Dear friends!
Today, in this nofap recovery guide we’ll discuss the third and the biggest stage of NoFap recovery. This stage is called the Flatline.
Third Stage of Flatline
Flatline is a period in NoFap where the brain breaks the strong connection with dopamine, associated with porn, and reconnects it with real life, your work, business, and real success.
This process in the NoFap community is called rebooting. The actual rebooting of the brain happens during the Flatline period. Just like it takes some time to install new software on a mobile phone, your brain also installs a new OS (software) after going through a shutdown (passing through the Flatline). Flatline is entirely neutral and is a sign of your recovery.
Beginning of Flatline
The duration of Flatline varies from person to person, depending on how much someone was addicted to porn and masturbation. Most people start feeling the symptoms of Flatline two to three weeks after quitting porn and masturbation. The more someone is addicted to porn and masturbation, the sooner their Flatline period arrives.
Learn Nofap Recovery Guide About Different Phases of Flatline
Flatline is not the same for everyone; it has different phases. Let’s understand these phases:
Withdrawal Flatline
The process of quitting any addiction is called withdrawal, and the symptoms that occur due to it are called withdrawal symptoms. In this phase, you feel restless and irritable all the time. The thing that bothers you the most is the constant feeling of urges. In this phase, there are higher chances of relapse compared to the later phases of Flatline. Just seeing a mobile phone or being alone in a room can trigger intense cravings to relapse. The urges felt in this period are quite different from the desires of the earlier phase. In this phase, along with urges, feelings of helplessness, severe irritability, insomnia, fluctuating emotions, depression, a profound sense of loneliness are engulfed. In severe cases, thoughts of suicide can also occur, craving for cigarettes, alcohol, or other drugs (if you have a history of or currently use them).
Work Matters
👈Your brain is like a spring that has been compressed by porn addiction. When you quit porn addiction, before your brain returns to its original state like a spring, there are several ups and downs of emotions in the brain. Since the brain controls the entire body, during this phase, along with mental and emotional symptoms, physical symptoms such as headache, dizziness, irregular heartbeat, insomnia, nervous weakness, muscle pain, etc., may also occur.
👈During withdrawal times, don’t forget to use the tips and emergency tips mentioned in the previous episodes.
👈Have you ever seen a wrestler who has not had a fight for several days? Or if you have seen the movie “Sanju”, you will get an idea of ​​the condition of not getting high. This is exactly what Flatline is.
👈Always remember that the Withdrawal Flatline period lasts for a short time, and all these symptoms are temporary. Hold onto the rope of NoFap in the difficult days of Flatline. If you manage to control yourself in the initial fifteen to twenty days, the subsequent stages will also be easier.
👈The biggest reason for not being able to control porn addiction is not understanding the “Withdrawal Flatline” period. The experience of Withdrawal symptoms can vary from person to person. The chemistry of everyone’s brain, the duration of their porn addiction varies, so Withdrawal symptoms also vary from person to person.
Always keep a copy and pen with you or download a note-taking app on your mobile. Whenever you feel urges, start writing down why you started NoFap. What were the problems in your life, and what benefits will you get from NoFap. Your urges will disappear immediately, and you will be motivated again.
Costing Flatline Period
In the Costing Flatline period, urges (sexual desires) last for a short time but disappear completely. Although you feel better mentally and emotionally than the Withdrawal Flatline, still you may experience severe boredom, decreased sensitivity, and lack of sleep. The basic reason for all these symptoms is a decrease in the release of the chemical dopamine from the brain. How does dopamine decrease? Let’s take a look at this.
When you used to watch porn and masturbate, a large amount of dopamine and endorphins-like chemicals were released from your brain, which made you feel extreme happiness, pleasure, and satisfaction temporarily. But when you decide to quit porn and masturbation, initially your brain (mid-brain) thinks that you are temporarily away from it, and it continues to release dopamine repeatedly so that you can watch porn and masturbate again. But when you stay away from porn and masturbation for some time, the brain stops releasing dopamine to watch porn. Although dopamine is still released for other activities, the release of dopamine specifically for porn and masturbation decreases significantly. Therefore, you feel a severe shortage of dopamine temporarily. This period is known as Costing Flatline.
Be Careful Not to Check Yourself
During the Costing Flatline, due to temporary dopamine deficiency, sexual organs become lifeless. Sensitivity is lost. Typically, when such a situation arises for regular users of porn and masturbation, they are severely shaken. They think that perhaps their sexual desire (libido) has permanently disappeared, and they have become impotent. To check this, they attempt to masturbate or watch porn again to see if their sexual organs are functioning or not. And this often leads to relapse, and they may have to go through the effects and stages of withdrawal and Costing Flatline again.
Gain Control Over the Flatline
Instead of getting worried about the Flatline, see it as a campaign or challenge. Remember that the Flatline is the toughest test of your journey. If you truly want to reap the benefits of a NoFap streak, if you want to bring a revolution in your life, then get ready, you have to pass this test.
Flatline is Normal
Flatline is a feeling of numbness. Rather, it’s a sign of your recovery, so don’t make it a headache and continue your daily activities with courage.
Seek Happiness Beyond PMO
Engage in activities that bring you joy. Look for other means of happiness such as eating your favorite food, swimming in a water park, exploring natural places, etc.
By doing so, you’ll align your reward system with these joys. The happier you keep yourself, the further away you’ll stay from relapse.
Cold Showers
If you want to quickly get through the Flatline period, take cold showers. There are many benefits to bathing in icy cold water, one of which is speeding up the Flatline period.
Remember the Following Positive Things
Flatline is a dark tunnel where light may not be visible at many turns. But if you walk with confidence, you emerge as a champion and victor who has won the toughest battle of his life and fulfilled his daily activities with laughter and joy. You’ll be more in harmony emotionally and mentally with others.
If you want to easily overcome the Flatline period, just keep yourself busy with any activity that benefits you. Such as worship, exercise, humming, watching good videos on YouTube or listening to lectures, meditation, learning a new skill, learning a new language, or any other activity that takes your life towards improvement.
Whenever you feel loneliness or emptiness, immediately try to change your environment. Take a walk. Listen to something like an audiobook that you like.
Remember, the Flatline period is a difficult period, and both its phases come and go more than once. Sometimes it’s Withdrawal, sometimes it’s Costing Flatline. You have to stay strong in both types of Flatline.
After the Flatline
The Flatline period does not end suddenly but gradually. Between seventy to ninety days, the Flatline period usually begins to recede, and rebooters begin to experience many benefits which they often call superpowers. These include feeling extra hours of energy within twenty-four hours, feeling unlimited energy, disgust from porn while attraction towards real women, disappearing social anxiety, waking up with freshness and energy after sleep. These are common signs of your recovery. If you want to know more about them in detail, search on Google or YouTube.
May God be your helper and supporter. Amen.
