7 Years of Self-Diagnosis

Tom Molyneux
Jun 12
2 min read

Yesterday I shared a post in the Beyond Compulsion Academy and received an incredibly powerful response from one of our clients.

This client, just like myself, and all of the guys we've worked with - had been trying hard to figure out how to overcome his problem with porn. He had spent hours online trying to figure shit out, but nothing had led to him experiencing the freedom and peace of mind he was looking for. In fact, a lot of the material he'd consumed had only made things significantly worse.

Yeah, I spent SEVEN FUCKING YEARS obsessively self diagnosing myself with all these bullshit conditions and problems, only to realize ONLY 2 WEEKS into this method that I was completely fine, that nothing was the issue, and that I'd just been accidentally reinforcing junkie thoughts for my whole life, and all because of the hundreds (potentially thousands) of videos I'd watched online telling me this and that about my 'personality', even saying stuff like 'this disorder can't be "cured", only treated'. Imagine telling somebody something that damaging, Jesus - opening the floodgates for millions of junkie thoughts to pour in.

Trying to stick a label on ourselves can be very harmful.

It is like giving the addicted part of the mind (APOTM) an unlimited amount of ammunition to use against us. It results in an abundance of untreated junkie thoughts and a never-ending spiral of unanswerable questions. The APOTM feeds on labels and it is no wonder every man, woman, and their dog is looking to clutch onto some kind of label nowadays.

There is nothing wrong with people for having addicted neural pathways. Everyone is susceptible to developing compulsive behaviours, now more than ever. If it wasn't for Mari Paulus (my mentor), I'd undoubtedly still be engaging in compulsive behaviours each and every day.

Our society is messed up, and a lot of the advice out there, even the well-intentioned stuff, might actually be making things worse for you.

Don't let the APOTM trick you into believing your problem is to do with your whole identity or that you are fundamentally flawed in any way. You are good, whole, and worthy as you are. See addicted neural pathways for what they are - an isolated problem that can be changed with the right training, due to the power of neuroplasticity.