Are you familiar with the term "hedonic reversal"?

What about the opponent process that takes place after we present our brain and nervous system to a stimuli?

Well, today we are going to talk about something called Richard Solomon's opponent process theory of emotions and how it affects porn addiction, addictions in general and, well, pretty much everything in life. 

This is a must learn...

Porn Addiction & Richard Solomon's Opponent Process 

 Scandinavian Bob here, hi!

I’m about to show you a really interesting graph.

And once I understood this theory it actually changed my life.

Yes, it IS really that powerful, so please make sure to stay with me for the whole video, because there is a twist to the whole idea later on in the video - and what you are about to discover, well let’s just say that it might potentially change your life as well!

Richard Solomons opponent graph...

Ok so check this graph out…

This axis to the left here is how you are feeling.

The higher up, the more pleasure and better you feel. And the lower down we go, the worse you feel. 

And then here in the middle is your baseline. Your baseline level of happiness, pleasure or awesomeness, or whatever the heck you wanna call it.

When you present a stimulus to your body something happens...

Ok, so when you present a supernormal stimulus to your body, let’s take alcohol as the first example, this is what’s happening...

Now, after a couple of drinks, the pleasure curve starts rising sharply almost immediately.

And as most of you already know, a lot of people really enjoy this stage. You sail up here way above your baseline.

This is  the “A” process in something called the opponent-process theory. 

Now, here’s the deal...

Your brain does not like extreme things.

It does not like too much pleasure or too much pain. 

Your brain does not like extreme things...

And I’m going to talk about pain in just a moment, but because it doesn’t like extreme things it immediately kicks in a counter process.

So, you adapt quickly and go down to a short plateau here - and then after a few more hours you go down even further. Even below your baseline level.

So it kicks in a counter mechanism (B-process in Solomon's theory)

This is the “B” process.

And I think most of you can picture this if you think about how you feel the day after a night with a few too many drinks, right?

And then you slowly start feeling better as you manage to get back to your baseline here (see video).

And by the way, I’m not saying I’m any better than anyone else here because I certainly know how this feels...

...we’re all human here :)

But check this out...

First few stimulations vs repeated stimulations...

What I just told you takes place after the first few simulations your brain is presented with. And I’ll circle that because this is important.

That curve showed how you respond after the first few times, but if you keep doing this over time, the curve will start to look a lot different.

So, let’s move a bit to the right here and take a look at what happens after you have been presenting your brain with many supernormal stimuli. 

The A-process gets weaker and the B-process gets stronger...

And so this is what your curve will start to look like then.

The “A” process will get weaker and shorter and the “B” process will become stronger and deeper.

And check this out...

With repeated exposures, you change your set-point...

When you start to recover now you won’t quite reach up to your baseline level of happiness any longer. 

And this is why so many people keep going back to doing stupid things, like...

• Drinking too much
• Using too much online porn
• Gambling
• Binging on junk food
• Playing way too much video games.
• Etc..etc...

Feeling a void because of low dopamine...

They do it because they feel a void.

They do not feel that well, because they are below baseline.

So, in a desperate attempt just to try to feel normal again they keep going back to those stimuli.

Because when the A-process kicks in, then they get to go back to baseline again, and maybe even a bit above, albeit for a very short time before dropping back downagain.

It is basically what a desensitized dopamine system looks like on a graph...

So, this is what desensitization of your brain's reward system looks like over time.

And that is so useful to know, but now here comes the kicker and something even more interesting.

If we go back to the left here...(see video)

Remember when I said that your brain does not like extreme things like too much pleasure or too much pain?

Richard Solomon's graph works the other way around as well...

Well, this means that it works the other way around as well.

So, watch closely now, as we switch the sides for the pain and the pleasure on the left axis here (see video) and we put the painful feeling up here (see video) and the good feelings down here (see video).

Ok, great, so now...if we present the brain with something quite painful like for example high intensity exercise or a cold shower, then you will feel very uncomfortable in the moment - and you instantly go very high here in the “A” process (see video) But then after the cold shower, as the B-process kicks in, you will start feeling great.

Feeling stuck? You can transform your life in 13 weeks OR LESS by >>Downloading<< my FREE guide below...

It's the exact opposite of an addiction...

So, it’s the exact opposite to an addiction, but it gets even better because it does not end here. 

Just like with the super stimuli, this first curve here is showing how your brain responds to the first few times.

So, this curve is after your first few cold showers.

And now...now comes the real kicker...

If we then move to the right here (see video) and take a look at how you will start responding over time, then you can see that you will start experiencing a bit less pain in the moment, during your cold shower, but the B-process will get stronger.

Which means you will feel even better after they are done.

With repeated exposure to a "good stimuli" you can change your pleasure thermostat in a positive way...

And here’s the final nail in the coffin...

When the B-process ends, you can see that you will end on this side of your baseline (see video).

In other words, by regularly taking cold showers or doing high intensity physical exercise, intermittent fasting etc. you have changed your "feeling good set point” and you now feel good most of the time.

It is exactly the opposite of an addiction.

Pretty cool, huh?

And so, what’s the real takeaway here?

Richard Solomon's opponent theory and the takeaway message...

Well, two things...

First, If you have been blasting your brain's reward system with way too much supernormal stimuli, you can actually help reverse the damage, on a biological level,  by for example taking cold showers.

Second, if you feel kind of bad today and you are contemplating buying some beer in order to get some relief for a while, what the hell are you doing!!? 

Go for a run instead - and then finish off with an ice cold shower! 

Don’t you get it?

If you want to change the way you feel, instant dopamine is not the way to go...

If you want to change the way you feel, the first one doesn't work, but the second one actually does.

Alright I hope you found this informative.

If you want to help me grow this channel you can always buy me a coffee, using the link right here.

This is Scandinavian Bob signing out for today and remember, if you're going through hell...take a cold shower!

Related posts:

• #1 Porn addiction relapse mistake (that you're probably making)