How Long Does It Take for a Brain to Heal from Pornography

In this post, I am going to answer a common question about NoFap: How long does it take a brain to heal from chronically watching pornography?

And I’ll also give you 3 simple tips to do it more easily and quickly. In fact, I used these strategies to help dozens of clients and followers to rewire their brains.

Companion video

If you prefer watching to reading, check out the companion video:

As a coach, I help people beat porn for good. I haven’t watched porn for years.

I feel so much better now. That place was hell. I never want to go back.

Now I love, live, and respect life. I wish I knew this earlier.

And if you don’t want pornography to rob you of your potential, you’ll love this video. Without further ado, let’s start with tip 1.

TIP 1: See how addicted you are

So how long does it take to heal a brain from pornography?

Firstly, your time to recover depends on how addicted you are.

Many men don’t even realize this is happening to them.

I didn’t, for sure.

In the meantime, my relationship with my ex-wife deteriorated.

And it gave me an excuse to keep replacing it with porn and masturbation again and again.

No one told me I had developed an addiction.

I became a sponge that always wanted to suck in more intense porn.

Some people start enjoying violence, fetishes, or even things that cross their moral boundaries.

And then they watch more of it per day and week.

That’s when the addiction becomes hardwired and dangerous.

So it depends on:

• how long you’ve been watching porn
• how often
• how intense it is
• how much you watch per session

These things will impact your time to recover from pornography addiction or sex addiction.

And now’s the time for tip 2.

TIP 2: Have the right strategy

Secondly, the time to heal your brain depends on having the right strategy.

I had watched pornography for about 15 years before I realized it was a problem.

I was coasting through life, unmotivated and unhappy.

I would come home to my 1-year-old son and have little energy or desire to play with him.

I wanted to start NoFap but I didn’t know how.

And I didn’t know how long it would take a brain to heal after chronic pornography consumption and whether this would work for me.

But I started anyway and did my porn reboot by trial and error.

And I kept relapsing until I found the right solution.

So my advice to you is to have the right “No PMO” strategy in place.

Otherwise, you might waste months and years, relapsing and then restarting all over again.

And now let’s look at tip 3.

TIP 3: Deal with the root cause

Your rewiring time depends on whether you need pornography to escape some sort of pain.

The most common types of pain are:

• unhappiness
• boredom
• loneliness

For me, those were unhappiness and boredom.

First, I was depressed because my dog had died tragically.

I loved that dog.

Second, I felt bored and burnt out in my business.

So I used porn as a pain reliever that was like an opiate to my brain.

And I would forget about the pain for some time.

But it was a band-aid that never dealt with the root cause.

No matter how frequently I watched pornography, it didn’t resolve anything for the long term.

In fact, I was getting even more depressed, because of shame and guilt.

So I worked on those two root causes instead.

And I stopped craving porn.

So do this to cut your rewiring time as well.

With that said, let’s answer our question.

ANSWER: How long does it take for a brain to heal from pornography?

So how does porn reboot happen and how long can it take?

With the right strategy in place, you can stop watching pornography within 30 days.

It’s completely doable as long as you replace the old, negative pattern with a new, positive one.

Do it consistently for a month, and you will feel differently.

Things will start changing in your brain quickly.

1. You’re not hardwiring in that unhealthy pattern anymore.
2. You’re hardwiring in a new, healthy pattern instead.
3. Your dopamine receptors upregulate → your overall happiness with life goes up.
4. You feel proud of living a good life.

That’s how you rewire your brain to quit porn once and for all.

How to rewire your brain from porn using the SP concept

SP is a simple strategy that I came up with in the process of rewiring my brain from porn back in 2014 when I felt depressed.

Selfish Pleasure

What did I do about my depression❓Reach out for help ❓Get therapy ❓Find the root cause ❓

I did PMO.

I traded pleasure now for pain later. The pain of regretting the wasted time and potential.
And not just pain but also no motivation. I didn’t want to work hard. All I wanted was more and more PMO.
And also no results. No results in my business. No results in my marriage.
Oh wait. Actually, there was a result. My wife divorced me.

That pleasure from PMO was what I call Selfish Pleasure.

Sustainable Pleasure

My first step out of depression was upgrading Selfish Pleasure to Sustainable pleasure.

I replaced PMO with listening to my favorite music. I looked forward to it and felt better.

That’s how I rewired my brain from porn initially. It was still pleasure but now with no pain later.
But again, no motivation. After relaxing to music, I didn’t want to return to hard work.
And no results. Oh wait, it did help me rewire my brain from porn indirectly.
But normally, Sustainable Pleasures are there to give us comfort. They don’t aim for any specific result.

Stoic Pleasure

Finally, I discovered a totally different kind of pleasure. Stoic Pleasure.

I challenged myself on purpose. I wanted a girlfriend. And I worked hard to find her.

That was difficult because I did cold approach. I faced a lot of rejection and made many mistakes I regretted.

I traded pain now for pleasure later. The cleanest of all pleasures

• Porn-free
• Regret-free
• Waste-free

And motivation ❓ Yes, I felt motivated because I saw progress in social skills.

And results ❓ Hmm. Oh wait, I got a girlfriend 🙂

Okay, that’s quite a challenge. But take a simpler Stoic Pleasure such as cold shower.

Yes, you are feeling tons of pain in the now but you trade it for pleasure later. It just feels great to return to your normal, non-shower state.

You feel proud. And you feel motivated because your testosterone goes up.

Get your balance of pleasure right

Do this to rewire your brain from porn just like I did. Get your balance of pleasure right.

• Stoic Pleasure: 80 to 90%
• Sustainable Pleasure: 10 to 20%
• Selfish Pleasure: 0%

Do the hard work at school, work, or dating. Feel the pain. And throw in some cold showers for some extra stoic pain.

And then reap the rewards of that pain. Enjoy the Stoic Pleasure of results, and pride, and motivation.

And then watch an episode of your favorite TV show at the end of the day for some Sustainable Pleasure.

FAQs

NoFap before vs after: my transformation

Before NoFap, I was an instinct-driven animal. I was prone to jerking off compulsively.

I would feel unhappy, lonely, or bored. And I would automatically reach out for you know what as my free dopamine fix.

After NoFap, I realized I didn’t want to behave like an animal. I began to value my consciousness much more.

I said to myself, “Maybe I will jerk off once in a while, but I will do it consciously. For a physical release that I feel my body craves”

And after that, I went NoFap forever. I realized that masturbation hurts my consciousness regardless of the reason.

There you go, my NoFap before vs after transformation.

Do I have PMO addiction?

Here are the symptoms of PMO addiction:

1. You can’t control your urges to watch porn
2. You watch porn excessively
3. Porn steals your time and energy away from important relationships
4. Porn makes you feel unmotivated

What is NoFap brain damage?

Brain damage comes with watching porn and excessive masturbation. NoFap is a self-care protocol that helps reverse that brain damage.

While on NoFap, you quit porn and jerking off. And your brain heals.

Can your brain recover from porn addiction?

Yes, our brain is incredibly plastic. The younger you are, the easier it is to stop watching porn and undo all the damage.

Let’s say you are 17 and have been consuming porn for 5 years. It will probably take you about 30 days to heal from porn.

Now if you are 40 and have been addicted to porn for 20 years, it might take you longer. Let’s say, 30 to 90 days.

The good news is that our brain has neuroplasticity. You can rewire your synaptic pathways, including the habitual ways of thinking about PMO.

The best news is that even if you are older, you can still trigger your neuroplasticity with a hack. It’s vulnerability.

When you open up about your porn addiction to someone, it makes you feel vulnerable and activates your neuroplasticity. Plus, you don’t feel alone in this battle any longer. Plus, you feel accountable before the other person.

If you are wondering how to heal from porn, I’d say you need a solid NoFap strategy. Being vulnerable is definitely part of that kind of strategy.

How to heal brain from porn addiction?

There are a lot of tools for stopping porn addiction. Let’s focus on three basic ones to get you started:

1. Create a punishment for watching porn. For example, after watching porn, you get up immediately and clean your room. You punish yourself long enough and your brain will hate porn.
2. Find your Life Purpose. You got addicted to porn because your brain wanted something to focus on. And you couldn’t provide it with anything better. Now it’s time to find your Life Purpose. This is the calling that gets you out of bed early. You focus on it passionately, and there’s no headspace for porn left.
3. Be patient. When you watch porn, it makes you feel happy immediately. When you don’t watch porn, you don’t get the same hit of happiness. But what you feel is contentment with making the right choice. Now, that contentment doesn’t come quickly. You have to persevere until it kicks in.

How long does it take to break porn addiction?

When I was quitting porn, I got very good results after 30 days. I felt confident and content with NoFap.

With that momentum, it was easy to make it to Day 60. At that point, I started actually seeing porn for what it was: a total fake and a waste of time.

Should I count days on NoFap?

Some say, “Don’t count days on NoFap.” Meanwhile, others say counting days helps. What do you make of it ❓

Back in 2014, I started with small steps in my NoFap transformation. I started with one day as my first NoFap goal.

It gave me a measurable target to focus on, reducing my anxiety. I also had something to look forward to, even though that something was a relapse.

When I hit my target, I also felt proud immediately. I felt I developed tiny momentum from that first streak.

Then I set two days as my next NoFap goal. The momentum I had made two days a little bit easier.

That’s how I went from one small goal to another.

After 8+ years, I don’t track NoFap days anymore but I am still the counting guy in many other things.

I do it to see my progress and stay motivated. I also use this as a reminder of my goals. I hate the idea of resetting my streak in any kind of good habit that I am building over time.

Another benefit is building awareness of how much time you waste on PMO. Until you sit down and track your relapses, you might not realize that you are wasting 10 or 20 hours per week.

One example is tracking my weights at the gym. I make sure that I push myself to hit a personal best each time. I keep a piece of paper with my best results in the kitchen. That’s how I remind myself of how important it is to me.

Another example is tracking my food. I am hungry all the time and tend to overeat. Tracking my food weight helps me stay in decent shape.

Yet another example is my sleep. As I track my sleep quality with the Oura ring, I can see my REM and deep sleep times. It’s become a game for me to improve these numbers over time. Very motivating.

Well, that’s me, anyway. Clearly, I am a tracking guy. But, maybe, you are like my younger brother Egor. He is less organized and more spontaneous. He doesn’t track pretty much anything.

For example, he doesn’t control his food almost at all. He believes that whatever extra calories he gets, he can always lose by working harder at the gym.

I also don’t think he tracks his weights at the gym. He goes by the feel on a particular workout day.

So think about who you resonate with more: myself or Egor. And then make a decision about counting No PMO based on that.

Now, I also need to say that not counting days can become an excuse to continue watching porn and excessive fapping. You keep telling yourself that it’s okay to relapse as long as you rebound and keep fighting. But you might not notice that your life is really getting worse over time, not better.

I find counting, or tracking, very motivating and helpful. In the same way, I like to work in 25-minute periods. I focus just on the next 25 minutes, reducing my anxiety.

With that said, many people are against this approach. They say counting days doesn’t work for them. Instead, they adopt NoFap as a new lifestyle—something that they embrace instead of struggling with jerking off.

I recognize the lifestyle approach works for many. But not for me. I feel tempted to relapse when I have no end in sight.

Now if you feel that counting days is holding you back, experiment with not counting days. Instead, make days count by adopting a lifestyle of making the right choice every time. 

Make a promise to yourself that fapping is in the past. You are carving a new identity that is so good that porn or excessive fapping is simply out of the question.

This is what haters critique me for

Some people criticize me for being against PMO. I want to address those common critiques in this walking podcast episode. I will explain why I to curing your brain from porn helps with self-improvement.

Critique # 1: I am not addicted. I watch it recreationally

Indeed, some people can do PMO recreationally just like I can drink a glass of wine once in a few years and not become an alcoholic.

My goal is not to convert those people. My first goal is to increase awareness of the dangers of PMO among those who don’t recognize them. Especially kids. Here’s an example from someone reaching out to me for help:

“I’m 18 and I have been masturbating since 16 and I realized that it affected my grades and life negatively. I will sit for a bachelor’s exam in 3 months but I want my mind and soul to be clearer. Is a month enough time to recover and regain the clever brain I once had?”

My second goal is to use my stories and strategies to motivate people who are seriously addicted to PMO and need help.

Critique # 2:  You are selling unscientific cr*p.

There’s actually pretty convincing scientific evidence about the problems with PMO. For example, a 2022 study from Switzerland looked at how porn influences men and women. Here’s what they found for men: “A higher frequency of porn use (wave 1) and increased porn use over time (waves 1–3) were associated with lower levels of sexual self-competence, impaired sexual functioning, and decreased partner-reported sexual satisfaction.”

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medicine/article/porn-use-and-mens-and-womens-sexual-performance-evidence-from-a-large-longitudinal-sample/665B68D9E195A19B5825F9411B059927

Critique # 3:  Counting days doesn’t work. You should make NoFap a lifestyle instead.

Look, if you have the willpower to go NoFap Cold Turkey, I applaud for me.

For me, counting days was very useful. It helped me admit that I was an addict and needed to work hard to get rid of the addiction. Plus, tracking my progress motivated me to keep going.

Critique # 4: Why do you say masturbation is bad ❓

I don’t think masturbation is bad. In fact, it’s healthy. It only becomes a problem when used excessively, compulsively, and in conjunction with porn.

I actually believe that having a regular controlled release is a good thing as long as you don’t use it as an excuse not to look for a romantic partner. 

Critique # 5: Why do you propose extreme semen retention ❓

I actually don’t. I don’t think it’s healthy. When I was quitting PMO, I reduced my bad habit to masturbating once a week with no porn.

I believe whenever we don’t use any part of our body, it atrophies. And so does the reproductive system. I am not a doctor, though, and I am not giving medical advice.

Critique # 6: Stop moralizing.

I actually agree with this. Sometimes, I might fall into moralizing. But I think there is enough stigma in the NoFap community already. By moralizing, we might make people feel unnecessarily guilty and worthless. The alternative is humor—making fun of ourselves. After all, we are a bunch of evolved monkeys on a spinning rock. 

Critique # 7: You aren’t PMO-free.

It’s up to you to believe me or not. I will only say this: 

I’ve been PMO-free for almost 9 years now. And I regret that I hadn’t done it in my teenage years. I missed too many opportunities for having a loving relationship with a girl back then. 

Critique # 8: You never got laid. You are still a virgin. And you’ll always be.

Tell this to my son Denis 🙂