I have seen many people prescribing many different strategies. And to be honest, all of them work. But at the same time non of it works.
I have been recently collecting data. I have asked many people who have over 40 days streak that include people with over 150 days of streak too.
What I found is that most of them actually WANT to stop. Trust me, they give really good strategies. I can name them right now. (I prefer to leave it until I complete my research and publish results.)
But what all of them had in common was that they wanted to stop using PMO. They WANTED to! Trust me, ask yourself now, if PMO has no negative side effects, would you ever leave it?
Since it does have a negative side, ask yourself, do you, deep down in your heart, find PMO extremely enjoyable. Obviously, the answer is a big YES.
So when you are on a streak, you feel good, you will have 100 strategies but will you be willing to use at least one of them? Often time it isn't strategy. You find the lure of PMO irresistible.
One guy told me he stopped caring about PMO altogether. So when he checked counter he saw day 45! Why is that? To most of us, thr habit of PMO is the only thing we love. If so, then what is the solutiong?
Many people tell you to find something you love. To be honest this is one bad and the worst advice ever. Due to damaged dopamine receptors and neurochemistry, we are unable to find anything much loveable. Some might be, but some simply can't find anything they'd love! I won't go much deeper into it now, though remember, the best weapon now you can have is to actually emotionally make yourself feel that PMO is very very bad.
Think about a rattle snake. Would you dare to go near it? No? Why? Because you FEEL FEAR when you are face to face with it. You eat a chocolate because you find (FEEL) it PLEASUREable.
Same goes with PMO. If you deep down love it, you cannot leave it. This is one key difference between those who fail and those who don't.
So the idea is to feel and think about porn in a different way! There are things you could do. I am going to list them.
1) Go on a binge after relapsing. This is counter intuitive I know. Start do PMO about 10 times for about three days. On day three you will be extremely depressed and anxious and you will feel different about PMO. It does guarantee a one week good streak. Please, I am not encouraging PMO. I am naming one way that will make you feel fed up about PMO.
2) Even when you lose a good streak and you start to feel bad. Don't focus on how bad of a person you are. Focus on the negatives PMO bring each day. It is okay if you stand in a mirror looking yourself in the eye for 5 mins after PMO and FEEL that empty, sad and bad feeling of relapse. So when next time you feel urge. Go stand in the mirror in same posture and expression as your would if you failed. Stare yourself in the eye and you will find PMO disgusting. Killing the urge instead of fighting it.
3) Realize porn is fake and humiliating. Change your complete outlook on porn and sex.
Finally, what I explained above is one piece of the pie and not the whole pie.
TL;DR I am colleting data through surveys to figure out why some people stop PMO and why some keep failing.