The NoFap Flatline - What is it And How Do You Beat it?
There are two more videos about the NoFap flatline phenomenon down in the blog post, so make sure to open up the whole page.
First video starts,
Let me ask you this, have you ever somewhere in your second or third week started experiencing a kind of depressed state?
It’s like your drive is gone and nothing really seems to motivate you any longer.
NoFap flatline and the void you feel in your chest...
During this phase it is like you have this void inside you that wants to be filled, and sometimes just choose to relapse even though you had no urges.
In case you weren't aware of it, you do that in order to try to fill that void.
Now of course, that does not work, but...
...we still try it, right?
Well my friends, this is the dreaded no porn flatline, or NoFap flatline.
The NoFap flatline symptoms...
The flatline can have many symptoms, and in addition to those that I already mentioned, it is very common with a complete drop in libido and even your penis can feel lifeless and small.
Fear not, because today we are going to take a look at a few unusual tips to help you survive the horrible flatline.
I’ll start with a couple of easy, practical NoFap flatline tips, and then in the later part we will focus more on mindset, which is even more important when it comes to flatline...
...so make sure to stay with me to the end...
Pmo Flatline tip #1: Take long walks...
Walks walks walks!
Yes, it’s a simple tool, but simple is good when you are feeling down.
You see, oftentimes when in a flatline we feel so down that we have a hard time finding motivation for anything - THEN a walk is the perfect tool. Because even though they are considered physical exercises, they can be really pleasant.
They elevate your mood...
Certainly not unpleasant like cold showers and they are not strenuous like jogging, but they still elevate your mood and that’s the big thing here.
Download >>My FREE Guide<< For A High Quality “Manhood” Now!
Low mood kills your NoFap streaks...
Low mood is most of the time what kills your NoFap streak during the flatline. Yes, that black void that you desperately try to fill...
..well, guys, do daily walks when you're down.
In fact, I used to sometimes take them two or three times a day. They really help, so take them.
Tip number #2 Eat more salt...
What?
Yea I know it sounds strange, but here me out here....
When you are deficient in salt guess what mechanism your brain uses to try to get you to eat more of it?
Salt deficiency triggers your reward system to look for instant dopamine...
Well it hyper activates your reward system.
Yes, it isn't that interesting?
If you are eating very little salt things like...
- Sugar
- Fapping to online porn sites
- Taking drugs
...or any drug or dopamine driven activity can much more easily hijack your reward system.
When I learned this a few years ago it blew my mind and of course I started eating more salt right away.
3.5-6 grams of sodium per day is perfect...
Now don’t get fooled by the old myth that salt is bad for you. It is much worse to be low on salt and you can easily eat 8-10 grams of salt per day (3.5-6 grams of sodium).
However,don’t use the normal table salt because that gets bleached and processed and don’t use sea salt because that does not contain iodine.
Himalayan salt is pretty good but it is also lower in iodine than other salts. So the next time you're shopping, try to get your hand on “Redmond Real sea salt” because Redmond contains the absolute perfect mineral balance.
Not including any links in this post, as I'm not sponsored here.
Now, if you're concerned by the idiotic guidelines recommending severe salt restrictions, take a look at these two doctor discussing salt intake in the video below...
Tip number #3 Trust the process...
I’m not gonna lie, the flatline can be a very tough period.
I could share so many more tools to help, and I will in future videos, but the fact still remains; the flatline will still suck!
So, what you have to do is to adopt a warrior mindset and instead of several times a day keep asking yourself, "How long will this last?", shift your focus to what it actually means...
You see, the flatline means that your reboot is working.
It means that your brain is healing right now - and that the process is working.
The arousal center in your brain is on a much needed vacation...
Look at it like this, the arousal center in your brain is resting and has taken a much needed vacation....this is why you feel so empty and everything is gray. But it needs that vacation and when it comes back, you will have a new well functioning brain. So instead of freaking out: trust the process.
Tip #4 Find glory in the suffering...
Since the flatline is hard, you need to adapt the attitude of a warrior and stop having that victim mindset.
You know, the one that tells you it is unfair that you have to go through this and that things are so horrible.
It’s harsh but getting through the faltine is, at the end of the day, mostly just about bloody endurance and the ability to keep pushing...
Nothing gets better by feeling sorry for ourselves...
Yes, it IS unfair and it IS horrible, but feeling sorry for yourself won’t make it better.
In fact, that might even slow down your recovery - because when you feel sorry for yourself, you often resort to comforting behaviors like...
- Eating junk food
- Drinking alcohol
- Online gambling
- Too much video games
- Etc. etc.
it’s like; with the victim mindset you are just crawling around in defense-mode.
A warrior mindset makes you stronger...
However with a warrior's mindset you rise up and start fighting.
You become proactive and start looking into...
- Cold showers
- Meditation
- Physical exercise
...and all kinds of helpful things, because you really want to beat this and slay the dragon once and for all.
Yes it is hard, but that can be a good thing. You see warriors create themselves through pain and suffering and through trial and error.
Anyone can feel sorry for himself - That doesn't take any strength...
When things are tough anyone can wimp out and feel sorry for himself, that doesn’t take any strength. But it takes a real warrior to keep going in the face of that pain...and...
"...it is in his darkest moments the warrior gets to show what he’s made of!"
Fight the good fight...
So guys, with this mindset you will start to realize that yes, things are hard but I’m going to raise my sword and beat the living crap out of any obstacle that comes my way.
There’s going to be many hard battles, but even if there is blood running down my face, from all the blows fate throws at me, I will keep holding it high and I will keep moving forward.
"Even though the urges whip my tired body. I haven’t cried aloud. Even though the blows are hard, my head is bloody but unbowed!"
If you want to support my work, you can always buy me a coffee here...
7 Deadly Facts About The NoFap Flatline And How To Cope With It...
Let’s continue by taking a look at 7 interesting facts about the NoFap flatline.
You already have a pretty good understanding about the flatline that guys descend into after quitting porn.
But let's continue with even more NoFap flatline facts.
#1 The flatline commonly lasts about 10-70 days...
Now, everyone is different and the length of the flatline can vary greatly.
Some guys have a longer flatline than this and some are lucky to get away with less than 10 days, but from what I've seen during my 10 years in the rebooting community, this is the most common time frame.
And if you didn’t know, the NoFap flatline is characterized by a complete loss of libido and drive and it can also affect your mood, making you lose focus, drive and excitement for life.
Your penis can shrink...literally...
Some guys even have a temporary physical shrinkage of their genitals.
Yes, this sounds strange, but the fact is, it can really shrivel up and feel lifeless and cold, which leads me to the next point.
#2 Is the NoFap flatline real? Answer: Yes!
Some guys out there like to say things like, "The flatline is just a myth.It’s because you have been reading about it that you start imagining it, but it’s just a placebo or or it’s all in your mind!"
Well, no!
This is wrong. Now, sure, it’s certainly possible to make it worse by excess worrying, but the NoFap flatline is 100% real.
I know this because I’ve experienced it many times myself.
And there are a lot of problems with the statement, “it’s all in your mind”...
because first, well if so, then why do so many guys experience a loss of morning wood during their flatline?
And remember the shrinkage that a lot of guys experience?
Feeling stuck? You can transform your life in 13 weeks OR LESS by >>Downloading<< my FREE guide below...
Suddenly reminded of the NoFap flatline when I saw my little penis...
Well, I had that too, and there were even days when I didn’t think about my sex life, or how broken I was at all, and then I went to the bathroom to take a piss and I was suddenly reminded of my flatline because I saw, oh damn, it looks so small and shriveled up.
And again, I hadn’t been freaking out that day, so no, it’s not just all in your mind.
When the first guys started giving up porn, they hadn't heard anything about the flatliene, yet they still experienced it...
On top of all of this, when the whole PIED became a thing back in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and when guys started giving up porn, due to the fact that they suspected porn could be causing them sluggish erections, thousands of them experienced the flatline even though they hadn’t read about it on some forum.
And then later on, when they found a forum with other guys out there, they said, "Oh, you had that too? I thought I was the only one"... so even if they hadn’t been reading about it, most of them still experienced the flatline.
So no, the NoFap flatline is NOT placebo.
However, I said most of them, because the fact remains...well, let's jump to the next subheading...
#3 Not everyone will experience the flatline
On the other hand, it is also true that not everyone will experience the flatline.
From what I have seen and read over the years, and according to a poll I made for my subscribers, which I will share in a moment...
About 23% of guys who quit porn do not Experience the NoFap flatline...
...about 23% of guys do not experience a flatline when they quit fapping to porn.
Now, this is probably also a reason for why some guys like to say that there is no such thing as a flatline, simply because they haven’t experienced themselves...
...but hey, just because you didn’t experience it - doesn’t make it a myth!
#4 The NoFap flatline most often starts in the second week or the end of the first week.
Back when I started my own reboot in 2012 I would say that about 60% of guys who experienced the pmo flatline started experiencing it somewhere in their second week, and perhaps 10% in their first week and the rest somewhere after the second week.
For me personally, my flatlines almost always started in the second week as well.
However, I recently did a poll in the community section asking my subscribers when their flatline most often starts and here’s the results…
As you can see most guys voted for the first week, and in second place is week number two.
Now, a few things could be going on here...
There might be a few guys who keep relapsing so often that they never got past 10 days or so, and they have not yet experienced the flatline. So they don’t really know what the flatline feels like and thus they think that initial withdrawal in the first week has to be the flatline and so they voted for week number one.
Obviously this would skew the results.
Young guys even more messed up today than 10-12 years ago?
Or perhaps it could really be that nowadays most guys fall into a flatline a bit sooner than 7-12 years ago, since today's online porn might be even more stimulating with 4k and even more nasty categories out there (scary thought - but fully plausible).
So perhaps today's guys, who try to stop using porn today, are even more messed up because of that and thus the brain shuts down their libido even sooner -and as a result they descend into the dreaded flatline a bit sooner that us old-timers did.
It is merely a speculation...
This this may or may not be the case, because again, I still suspect that quite a lot of guys voted for week #1. just because they haven’t been able to go far enough yet.
It might still be the case that most guys, not all, but the average of guys descend into a flatline somewhere in the second week.
Now, there are also quite a lot of guys who fall into a flatline in the third or fourth week as well and some even later than that.
#5 You can have several flatlines...
Yes, it is indeed possible to have several flatlines.
Some guys experience two flatlines, others even 3 or 4 and some even more than that.
Now, in general one can say that, if you’ll hit another flatline later on in your reboot then that flatline will most of the time be shorter than your first one. The first one is most of the time the most heavy and hard hitting of them all.
#6 Your motivation and drive is lower during a flatline...
Not everyone, but a lot of guys also experience a big drop in motivation and drive during their flatline.
And this was certainly the case for me as well.
It can be really hard to get stuff done during this period, but you just have to push through and do the best you can.
Try not to feel bad about yourself if you have a hard time getting things done, just try again tomorrow and know that this is a phase that will soon pass.
#7 The flatline happens because...
Well, the fact is that no one knows with 100% certainty exactly why the flatline happens. Not even Gary Wilson did, but naturally there are a lot of theories out there.
Now, I also have a theory about the flatline, in fact it's something I haven't heard anyone link together with the flatline yet. To be sure a part of the flatline definitely includes low dopamine and withdrawals and I believe the flatline is an extended version of the "B" process in Richard Solomon's Opponent Process Theory.
I'm going to make a separate video where I talk more about this.
In that video I'm also going to talk about my theory on why some men keep falling back into a flatline after doing seemingly innocent things. Like orgasming with a real life partner during or after their reboot so consider subscribing for that
But in the meantime, if you want to discover more about Richard Solomon's opponent process theory is, then take a look at this video here above.
And while you're watching, keep in mind that in porn addiction the A-process (see video) would be making you excited by fapping to porn, and the B-process would then be the opposite, which in this case would be the dreaded flatline..
Check it out and let me know what you think over in the YouTube comment section.
See you there. You can find my YouTube channel by clicking right here.
Related posts:
- Why does the flatline happen after quitting porn?
- How long does the NoFap flatline last?
- NoFap - How you you know you're in a flatline?
- NoFap after flatline life
- Can NoFap increase size and give you a bigger penis?
- Flatline after quitting porn, can you even be happy then?
- How do you know when the NoFap / porn flatline is over?
- How to know if I'm in flatline after quitting porn?
- The nofap flatline is horrible (depressed)
Take The FREE Dopamine Quiz Now...
Have all the instant gratifications you’ve been indulging in made your dopamine system underperform?
Find out if your dopamine system is working for you or against you…
Sign up to my FREE newsletter and I'll send you the quiz straight to your email inbox!
It may take a few minutes for the email to arrive.