abstract about doctors beginning to treat porn as an addiction, with anti-addiction drugs. Personally, this seems like a very disempowering solution, but at least people are beginning to recognized that porn can be addictive, even though it isn't a substance.

This doesn't describe results; just the mechanism of how the drug works via dopamine regulation.

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Internet sex addiction treated with naltrexone.

Bostwick JM, Bucci JA.

Mayo Clin Proc. 2008 Feb;83(2):226-30.

Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, 200 First St SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. bostwick.john@mayo.edu

Malfunctioning of the brain's reward center is increasingly understood to underlie all addictive behavior. Composed of mesolimbic incentive salience circuitry, the reward center governs all behavior in which motivation has a central role, including acquiring food, nurturing young, and having sex. To the detriment of normal functioning, basic survival activities can pale in importance when challenged by the allure of addictive substances or behaviors. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter driving both normal and addictive behavior. Other neurotransmitters modulate the amount of dopamine released in response to a stimulus, with the salience determined by the intensity of the dopamine pulse. Opiates (either endogenous or exogenous) exemplify such modulators. Prescribed for treating alcoholism, naltrexone blocks opiates' capacity to augment dopamine release. This article reviews naltrexone's mechanism of action in the reward center and describes a novel use for naltrexone in suppressing a euphorically compulsive and interpersonally devastating addiction to Internet pornography.
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Good luck, William! A big, warm cyber hug for you.

How about taking a look at how far you have really come. 40 days without orgasming to porn is quite an achievement.
You have realised that you 'slipped' but realise that the journey is just being resumed, you are not 'starting over' William. 'Slipping' is surely a part of any journey, not it's ending.
In case you feel down about it, I wish to relate something that happened in a meditation I had a few days ago. I was just sitting and breathing, the aim was for the awareness to just rest on the breath...how simple is that? But one thought after another crowded my mind, and it was annoying. Then like a light switching on, I noticed what was happening. Every time my awareness 'came back' to the present moment, I was berating myself for having fallen away just before (and that's looking backwards isn't it?). This was not a good way to train the mind, because the awareness coming back was actually a good thing. It was like a dog, having run off, finally coming when called, and the owner scolding it thus: "you naughty dog, why had you run away again just before?" The dog will never learn that way, it needs praise when it does the right thing.
So I tried an experiment on my own mind. I stopped all criticism and practised acceptance instead. Every time I realised that my mind had just been wandering, I said with kindness, 'good, well done'...like I would speak to an animal I was trying to train. I was not praising running away of course, I was praising that awareness had just kicked in again. The mind still would wander off, but each time awareness returned I gave the same positive reinforcement, and the self-acceptance and love began to feel very good inside. Eventually my mind (metaphorically speaking) became placid like a tamed animal, and came to rest at my feet. The experience was so beautiful; to find that when we stop fighting ourselves and practise acceptance and love instead, that the mind follows and becomes more pliable.
To apply this to life: don't berate yourself for 'mistakes'. It is good to keep a goal in mind, but stumbling on a rock on the journey to the summit is not shameful. Remember who you are Will, you are on a positive path heading in a good direction are you not?
Asher.

to point out that your headline should read, "Succeeded for 40 Days".

There is a huge, fundamental flaw in defining our recovery experience in the number of days of abstinence from anything - I am told that "dry drunks" can have years of sobriety and yet, be the most miserable people on the face of the planet, so take heart William.

Asher - I love your metaphor of the puppy and the slipper and how many of us are more than a little gun shy from getting smacked across the nose with the paper or worse yet, having our noses rubbed in that little puddle of shame we left on the carpet.

So we join you here William to celebrate your ongoing recovery and offer our love and acceptance as you continue towards the life you desire and deserve.

And Marnia...Gary...thanks for the continuing research! I skew like you away from meds but will enjoy reading something from Mayo on a topic other than myeloma.

Richard

worthy of the title, Chief Meddling Officer.

I like it!

Richard

You could be the Millionaire Matchmaker. Then we'd really be in trouble!

Until I saw that it was Marnia who edited my title I was going to say, "well, that's why we have this highly compensated marketing manager." Afterall, we are hitting the big time soon with a new edition of the book.

Thanks Marnia for editing the title. It really states more clearly where I am in my recovery. It sounds better and is more encouraging to me and others. I still fall into the old habit of putting events and situations in their most negative light.

Cheers!