> Hackauthor². EasyPeasy. read.easypeasymethod.org, <https://read.easypeasymethod.org/>. Accessed 18 July 2023. # Quitting porn is actually easy and enjoyable ^093c02 ## 1. Introduction - ==Do not skip chapters.== - Addicts do not choose to become addicts - What prevents addicts from quitting is fear: the fear that we will face an indeterminate period of misery and craving - Only two reasons for failure: 1. Failure to carry out instructions 2. Failure to understand > I'd wish you luck, but as you'll soon come to learn, you don't need it. — Hackauthor² ## 2. The Easy Method - Keep using porn until you have finished the book completely - ==Attempting to quit early will not benefit you== - Stopping PMO isn't the real problem - Awareness of the health risks generates fear, making it more difficult to stop - Reasons for stopping actually make it harder - Let's consider those questions: 1. What is porn doing for me? 2. Am I actually enjoying it? 3. Do I really need to go through life sabotaging my mind and body? - Actually, ==there are **zero** advantages to watching pornography== ## 3. Why is it difficult to stop? - The problem is explaining why anyone still watches porn after getting insight on neurological damage - Why do we wish we weren't doing it when we are, and why do we crave it when we aren't doing it? - Withdrawal symptoms are actually very mild - ==Porn isn't a habit: it's addiction== - Porn doesn't relieve stress; on the opposite, it causes us to become more stressed ## 4. Nature - Internet porn makes use of the Coolidge effect, whereby male sexual refractory period is shortened by the introduction of a new potential female partner - Dopamine is the hormone of "wanting" (see [[Dopamine triggers motivational salience]]) - It is also released in response to novelty (see [[Uncertainty makes dopamine levels spike]]) - The brain strengthens neural pathways associated to porn through the release of DeltaFosB and calls those pathways in response to cues (sexy commercials, alone time, stress…) - The limbic system normally self-corrects dopamine dosage, but pornography floods it with dopamine and *desensitization* occurs - As time passes, you seek more novelty and more shock value to satisfy your hunger - ==First, you need to accept that you are, in fact, addicted== - From the first peek at porn, we invited a little monster in our brain - The porn trap relies on three mechanisms: 1. Massive societal brainwashing telling us internet porn is a derivation of print porn 2. Physical dopamine withdrawal is a normal feeling, akin to hunger 3. Porn addiction works back to front: you suffer from emptiness when you *aren't* consuming porn - Reminder: ==quitting porn involves giving up absolutely nothing== - Difference between porn and hunger: 1. Eating is needed for survival; porn is not 2. Food tastes good; porn sabotages happiness receptors 3. Eating relieves hunger; porn reinforces porn craving - The thrill of porn lies in the hunting, not the killing - Users will often refrain from using porn during extended periods (e.g. family gatherings) without effort, like smokers will refrain from smoking in airplanes - The real problem is not the addiction, it's the brainwashing - It's never too late to stop, and brains and bodies will recover in a matter of weeks ## 5. Brainwashing - We've been exposed to sexual imagery from birth - Make it a game to identify what components are used: shock value, novelty, colour, size… - ==The brainwashing message is basically that orgasm is the most precious thing on Earth== - It's a fallacy to think users are physically weak : they have to be strong in order to cope with their addiction - "Giving up" porn is a misconception: the reality is more akin to "escaping" it - The only reason users remain users if for the relief of withdrawal pangs ## 6. Brainwashing aspects - Deconstructing the imagined value of porn is crucial for escaping it - It is fear of future withdrawal pangs that create the pangs - Stress, boredom, concentration, relaxation, energy… Porn doesn't help with those; if anything, it exacerbates them. ## 7. What am I giving up? - ==Nothing: porn does not fill a void, it creates one== - Psychological gains of quitting: return of confidence and courage, freedom from slavery, no more black shadows and self-loathing - Imagine you had a sore on your face, and that you could use an ointment to make it go. However, the more you use the ointment, the more frequently the sore comes back and the bigger it gets. Eventually you discover that it was the ointment that made it grow: stop using the ointment and the sore will disappear for good. Would you continue using the ointment? Would it take willpower not to use it? Would you be miserable not using it? ## 8. Saving time - At half an hour every day, porn represents about ==15 hours per month==, which is a massive time sink - Let's assume that over your whole lifetime, you will spend a year and a half of work hours on porn. Would you refuse a cheque for the money equivalent right now? - Another way of seeing it: by becoming a non-user, you basically accept the same job you're doing but with a full month's worth of paid-time off ## 9. Health - Every time you watch porn, you trigger dopamine flooding and opioids - Porn is often viewed as a tug-of-war: on one side is fear ("it's unhealthy") and on the other side joy ("my crutch"). What if the joy side is actually also fear? We don't enjoy porn, we're miserable without it - Imagine a man falling off a 100-storey building, declaring as he passes the 50th floor: "So far, so good!" - Quitting porn will also rid you of the insecure feelings you experience late at night ## 10. Advantages of Being a Porn User ## 11. The Willpower Method - Quitting porn is ridiculously easy - We suffer from the illusion that users watch porn because they **enjoy** it, whereas they actually **need** it - The agony users undergo when trying to abstain stems from uncertainty: "How long will the craving last?", "Will I ever be happy again?" ## 12. Beware of Cutting Down - ==Using cutting down as a stepping stone to stopping is fatal== 1. You allow the monster to enter your mind in addition to your body 2. You wish your life away waiting for your next session 3. You suffer constant withdrawal pangs 4. Your sessions become more "enjoyable" - ==Cutting down involves exercising discipline and willpower for the rest of your life. **Stopping is far easier and less painful**== - Cutting down puts porn on a pedestal, and reinforces the brainwashing that it gives you something when it actually does not! - Cutting down will drag you down ## 13. Just One Peek - It's just one peek that gets us started in the first place - ==There is no such thing as "just one peek"==, only a lifetime of slavery - There is nothing special about you; everybody can find it easy to stop ## 14. Casual Users - If someone said: "I can go all week without carrots and it doesn't bother me", you would wonder why they would avoid carrots if they liked it - Casual users are more hooked than heavy users: they have less incentive to quit because they spend less time on it - Four main factors prevent users from chain-viewing: 1. Time 2. Health 3. Discipline 4. Imagination - Watching only once every day turns porn into a "forbidden fruit" - Do not become complacent; porn is addictive poison ## 15. The YouTube / Twitch / Instagram User - More insidious issue than casual users: they trick themselves into believing they're on a safe site, but the thrill is in seeking, not killing ## 16. A social habit? - Porn is an addiction-forming supernormal stimulus - Today's men are increasingly looking to quit porn once and for all - Failures are usually fall-forwards, but with lots of torture - EasyPeasy shuts down the need and desire first, and then the browser ## 17. Timing - ==Look forward to quitting porn== - Reminder: you aren't giving anything up - Most users aren't fools, they only think they are, due to brainwashing - ==The best time to stop is now.== However, saying that would deter many users from even reading the rest of the book - Analogy with swimming: the author dives straight in whereas his sister takes half an hour to completely immerse herself. If the author told her she had to dive straight in, she would simply stop swimming at all… - We believe it will always be easier tomorrow when we're less stressed, but the truth is that our lives aren't nearly as stressful as we think they are. - For any creature's life, the most stressful periods are early childhood and adolescence - We confuse responsibility with stress - ==If you follow the book's instructions, not only will you find it easy to quit, you'll enjoy it!== ## 18. Will I miss the fun? - No. After stopping greasing the porn water slide in your brain, any remaining brainwashing will eventually vanish - Beware of the influence of those who still use sex and porn as their crutch - Remember: "just one peek" doesn't exist - When the user indulges, remember that they are being deprived of - Health - Energy - Confidence - Peace of mind - Courage - Tranquillity - Freedom - Self-respect - Thus, do not envy porn users. See them as the miserable creatures they really are. ## 19. Can I compartmentalise? - No, that's not how the brain works - Compartmentalization is a myth with which your little monster tries to trick you ## 20. Avoid False Incentives - Do not give yourself rewards for abstention - Do not tell yourself that you will obtain something concrete out of quitting porn, such as having a better social life and more sex - If you get it, you'll feel deprived when the novelty has gone, If you don't, you'll feel miserable - Linking quitting to a false incentive only increases doubt - Online forum pacts also have drawbacks: 1. It is a false incentive 2. It depends on willpower 3. Sharing the credit dampens the sense of achievement of quitting alone 4. There's sometimes a guru promise that's attached, but quitting will not make you rich nor give you an incredible sex life, at least not directly - You do not need those incentives; simply ask yourself what porn does for you: absolutely nothing - Instead of getting others to help you, just be mindful - When you spot the thoughts or the cues, tell yourself "Great, I'm no longer a slave to porn. I'm free and happy to know differences in sex!" ## 21. The Easy Way to Stop - There are only two instructions: 1. ==**Make the decision that you are never going to watch porn again**== 2. ==**Do not mope about it; rejoice**== - If that was said at the beginning of the book, you would have moped about it, making it pointless - ==The beautiful truth is that it's easy to stop porn==, it's only uncertainty and doubt that make it difficult - The key is to make stopping certain and final. How to be certain from the start? 1. Realize you can achieve it 2. There is nothing to give up, and enormous positive gains to be made 3. There's no such thing as "just one peek" 4. Porn is a drug addiction, not a habit - You should now be excited to start. If not: 1. Something hasn't gelled in your mind. Re-read the above points and ask yourself if you believe them to be true 2. You fear failure itself. Just read on, and you'll succeed 3. You agree with everything but are still miserable. Don't be: something marvellous is happening right now! ## 22. The Withdrawal Period - For up to three weeks after your last session, you may experience withdrawal pangs of two sorts: 1. Dopamine withdrawal pangs: empty, insecure feelings similar to hunger 2. Psychological triggers of certain external stimuli, e.g. commercials, online browsing - The dopamine pangs disappear after a few days; it's the brainwashing that causes difficulty - A common trigger is alone time - Ex-users tend to regard internet porn as placebo, but contrary to placebo, porn *creates* the symptoms - Orgasms don't make good relations, most times they ruin them. ==Public displays of affection are not necessary good indicators of relationship quality; intimacy is best enjoyed in private== - Accept the pangs: the physical pain is non-existent and the right frame of mind will make you tolerate them easily. Acknowledge them: "I know what this is, it's the withdrawal pang from porn. That's what users suffer their entire lives and keeps them addicts. Non-users don't suffer these pangs, it's another of the main evils of this lying addiction. Isn't it marvellous that I'm purging this evil from my brain!" - ==Do not try to forget about porn. Instead, savour each moment, remind yourself of how marvellous it is to be free again.== ## 23. Just One Little Peek - The cause of the undoing of many using the willpower method - The little peek has two damaging effects: 1. It keeps the little monster alive in your body 2. It keeps the big monster alive in your mind - Porn is a mousetrap without cheese, only poison. Using willpower, you will have to convince yourself not to grab the cheese. With EasyPeasy, you see the poison. - Remember: "just one peek" is how people get addicted in the first place ## 24. Will it be harder for me? - ==Any user can find quitting porn easy and enjoyable if you follow all the instructions== - Two primary reasons for failure: 1. Influence of external stimuli: remember that the user envies you and you should pity them 2. Having a bad day: be aware that everyone has good and bad days; being a user has nothing to do with it. If you have a bad day, take it on the chin: you're better equipped than a dependent user to handle stresses and strains ## 25. Substitutes - Porn magazines, static images… Do not use any of them: they prolong pangs, making it harder, not easier - There is no substitue for porn, and you don't need it anyway - Do you need a substitute for the flu when it's over? Of course you don't! ## 26. Should I Avoid Temptation Situations - Here each user has to decide for themselves - Avoiding stressful situations during the withdrawal period may help - For social situations, the advice is the reverse: go out and enjoy yourself away! ## 27. The Moment of Revelation - Ex-users may experience the moment of revelation during the withdrawal period - Usually about five days after stopping, in a stressful or social situation where you realize that you are not only enjoying or coping with it, but the thought of porn has never even occurred to you ## 28. The Final Visit - You are now ready to visit your harem one last time. Check the two essentials before: 1. Do you feel certain of success? 2. Do you have a feeling of doom and gloom, or a sense of excitement that you're about to achieve something marvellous? - If you have any doubts, re-read the book. Otherwise, follow the instructions: 1. Make the solemn vow now and mean it 2. Browse the pictures and clips on your favourite tube site consciously, looking at the desperate attempts to amplify the shock, novelty and supernormal nature of their wares and ask yourself where the pleasure is 3. When you close the browser, do it with a feeling of freedom 4. Be aware that for a few days, there'll be a little porn saboteur inside your stomach - You can see the pangs as a telephone ringing: the signal has no power over you, and it requires absolutely no effort from you **not** to answer it - You are already a happy non-user and will remain it, provided that: 1. You never doubt your decision 2. You don't wait to become a non-user 3. You don't try not to think about porn 4. You don't use substitutes 5. You see all the other users as they really are and pity them - Do not fall for the trap of starting again, no matter how long you've stopped or how confident you are ## 29. Feedback - It is easy to stop porn, but impossible to control the addiction - Do not wait for the moment of revelation: it will come by itself if you do the rest right ## 30. Help Those on the Sinking Ship - The main reason why users are stopping is that society is beginning to see porn for what it is: a drug addiction ## 31. Advice to Non-users - Keep the page in your bookmark and refer to it as much as you need - If you envy another user, realise they are being deprived while you aren't - Remember that you did not enjoy being a user, that's why you stopped - There's no such thing as "just one peek" - Never doubt your decision never to watch porn again. You know it's the correct one - If you have difficulties, find and contact a therapist knowledgeable in internet porn ## 32. The Instructions 1. Follow all instructions 2. Keep an open mind 3. Start with a feeling of elation 4. Ignore all advice and influence that conflicts with EasyPeasy 5. Resist any promise of a temporary fix 6. Get it clear in your mind: porn provides no genuine pleasure or crutch and you aren't making a sacrifice. There's nothing to give up and no reason to feel deprived 7. Don't wait to quit, do it now! 8. Make a decision never to watch again and never question it 9. Remember there is no such thing as "just one peek" 10. Never watch porn again