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Thu 21 Nov, 2024 04:35 pm
I am 18F. I suffer from a lot of problems currently, and it's seriously worrying me about my brain health. I have porn addiction, not really a healthy sleep schedule, phone/video game addiction, and an unhealthy diet. But my main concern right now is sleep and porn.
I have heard poor sleep or oversleeping can severely affect the brain, and even be permanent, and also heard about how porn addiction can rewrite neural pathways and cause brain fog, etc. Since about 10 years old, I have regularly gone to bed around 1-4am, and up until 12 I would wake up at 6-7am, but 12+ usually around 11am-12pm. Although for certain school days, or special events/activities/when I had a job (I take online school rn btw and started home schooling at 12) I get up around 8-9am. But will still fall asleep around 1-4am.
I have definitely noticed a decline in my cognitive ability in the last years. Worse memory, lack of creativity/motivation, hard time understanding and solving difficult problems. But I chalked it up to my porn addiction and complete lack of motivation to really learn anything or try at my academics. My thought was "if I work harder on schoolwork and try more, and kick my porn habit my brain will go back to normal and how it was. I will be smarter and have better cognitive ability" This year I've been trying more at that.
I'm still addicted to porn and definitely want to quit. But now, I'm scared it was my sleep schedule + porn addiction, and that it has caused permanent damage to my brain. I am definitely going to try to get on a better sleep schedule now, gonna go slowly at the moment. Try to go to bed at 12am, and get up at 8-9am. I am also going to implement a strategy to consume porn less, idk how well it will work
Does my circumstance seem like decline or brain health, and likely permanent? I seriously hope I haven't screwed my brain up from this, and I still have a chance to fix it. Is it possible? What damage/effects could I have done to my brain? Is it irreversible, if so how do I go about fixing it?
@Epsilon2007,
We can't give out medical advice here (it's against our TOS). And IANAD anyway.
But to me, it sounds more like you're depressed. Certainly poor eating and sleeping habits aren't helping matters. Online school and homeschooling may be keeping you from other people, and isolation isn't doing you any favors, either. What does your doctor say?
@jespah,
Does depression cause worse cognitive ability as well then? Last time I was at my doctor for a check up (last year) I didn't really tell them all this, and they didn't flag me for any depression symptoms or anything. But, from what I've described, does that sound like a situation for brain decline?
@Epsilon2007,
Well, it tends to make you tired and not care about anything (symptoms vary; this isn't one size fits all). It may not be decline at all. It may just be not studying/applying yourself.
You certainly write well and your concerns are legitimate. From what I'm reading, you seem to be an intelligent person. Maybe you're just not seeing that in yourself right now.
@jespah,
Thank you, that actually means a lot to me. I might just be overthinking then and worrying over nothing, I just feel like my brain is mush here lately. Worse memory, hard time finding the right words for stuff when talking, trouble focusing, getting tired anytime I have to actually think about something. Hence the distress over brain damage.
I have talked to people online before over multiple problems in my life, and a common thing people have kept suggesting is depression. So, maybe it's true? I just don't really feel depressed, so I'm not sure. I will try to look into that, thank you!
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