamy.
People say I still look 20 though. Guess that's why.
then fuck off from the red pill this is good advice for you not hoes you might as well lay down and rot with that defeatist attitute
Are you saying you're a MGTOW?
Half mgtow and half redpill I guess.
half oil / half water also
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXsQAXx_ao0
Social media and cell phone usage in general taxes your dopamine. We're all guilty of its abuse.
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I've stopped porn entirely and only fap when I feel biologically required, every 3 or 4 days. What kind of benefits could I expect by going longer, and how long until trouble sleeping is no longer an issue?
Would you mind sending a link to it? I'm interested to know how that experiment went.
Totally agreed. Cut the sugar consumption, excessive alcohol drinking, caffeine, nicotine, start lifting, sleep well and see the wonders work for you. Your mind won't be foggy ever at all and dopamine will help increase level of confidence with positivity.
The only addiction I'm left with is playing counter strike which hints at lighting stimulant. That's the only addiction left to recover for me, but I have limited it to just weekends and I play it with my friends so it's basically kinda having fun socializing virtually.
deleted What is this?
Cut every bad habits or addiction but just keep others in moderation or occasional. Coffee/chocolate though are a very good source of anti-oxidant. Also, being an anti-depressant, it helps if you take 2-3 small cups with low or no sugar daily.
This is garbage bro science.
I take meth every day (check my history)
My dopamine levels are exactly where I want them to be but I see what you are saying, its the filthy, degenerate serial mastabators whipping it out like its a cup of coffee, something to pass the time that is the issue here, we should put systems in place to prevent this scourge on society.
You can't really compare masturbation to meth. Meth blocks the re-uptake of dopamine completely, it's a DRI. Masturbation doesn't, although i agree excessive is terrible for your motivation because your brain is always trying to reestablish the optimal levels.
I did not compare masturbation to meth. I likened watching pornography to video gaming.
On another thread here someone was mentioning reducing the access to music because it is a big dopamine trigger. I was once in the hospital for 5 days and didn't listen to any music but when I finally did, no matter what genre I'd listen to, tears wouldn't stop coming. We take music for granted.
I noticed my problems with drugs were eerily similar to my problems with video games and food. They all function the same way. I stopped doing drugs and now find video games and to a lesser extent food filling that void. Since the latter has been willing I'm my life since childhood they'll be harder habits to break than drugs, but definitely worth it.
For the sake of my pocket, my liver, and my sleep, I've tried to cut back on alcohol intake. But in the process I've found myself smoking weed almost nightly. Other than the few hours before bed where I switch my brain off, and potential drowsiness the following morning, am I messing with my body at a neurochemical level? Should I cut back on this in any significant way to boost my game?
What about excessive chatter?
To anyone who struggles to quit porn, here are the best ressources I have found so far :
yourbrainonporn.com|
Johan Hari Ted Talk|
Willpower's Not Enough by Arnold M. Washton|
Addictive Thinking and the Addictive Personality, by Twerski and Nakken|
curethecraving.com|
www.yourbrainrebalanced.com/index.php?topic=15558.0
Can you expand on adderall usage?
Watching porn increases testosterone production FYI.
Don't fall for the nofap meme.
Would you say the same thing goes for frequently listening to music?
Understandable about how those do alter your state of mind. Anyone else feel lack of confidence, sense of achievement, and shitty mood for a few weeks after having sex?
You should have added recreational drugs. Stoners have no ambition, the reason for developing game.
Doesn't have to be stimulant drugs. Same reason smoking weed makes you bored with sober life.
Smart phones. Why sell people coxaine and risk prison when you can directly supply them the more addictive dopamine?
Can someone elaborate on the "too much light" thing? It seems like, if that even was a problem, it would be like problem #10 when it came to video games.
Quit weed --> constant Videogames and ate shit to make up for dopamine/weekend Cocaine --> relapsed back to weed. Also had porn use so by quitting everything bad my dopamine is terrible
The dopamine from reading and exercise is so low. As a former weed addict I have less dopamine receptors now as they've been shut off. With weed 2 receptors fire the same amount of dopamine as 5 would in a sober person. My neural wiring is fucked and I'm not sure how to go about it.
How long would a person need to abstain to return to normal dopamine levels and production?
I have noticed I am HORRIBLY addicted to my phone and reddit. I can't sit at a stop light without my phone. It's torture. If I take a bathroom trip without it, I pull up my pants, go grab it, then go back and start over. It's embarrassing and I want to fix it. I thought about going back to a flip phone but in today's day and age of snapchat and social media that would cripple my dating life.
Just cut fapping out, lift and sleep enough and you'all be a beast.
Hell, just quitting fapping is more than enough!
Craving is the root of suffering. - Budhha
I must however say : Some advices are not good for everyone. I agree on the most part BUT...
About medication : I have ADHD, if I don't take it I get eaten by my "bodily desires", I lose sleep a little too.
Caffeine is to be moderated but not bad overall.
Pornography is not the worst neither. It is also a good way to get your wank done if you sleep better empty.
What kills it is abuse indeed. Abuse of any of that to get the comfort you're not able to get through fighting. Because you don't fight, because you already have a substitute of what you want. Anything replacing any real thing without being real enough is a game killer.
Look up Low and High reward living. Its posted out there and should be read in detail.
This is the source of every problem im constantly trying to fix. Holy hell im glad i stumbled onto this.
Also important to curtail your phone and social media. It's the reason why some people become obsessed and cannot leave their phones. The constant barrage of easy access information and validation from things like subscribers, comments, likes, followers, etc.
Also proper nutrition. Check out the book: The UltraMind Solution for more on how WHAT you eat is WHAT you are made of. Also, Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters is a good book on the framework of evolutionary psychology, which is highly discussed on TRP whether we call it evolutionary psychology or not.
So I should stop having fun to slay pussy that honestly isnt as fun as the having fun anyways?
Dude I do all this shit constantly and I'm doing fine. Y'all need to chill.
Also a lot of this is totally questionable. For example, you make a deal about reducing your exposure to dopamine, then you suggest people should exercise because it exposes you to dopamine.
Some stimulants can increase sex drive.
Light doesn't cause ADHD. There's basically no evidence games cause ADHD, and in fact some research that suggests games can HELP with ADHD. In addition, video games have tonnes of benefits and people that play games typically score notably higher on tests of intelligence, pattern recognition, problem solving, etc... If you are concerned with light later at night get an app like f.lux (PC) or twilight (mobile). Sunlight is much brighter and intense than a TV or monitor, so using a screen during the day is actually putting less light into your eyes than if you just went outside or looked out a window.
I'm curious what you'll say about this situation. I smoke weed pretty regularly since school started this semester and I started having shitty gym days. I linked getting high every night to having a bad gym day the next day. After research I reinforced my belief weed made my workouts shit. Then I said to myself, wait you're better than that, no plant is gonna cost you gains! I still smoke all the time, and even hit a PR today just because I didn't like the thought that weed killed my workouts. Having a positive mindset is super powerful. On the other hand I'm typing this comment instead of doing homework.
I don't know man, a better question to ask is what YOU think about yourself? Does it really matter what I think?
Don't forget the internet in general.
Solid post but...
Once again, this post is spreading mis information about ADHD to support the argument. Newsflash. There is plenty of good data you can use to support your argument. You don't need to spew some bullshit about why ADHD exists.
ADHD is a physical brain condition. Physical. which then in turn impacts hormones. Feel free to pm me and I can provide further information to anyone interested.
I take it you are unaware how ADHD was berthed into existence? (it was at a medical panel in Washington DC where a bunch of pyschiatrists just voted it into place) same way that homosexuality used to be a "physical disorder" until the DSM top brass removed it.
Shit. I'm on aggressive cut and need an energy drink. Any kick to chop this last slab of fat off will do.
On Anti-Depressants; can someone explain to me how they are hurting me rather than aiding me. (Escitalopram)
I think I need to cut the weed out, lift some weights, and I'll be alright. Good stuff.
What is this catch-22 you speak of?
"excessive masturbation"
http://chaosandpain.blogspot.com/2013/07/no-fap-more-like-no-fucking-way.html
http://chaosandpain.blogspot.com/2010/09/enough-already-sex-and-baddassery-are.html
http://chaosandpain.blogspot.com/2010/09/enough-already-sex-and-baddassery-are_07.html
way late to the party but pornography is perhaps the biggest point you have made. I cant be bothered to go into the specifics of it now but I started NoFap (about as extreme as it gets) 4.5 months ago. I have fapped once since then and I can honestly say that my perspective on life has changed.
I was in a bad routine a few months ago after quitting my graveyard shift. Adjusting to a normal schedule was tough, I'd stay up until 2 or 4 am, smoke weed habitually to the point where doing things came after smoking, playing videogames to the point where I got bored of playing them and spent hours looking for other games, saying I'll read, lift, walk,etc... before sleeping and feeling groggy the next day and never doing any of that. One day decided I wanted to wake up at 5am to get my self ready, get the gym out of the way early on in the morning and ever since I've been feeling better. The lesson I learned was a night time habit is not functional lifestyle for ME. So I adjusted accordingly, I've been studying for the MCAT in the early morning after the gym and can't bother being still for too long. Videogames are still there but its a lot better than my 4+hr sit ins I did, just a more conscious effort to avoid them since I know I get absorbed as soon as I start.
On the lighting thing, I wear blue sunglasses at night. I picked the idea up from a sleeping forum when I was having issues. If the sun has set I usually wear them when watching tv, phone, whatever. It's basically flux for real life
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Funnily enough I read by candle light before bed drinking a sleep tea bs from David's tea
Never realized it was a thing though. Thanks.
Apparently putting your feet in a hot bath tub of water for 10 minutes helps too. Found that deep on Reddit awhile ago when I was suffering from sleep issues. Actually works, someone had a scientific source for it too.
Nowadays I take the whole process pretty seriously
Who knew Corey Hart was actually a proponent of better sleep
I'd give up any of these in an instant, But i'm sure as well not going to give up gaming.
none of these have to be completely abstained from, just simply mitigated to ensure you don't become dependent on them or unattached from your goals in life.
Yea it's about self controlling your addictions.
i only give myself one session a day but the craving is real because i just bought xcom2. It's kind of like chess and people would never hate on chess. Playing online competitive fps's is much worse for your health as it raises cortisol and stress through the roof especially alongside caffeine. My policy is xbox with fruit, water and nuts followed by a post session workout to use the built up levels of cortisol and a long walk before bed. Also fap on every 10th day with cold shower works perfect for me. Keeps high strength/confidence without things getting too nutty! I'm undercover mgtow btw!
This sub is getting worse and worse. Take this shit to nofap
Best leave it now before it gets worse? An emotional response to the truth is normal, but take it somewhere else.
You call this shit the truth? Haha. I write about mental health for a living.
This is bro-science bullshit - especially the no-fap. Everything else is OK, but the no-fap shit? Just kys lol.
Let me preface with the fact that I've only read the exercise portion of this post:
Endorphin isn't a drug. EndorphinS are a subset of hormones secreted in the brain which cause any physiological (er go psychological) change.
Your use of this word is like saying hormone is secreted by the body which makes you horny. It is an incomplete thought.
All of what you're saying is probably good advice but pseudoscience at best and blatantly inaccurate at worst. Please provide some sources.
Ok Padre, anything else that is fun and exciting that we should not do?
Hmm.. why should you care about your game? What's so important about having sex with girls, especially if it's not to reproduce?
Sorry brah, can't get behind you on the video gaming. If anything, it's great for kids and adults. It helps improve cognitive abilities.
You may have some points on some other things, but you lost my interest with a failed mention there.
Gaming is like masturbation ... it's fun but a complete waste of time.
Counterpoint: what's wrong with hedonism for hedonism sake?
Nothing. By all means, game and masturbate away. The trade-off with prioritizing pure hedonism is that it makes you progress less on your other life goals, obviously. I mean the only 'con' is the hours not devoted to other things.
Video games do not improve cognitive skills, I can tell you that. They may carry over to other skills (like typing, at first, or navigating an M1A1 Abrams tank firing system) ... but those are niche and can be enhanced with direct practice.
The only thing is -- you don't want to feel guilty for playing 4-5 hours of video games per day. You want to indulge in pure hedonism. Hey, by all means, do that. If you want to start a business, become a black belt in BJJ, learn a new language, become a stand up comedian, etc etc etc ... these goals will be seriously hampered with 4-5 hours of video games per day.
Nope, sorry. Also, masturbation is useful as well. Gaming has huge benefits, by the way. Google is your friend.
Watching a TV show makes you progress less in "other life goals". Having sex with some woman does the same. We could go on and on - the point is that you have no point.
You can tell anyone that - that doesn't mean it's true. It actually helps promote hand to eye coordination, problem-solving skills, etc. The list is pretty damn long.
Really? Because I work a full time job and I play that much a day, AND I have a girl I see regularly. Also, I'm thinking of also starting a business soon. I think you shouldn't talk about something you are only guessing at.
Why are you apologizing again? Sadly, yes. Whatever. Like I said, nothing wrong with hedonism. Then again, even if you're a hedonist, you could arguably trade in short-term pleasures for longer term ones (like wealth) that would free up more time and advanced pleasures.
No. Not unless you're trying to become relatively inactive or asocial. Who released those studies, the gaming companies? Yeah Coca Cola has massive benefits, too, lol ...
You made the claim, so you need to back it up, if you want it to be believed. I checked Google Scholar, results since 2012 (ample time) - one study that is well-cited says strategic video games promote self-confidence in problem solving skills, and higher confidence = higher grades. However, this was compared to non-strategic games (probably FPS games or candy crush, yes you may think they are strategic but the study didn't) .. and not a control group.
And would video games promote more confidence (not to mention actual skills) than developing your first website? Or Jui Jitsu (extremely strategic and probably 100x more important for a man's confidence)? Hell nah.
True. Watching TV is even worse than video games. But shit, you can't be productive 100% of the day. The question is limits. In my experience, video games are highly more addictive than TV shows, though you can drown your time in both. It's about moderation more than abstaining - depends on your life goals, again, but we're talking about, if you want to be a man with power, social skills, influence, achievement, aspirations --- if you don't then yes, play video games all day and smoke pot all day. It's your life, after all, you're free in this country.
Not really, because most games only use your fingers/ dexterity. It would not promote the same hand-eye coordination as a game of basketball, where you are moving your entire arm, not just your fingers.
Is this supposed to be impressive? You just described the vast majority of men in the United States. Full time job, girlfriend, and video games to fill his free time.
Right after you finish the video games, right?
I've played a massive amount of video games, especially in my youth. The best ones were the most addicting, and huge time vampires. I'd rather not be that guy. And no, 99.99% of males are not playing video games to increase hand-eye coordination and problem solving skills, no it's because it's pure entertainment, like another jerk-off session. By all means do that, but most of those guys live unremarkable lives. Bah.
Do you have a hard time following conversation? This won't work if you do. I was sorry that you're wrong and how you look for it.
Again, yes. You're just wrong, and studies show that.
That's like saying playing tennis is not a good activity, or chess.
You've thus solved your own problem.
Good day.
No just pointing out that you apologize too much.
Yeah and studies show that the Earth is flat. Oh wait, saying studies show means dingus dong.
People who play video games for 4-5+ hours a day are VERY defensive about their habit, as you have demonstrated. They will come after anyone, viciously, who dare say they 'game too much.' If they were truly secure in their opinion, they wouldn't be quite as defensive. You're not trying to convince me, you're trying to convince yourself.
Go play your deet deet games.
Gaming has huge benefits.
LOL my sides.
Yup, it does. You're an idiot - and I said why.
Compare gamers to non gamers/play less. Who fucks more? who has more social skills? Who goes out and does shit? Who are more fit? Who plays more sports and has hobbies?