NoFap

I’m not in opposition to them, but I do think their ideas are simplistic, naive and promote a sad, reductionistic and distorted view of male sexuality and masculinity.

NoFap is a pointless non-masturbation advocacy movement which promotes denying oneself self pleasure (or for the more extreme, any sexual activity) for a variety of terrible reasons. The community itself relies on a combination of pseudoscience, abstinence-based sexual ideology, anecdotal assertions, and whatever arguments the group's founder and followers can come up with to promote the idea that masturbation is harmful. Their largest online hub consists of the NoFap subreddit, as well as a website created by community founder Alexander Rhodes, which attempts to help people recover from the purported effects of so-called "porn addiction" and masturbation addiction. While NoFap claim that their views are rational and empirical, they have no basis in science or medicine despite them claiming otherwise. Participants claim that abstaining from porn, masturbation, and orgasms (PMO) improves their mental abilities.

A scientific study of the group found themes of toxic masculinity, with members encouraging one another to conquer women sexually as a way of demonstrating their progress in "recovery". As is to be expected, quite a few NoFappers are a part of the manosphere. While it is true that brief periods without sexual stimulation may increase one's pleasure during their next sexual encounter, there is no evidence that complete abstinence from sex or masturbation offers any special benefits over regular healthy sexual activity. There is also no evidence that masturbation itself is physically or psychologically harmful, while the validity of pornography addiction is a highly contentious subject.

"Porn addiction"
We’re here to help you quit porn, improve your relationships, and reach your sexual health goals. 100% science-based, secular, and sex-positive. According to NoFap's website, porn addiction is defined as:

NoFap openly acknowledges that porn addiction is not an official disorder, yet treats porn addiction as a fact anyway. NoFap goes so far as to support the idea that porn is a "public hazard", but also "does not support legislation to restrict the creation or consumption of pornography".

Other studies suggest that porn addiction isn't even real, but seems to be a largely self-attributed problem in religious people. However, reporting feeling addicted to porn is not exclusive to religious people. While fear of masturbation has been a staple of organized religion since time immemorial, a modern shot in the arm of the controversy seems to stem from recent attention paid to a tract called Onania, which apparently had some impact on British society.

In 2012, a man named Gary Wilson gave a TEDx talk called "The great porn experiment", which has received millions of views on Youtube; his lecture focuses primarily on the topic of "pornography addiction", and has been cited numerous times on NoFap. Unfortunately, there are a couple of huge red flags. Firstly, comments have been disabled, which is usually a bad sign. Secondly, the video has a big fat disclaimer attached to it:

According to an obituary published by his family (he passed away in 2021), Wilson "taught human pathology, anatomy, and physiology for years and [had] long been interested in the neurochemistry of addiction, mating, and bonding." He was also the posthumous recipient of an award from the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), formerly known as Morality in Media, an "anti-pornography group" founded by clergymen which recently tried to force OnlyFans to remove sexually explicit content from their site.

However, other sources have claimed that Wilson had "no scientific training or background", and "made a career peddling pseudoscience and speaking about pornography addiction".

Psychologist Jason Winters, a lecturer on human sexuality at the University of British Columbia, was unequivocal in his response to Wilson's assertions:

On his website, Your Brain on Porn, Wilson argued that "porn can cause desensitization through brain rewiring".

So what do actual scientists make of such claims?:

Wilson and Your Brain on Porn also deliberately misinterpreted and misrepresented scientific studies. For example, an article about a 2014 Cambridge University study by Dr. Valerie Voon was entitled "Internet porn addiction mirrors drug addiction". However, a Guardian article written about the study by Dr. Christopher Chambers, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at Cardiff University, debunked this claim:

Despite the fact that "there isn't much scientific research to support Wilson's claims", the symptoms that he described "align with the anecdotal evidence" of many NoFappers.

Although NoFap touts itself as secular, a lot of the scientific claims they make are also repeated by Fight the New Drug, a group founded by Mormons which has been repeatedly criticized for peddling pseudoscience and purposely misrepresenting the results of studies.

On such websites, "[t]he claims and studies cited are, more often than not, poorly designed, suspiciously funded, misleading, incorrectly derived, or just outright false". One of these studies was even co-authored by Wilson, and attempted to link internet pornography to erectile dysfunction ("pornography-induced erectile-dysfunction (PIED)"):

Other studies have thoroughly debunked this assertion:

In one of the studies cited above, "a small number of men reported both frequent porn watching and ED." However:

Some NoFappers have even compared porn to other addictive substances. In one interview, Rhodes likened "pornography to cigarettes."

Number of deaths caused by tobacco use each year: 8 million

Number of deaths caused by watching porn each year: zero

Great comparison.

Scientific view
The American Psychological Association stated that "when the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) was being drafted, experts considered a proposed diagnostic addiction called hypersexual disorder, which also included a pornography subtype." Eventually, in 2018, a behavior called "compulsive sexual behavior disorder" (CSBD) was included in the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases guidelines (ICD-11). However, it is important to recognize that this behavior can only be classified as such when it is an impulse control disorder, where the activity interferes with normal social functionality, and thus can be seen as similar to other impulse control disorders, including a few others that are sometimes labeled "addictions" in popular culture (such as compulsive gambling), and many others that do not (such as trichotillomania, or compulsive, excessive hair pulling). Whether compulsive behaviour "can or should be described as an addiction is far from supported or accepted."

Higher than normal frequency in itself, or being into sexual activities that violate the current cultural norm, are not qualifications for a diagnosis of CSBD (indeed, psychological researchers urge caution with this diagnosis due to fear of overpathologizing normal sexual behavior). There is no scientific justification for NoFap's reasoning for "pornography addiction" (it is "more available", "more novel", and "more stimulating" than "primitive sex" all subjective terms). Indeed, the general consensus is that masturbation is a normal, healthy activity (except when compulsive to the point of harm). Studies do acknowledge that the concept of "pornography addiction" does exist within this impulse control disorder behavioral framework; there is considerable debate on whether or not "addiction" is a proper term. However, proponents of the "addiction" term, like Dr. Donald L. Hilton, do not help their argument when they falsely accuse individuals that do not believe the term "addiction" is accurate of "personally appear[ing] in pornographic films, attend[ing] the Adult Video Network awards, and molest[ing] children in [their] laboratory", suggesting perhaps that Hilton's Mormon background may have more influence on some of his conclusions than anything based on neuroscience.

Whether or not the term "addiction" is applied, it must be understood that the behavioral effects of pornography while hotly debated, with a wide range of purported positives and negatives  are not ordinarily "addictive" outside of those with impulse control disorders. Furthermore, some of the reluctance of researchers to use the term "addiction" perhaps stems from evangelical misuse of the term "pornography addiction" over the last several decades.

The initial Reddit discussion regarding NoFap concerned the effects of abstention on testosterone levels. It is true that there may be a small increase in testosterone levels during abstention, with one study finding levels peaking after roughly one week of refraining from ejaculation. However, this phenomenon is currently not well studied, and other studies have found no differences in plasma testosterone levels after orgasm, nor masturbation having any significant effect on testosterone levels. The current data certainly does not scientifically justify the many other bro-science oriented claims that often both overplay masculinity traits and reflect typical, often religiously motivated, negative stereotypes about masturbation. For most people, masturbation is a normal activity which has a variety of positive health impacts.

Individual studies
NoFappers claim that sex addiction shows similar patterns to those of a cocaine addict. With actual drugs, each use should be desensitizing; however, this pattern was not found in the so-called sex addicts. In one particular study of "sex addicts", these individuals showed an increased response to erotica that was relatively higher compared to normal individuals. In fact, these so called "sex addicts" have matching brain patterns to those with high libido who don't identify as "sex addicts". The study deemed that there is no neural evidence for porn addiction. On the contrary, NoFapper's anecdotal evidence clearly has more authority than actual scientific studies.

"Rebooting"
NoFap's Standard Reboot: No edging, no porn, no masturbating. "Hard Mode": No edging, no porn, no masturbating, no orgasming whatsoever. Easy Mode: No porn.

NoFap presents several options to overcome "porn addiction". No scientific evidence, only anecdotal evidence, confirms the effectiveness of rebooting.

How about the fact that I don't give a FUCK about some random's [sic] opinion. I have my own experience as proof and that is all I need really.

"Debating with them is akin to debating Genesis with an evangelical," Ley said, adding that belief isn't a substitute for evidence. "Like all true believers, they want to shout at the people they disagree with until they give in."

NoFap gives you superpowers
According to some rather opinionated individuals, NoFap gives you superpowers. X-ray vision? Super strength? Invisibility? Nope. Being horny all the time, no doubt. Ranting about people who are wrong on the Internet about the evils of porn, to the point of harassment and no-merit defamation lawsuits against neuroscientists? Oh, absolutely.

"My impression is that they tend to be highly obsessive individuals who transmute their obsessive use of porn into an obsession with attacking people who might expose that the problem is in them, rather than the porn. Ultimately, they’re the problem, not the porn."

Alt-right
The alt-right group known as the Proud Boys has a "no wanks" requirement as part of its hierarchy (second degree). Rhodes also has appeared on a podcast with the former leader of the Proud Boys.

Nocturnal emissions
The theme of nocturnal emissions exposes many of the problems inherent with NoFap "knowledge". A whole range of rather differing opinions on nocturnal emissions pepper the NoFap-o-verse. Opinions range from the "you cannot do anything about it so don't beat yourself up about it" (was there a pun intended?) to the judgmental and shaming view that "nocturnal emissions are your fault cause you aren't controlling your dreams" or at least controlling your lifestyle or diet choices that lead to wet underwear. In the extreme end of the surreal, one should correlate what food leads to wet dreams and stop eating that food. For many, a noctural emission is no different to having a wank, you've remitted and are a pornoholic again and must start over. The speculative nature and wide variety of takes on the issues reveal how factless much of NoFap knowledge is. One of the most recurring themes on nocturnal emissions is the sense of shame for having a wet dream, a symptom of a larger sense of self-hate for not being able to resist natural sexual urges. Interestingly enough, in many of the discussions hosted on Reddit and NoFap comment boards, there tends to be a lot of empathy and emotional support among NoFappers helping one another through not just nocturnal emissions, but all of their "failings" in getting control over their so-called porn addictions and accompanying sadness.

Postorgasmic Illness Syndrome
Another possible reason for the negative effects that some participants of the NoFap community talk about experiencing after PMO could be due to the Postorgasmic Illness Syndrome, a rare but possibly under-diagnosed condition. This condition is currently thought to be an autoimmune disorder, which involves the appearance of cognitive and physical symptoms after orgasm, whether after masturbation, sexual intercourse, or spontaneously in the sleep (nocturnal emissions); those symptoms include brain fog, fatigue, flu-like symptoms, concentration difficulties, and others.

It is possible that a portion of NoFap users experience the Post Orgasmic Illness Syndrome symptoms, but are not aware of it being a disorder and believe it to be due to the sexual activities themselves, and therefore when they abstain, their symptoms decrease, which they interpret as the NoFap superpowers.