NoFap: what holds up and what doesn’t

What NoFap is

NoFap started in 2011 as a forum where men challenged each other not to masturbate for seven days up to a month. That’s how the site describes itself. Alexander Rhodes created the website and the subreddit. Today NoFap sees itself as a peer support platform for people who want to get free of porn. It comes with day counters, its own vocabulary (“reboot,” “reset,” “flatline”) and lots of reports about the effects of abstaining.

A lot of that is good: men talk openly about something they otherwise carry alone, and they set themselves a goal. But some of the promises from this world don’t survive a sober look. And some of the mechanics can strengthen exactly what makes quitting hard.

Testosterone: the study everyone cited

The idea of a testosterone boost goes back to a Chinese study. In 28 men it found a clear peak in testosterone on day seven of abstinence, and no regular change after that. According to NoFap itself, this finding popularized the seven-day challenge on Reddit. The English version of the study was retracted in December 2021 (Jiang and colleagues, 2003). We couldn’t find the reason in a primary source.

A second, German study found higher testosterone in 10 men after three weeks of abstinence (Exton and colleagues, 2001). That’s a very small study without a comparison group. And neither of the two shows that higher levels lead to more energy, magnetism or confidence. NoFap now says itself: “NoFap is not about testosterone.”

Superpowers: what’s behind them

“Superpowers” is what some men call the changes they notice after weeks without porn and masturbation: more energy, more courage in conversation, clearer thinking. We found no controlled studies testing such effects. What exists are personal reports. An analysis of 104 abstinence journals from a forum found such accounts, but the authors stress that future studies have to rule out other explanations (Fernandez and colleagues, 2021). A man who decides to change his life often also goes to bed earlier, sees more people and exercises.

A survey of 1,063 people also found that how strongly someone wants to abstain from masturbation was linked mostly to attitudes, such as the belief that masturbation is unhealthy, and less to their actual behavior (Zimmer and Imhoff, 2020).

NoFap itself is more cautious than some videos: superpowers are reports from members, it’s unclear how much the testosterone effect has to do with them, and it doesn’t endorse rebooting as a cure for all psychological problems.

What research on abstaining actually shows

There are a few serious studies, and they’re interesting precisely because they’re unspectacular.

• No withdrawal after a week. In a randomized study, students who watched porn at least three times a week gave it up for one week. Compared with the control group, there were no withdrawal symptoms, no stronger cravings and no worse mood (Fernandez and colleagues, 2023). Limitation: almost two thirds of the participants were women, and a week is short.
• Less pull toward the immediate. In one experiment, some participants gave up porn for three weeks and others gave up a favorite food. Those who gave up porn were afterward less driven to take rewards right away and more willing to wait for a larger later one (Negash and colleagues, 2016).
• Promising but little studied. A review of short-term abstinence from behaviors like gaming, phone use and porn calls it promising but criticizes that possible downsides such as rebound effects were barely examined (Fernandez and colleagues, 2020).

That’s less than the promises suggest. But it’s a good reason to try, without expecting miracles.

Porn-induced erectile dysfunction?

Here the picture really is disputed. A large survey in three countries found only a small and inconsistent link between how often men watch porn and erectile problems, and none at all in a second sample (Landripet and Štulhofer, 2015). A study with three samples, one followed over a year, found little or no evidence of a link with mere porn use, but a link with use that men themselves experienced as problematic, and no evidence of a causal link (Grubbs and Gola, 2019). An international online survey also found erectile problems more often among men with problematic use. The authors write that this doesn’t mean the use causes the problem; it’s just as possible that it works the other way around (Jacobs and colleagues, 2021).

The review often cited as proof of “porn-induced erectile dysfunction” is an overview with case reports. It calls for more research itself, and in 2018 a correction was published regarding a co-author’s conflicts of interest (Park and colleagues, 2016).

What follows: erectile problems have many possible causes, physical and psychological. Have them checked by a doctor instead of blaming them on porn alone. And if you notice that real closeness has become harder since porn started shaping your picture of sex, that’s a good reason to quit, study or no study.

The downside: counters, shame and tone

Many programs reset the counter to zero after a fall. Relapse research describes why that can be dangerous. A man who reads a slip as proof of permanent, personal failure (“I have no willpower”) is more likely to give up his goal altogether than one who sees it as a mistake in a specific situation (Larimer and colleagues, 1999). The model comes from alcohol treatment. Applying it to porn makes sense, but it is an application.

In a survey of members of NoFap forums, 28.9 percent of those who answered the question said they had felt suicidal after their most recent relapse. Those more engaged in the forums reported more depression and anxiety (Prause and Binnie, 2023). Read these numbers with care: participants volunteered, there was no comparison group, the authors are declared critics of the movement, and a correlation isn’t a cause. Still, the pattern deserves to be taken seriously.

Then there’s the tone. A study of forum posts described how members argue against porn with images of “real” masculinity (Taylor and Jackson, 2018). A man who wants to get free doesn’t need a fight over manhood or contempt for women. He needs a clear reason and people who stand by him.

If dark thoughts come after a fall, even the thought of not wanting to live: in the US, call 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. It’s free, confidential and open around the clock. In an emergency, call 911. Outside the US, call your local emergency number.

What remains

Quitting is worth it, and it doesn’t need superpowers as a reason. Good reasons are your own: the woman you want to love, the evenings that should be yours, the man you want to be. What helps in practice is well studied and unspectacular: knowing your triggers, if-then plans, friction on your devices, someone you keep in the loop. That’s all in How to quit porn and Porn triggers.

That’s why Consurgam counts days but never resets them. A fall shows up quietly in the calendar as a dashed circle, and the road goes on. What helps after a fall is in Porn relapse.

If you are a believer

For the Church, chastity is not a performance program or a path to more magnetism. The Catechism describes it as “the successful integration of sexuality within the person” (CCC 2337) and self-mastery as “a training in human freedom” (CCC 2339). It is a virtue and also “a gift from God, a grace” (CCC 2345), and it is ordered to love: “Self-mastery is ordered to the gift of self” (CCC 2346). So the goal isn’t a stronger ego but a heart that is free to love. More in Chastity prayer.