
No Fap is a movement against masturbation. Proponents say that avoiding masturbation for long periods of time will improve their lives and sexuality. It supports a specific understanding of masturbation and human sexuality and claims that pornography is harmful.
This group claims that avoiding masturbation can help people avoid compulsive or addictive sexual behavior. And use the motivation that comes to regain control over their lives. It started on Reddit in 2011 during an online conversation between people who had given up masturbation.
What started as an informal discussion is now a website and organization. It promotes not only giving up masturbation, but pornography and other sexual behaviors as well.
The target group appears to be predominantly straight men, with smaller groups of women and LGBTQIA + people. The exponents argue that adopting the NoFap lifestyle offers a variety of benefits, from mental clarity to muscle growth. But the question remains- Are any of these claims true?
NoFap Shows How to Use the Internet for Good
Now it’s easier than ever to access the Internet, whether it’s with a computer, phone, or tablet. Inevitably, more and more people are spending their time online and they try to explore the internet in every way possible.
It has a dark side that can have detrimental consequences if used in excess.
Porn is nothing new, but high-speed internet has turned it into a different form of a beast. A growing number of people who grew up with internet porn are calling it a super stimulant that they have become addicted to, and even say it has the ability to rewire that compulsive porn use is a coping mechanism for depression, anxiety and other mental issues
NoFap is an online forum and a community website that acts as a support group and provides help for those people who looking to quit pornography and masturbation. The name comes from the slang term “fap”, which refers to male masturbation.
Although the reasons for avoiding this vary from person to person. The primary motivation cited is trying to overcome addiction to pornography. There are simple steps you can follow and tools you can use to achieve such an outcome.
Other reasons include religious and moral reasons, self-improvement, and physical beliefs that medical science doesn’t support. Many have valued the group’s views and efforts to combat pornography addiction and most have managed to overcome their digital addictions.
In this way, the community has been a turning point for thousands of users to get back to their normal social life and use the internet as a positive tool.
Ready to take No Nut November Challenge
How NoFap Started in 2011
A Reddit post from June 2011 linked to a study by the National Institutes of Health. The conclusion of that study is simple: if men don’t masturbate for seven days, their testosterone levels rise 45.7%.
This post had inspired a week-long challenge among Redditors, one of whom ultimately postulated that “fapstinence” could be a powerful motivational tool. This community started off as a casual discussion become a business with a website and an organization space. They claim to promote the quitting of negative internet behaviors such as masturbation and pornography addiction.
NoFap quickly grew into a full-scale business based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It’s rare for a subreddit to go down this path, but NoFap has taken its supportive framework and started asking for motivational content.
The main website of this community- NoFap.com, includes its own forums, an “academy” with motivational content and a merchandise store that sells promotional materials like logo mugs and Fapstronaut t-shirts, and a panic button.
It’s clear that this isn’t a “movement”, it is not against masturbation, it is not against sex, it is not religious and not just for porn addicts. In fact, the company positions itself as a motivation platform for self-help. From there, things have multiplied. The official NoFap subreddit came about and a year later a separate page appeared on NoFap.org.
Users now had a place to meet and discuss their various approaches to not systematically masturbating, as well as documenting any changes they attribute to this community.
Contribution of this Community through the Past Decade
NoFap has been creating a lot of buzz, and that’s for good reason.
Rules of this Community
Since the mark of the Reddit post in 2011, this community came up with its own rules and a 90-day schedule for its believers to try and adopt.
The “Fapstronauts” will face severe challenges which, as they say, will help them “reconfigure” their brains and get their lives back. They are to subject themselves to these challenges and achieve “greatness”. These challenges typically range from 30 to 90 days, and the 90-day mark is a complete “reset”.
The hard mode does not allow either. Monk mode, as the name suggests, requires you to be a celibate and avoid all sexual activities.
How Big is the Community
The entire movement has grown to an impressive size. There are 430,000 members on the r / NoFap subreddit and many more on the official site.
People from different backgrounds find value in this movement.
These are not just religious conservatives who promote antiquated notions of chastity. They are people of different religions, origins and political affiliations.
The NoFap Journey
Like we said before, this journey started on June 20, 2011. The roots of this community go back to a Reddit post that inspired thousands to become “masters of their domain”. u/ohropax at r/getmotivated. This post still has a lot of great advice that many new Reddit users are still reading.
The post itself is from June 20th at 14:45 UTC.
From there, the idea of creating something like this came up from a user named u/apekillape, where he nominated July as the official month for NoFap. A few hours later, many users followed the trend and continued to join the movement to post their ideas.
On June 21st, this idea popped up on Reddit. A study by the National Institutes of Health found that not ejaculating for 7 days raised testosterone levels in men by 45.7%.
The Early Days
In its early days, this recognition looked a lot like the Seinfeld episode “The Contest”. People did their best to go a week, a month, or even a day without masturbation. The idea of tracking people’s progresses first came up about a week in the life of the subreddit. From then a month and the There was a weekly challenge.
It was an exciting time to be around r/nofap.
Nobody really knew which direction the subreddit was going, but it caught on with a lot of people. People wondered what they would do after the 7-day challenge. So they continued to come up with additional ideas to keep the users interested.
The first monthly challenge – NoFapJuly decreased, and more and more challengers appeared at the subreddit. In November 2011 this reddit community released their first badge system. Back then, redditors here gave badges and reset by hand. But by December, requests went out of hand, especially with explosive growth.
The first status of the subreddit came in January. And it’s an interesting perspective of how far it has come since then. The community continued its rapid upward trend and reached 10,000 subscribers at the end of March 2012. They hit 30,000 Fapstronauts on September 18, and we were well on their way to reaching 40,000 in 2013.
Where it’s Going..
This subreddit continues to grow and prosper. Thanks to all the fapstronauts who’ve been on the journey, the community is encouraging users to keep improving. And if they are temporarily wrong, they’d have to take a rest and keep going.
Thousands of people have been and are in the same position as the community. And they believe it is important that you move on.
Since then, the community has strongly believed restricting yourself will make you attractive to the opposite sex. After all, it is science has proven that your sperm contains such important micronutrients.
If you continue to keep this in practice, you can get many internal and external benefits. All of that will lead you to your ultimate attraction destination.
After 10 Years on the Internet
Today, NoFap is the most trusted tool for self-improvement. Therefore, because of its promising and auspicious benefits, this activity is becoming increasingly popular among young people.
Some people say while practicing, a person can have sex with their partners. But they do not allow masturbation while watching porn; however, this is not 100% true.
The real fact of the matter is that a person needs to control their sexual desires or arousal. And project those sexual energies on to other things like exercise, productive work, and goals.
However, within a certain limit, they can have sex with loved ones, but there’s no room for anything compulsive. A person must not masturbate for 60 days, 90 days, 150 days, or even 180 days. You should not watch any pornographic material or masturbate.
Although this activity is not very new in India. Followers of religions such as Islam and Hinduism have practiced this for many years.
For example, in Islam fapping (masturbation) or sex before marriage is haram. This means forbidden or forbidden under Islamic law. And Muslims call this activity “Zina” which means illegal sexual relations or activities.
And in the Hindu religion, most of the saints and monks practice celibacy. For many years and they called this activity “Brahmacharya”, so this activity is not new to Indians in general.
Interesting Facts about the NoFap Community
Here are some facts about NoFap community that you probably did not know:
- Fans say it has multiple health benefits, from better sleep and muscle tone to more testosterone and mental clarity.
- Most of the health benefits that we hear about are purely anecdotal. Research shows that avoiding the Big O during a workout increases men’s testosterone and improves sperm quality.
- Science allows you to enjoy the proven sexual benefits after just 7 days. Many people in the community claim that if you stick with them for 90 days. You will be getting the most benefits.
- Folks of any gender or orientation may oppose fapping, but most research is in records. And anecdotes reflect a heterosexual male experience.
- If you follow the community rules, you will likely benefit both physically and mentally. That will happen through increased energy, stamina, confidence boosts and happiness.
Masturbation is normal and healthy, although it can have a negative impact on some people’s lives. If you are hoping to cut down on personal pleasure and pornography addiction. Such a community could be a great resource for that.
If you have any sexual or mental health concerns, you should speak to your doctor, psychologist, or sex therapist.