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Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

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Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#151

Post by belorn »

thewebcount wrote: post #85
zero_billion wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

thanks for sharing your experience. i guess it's different for different people. i have heard stories of young men who had erectile dysfunction. They could not get an erection with their partner but could an erection with porn. quitting porn has helped many such people overcome ED. before anyone asks, this relation of erectile dysfunction to porn is not yet proven. hopefully there will be more studies on the same in…

Do you have any science on that? A friend mentioned this to me, so I looked it up, and I could find no evidence (from reputable sources) that it's true. There does appear to be an increase in ED in younger men in recent years, and also a decrease in sperm count, but not one of the sources I found mentioned anything about porn usage being related.

Wikipedia has a good hint over the science for ED:

In about 80% of cases, physical causes can be identified.[2] These include cardiovascular disease; diabetes mellitus; neurological problems, such as those following prostatectomy; hypogonadism; and drug side effects. About 10% of cases are psychological impotence, caused by thoughts or feelings;[2] here, there is a strong response to placebo treatment.

If a patient can not get an erection with their partner but can with porn, the cause is unlikely to be physical.

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#152

Post by ummonk »

emacsen wrote: post #93

Some of this is interesting, such as the social media aspect, but I'd like to understand exactly what your motivation is and where your funding is from. One of the things few people know about the new "porn addiction" websites, including NoFap and "Fight the New Drug" is that there are connections between these groups and the LDS (ie Mormon) church. It's less about "addiction" than creating a stigma around pornograph…

I’m not sure the LDS church would be too keen on funding an app named after a Hindu concept.

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#153

Post by absk82 »

zero_billion wrote: post #35
jeffrwells wrote: post #29

CovenantEyes has pretty advanced blocking/monitoring tech with a similar accountability system, you may want to check it out. They use a VPN config on iOS to monitor traffic, and on MacOS make their monitoring app very difficult to uninstall without an uninstall key (which notifies your accountability partners)

true, they do have a good blocking system. i have tried their products.

I think the best blocking system, if you have a regular job which provides work laptops would be, just use your work computer for everything. Lock up your personal laptop somewhere.

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#154

Post by nullsense »

Making a solid attempt to quit this year. I think I've finally managed to close almost all the remaining loopholes I've found. I've been using Detoxify and Purity, in combination with Block (to block Chrome/YT 24/7 and the Play Store at night). I also physically restrict access to certain devices at certain times of day with the use of smart plugs and shutdown scripts.

What I learned is that the compulsion is ridiculously strong. I also learned I don't really miss it. Like... I'm ok without it. Addictions never feel that way, that's what makes it so hard to quit, but in reality it's been really nice to feel OK without it. It's also been much better for my marriage. Honestly even usage once a month is problematic I have found.

Years ago I read chapter 4 of "The Brain That Changes Itself" as that chapter is all about porn. It really opened my eyes. Glad I'm finally getting it sorted. I found it seriously worth kicking it out of my life.

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#155

Post by argc »

brutusborn wrote: post #92
bityard wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Media addiction is a manifestation of something, not the root cause. I only partly agree. I have two children. We are loving parents and provide them with a stable house, lots of food, plenty of attention. They have friends, toys, games, books, musical instruments, bikes, and a whole neighborhood to explore. We are an extremely typical middle-class household. But left to their own devices, they will happily spend e…

I agree with your view on the addictiveness of media, exept that the addiction has no root cause. My experience with alcohol and other substance abuse problems is that there is always an underlying psychological root cause. I beleive the same to be true of media addiction; excessive use to the point of "addiction" is escapism from some psychological distress.

I think this is completely wrong, our brains have reward pathways and someone could just as easily be escaping mild boredom rather than psychological distress. I have known a number of opiate addicts, including myself for a time, and in all cases it was triggered by a prescription due to an accident, or experimentation among otherwise exceptionally happy kids. In two cases this resulted in the person's death by overdose. Now, eventually the addiction did cause psychological distress, certainly, but I disagree categorically that there has to be some underlying psychological root cause.

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#156

Post by airbreather »

throwaway306744 wrote: post #117
globular-toast wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it is like dieting, but I don't agree that it's necessarily a symptom of some underlying problem. I used to think fat people were fat simply by choice. I mean, they are the only ones lifting the fork, right? But I no longer think it's this simple. We are the result of billions of years of evolution in a world where food was scarce. Those who didn't compete for food perished. Those who ate as much as they could w…

> Sex is similar. We are descended from males who mated with as many women as they could. Maybe not all men are like me, but there is a part of my brain that literally wants to mate with every attractive woman I see. Not quite. We are descended from sexual pairs whose children survived long enough to reproduce. Often, it took at least both mother and father to keep children alive. And human female reproduction select…

Often the "father" who helped care for the children was not the biological father.

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#157

Post by airbreather »

This sounds a bit like "just say no".

There must be hundereds of different reasons why different people consume (sometimes compulsively) various media of all types, some related to them individually, some related to the circumstancews they find themselves in, some for reasons so bizzare you wouldn't believe them unless you witnessed them.

Has any studies been done to show compulisive use of porn is better or worse for you than doomscrolling? I know which one I woudl choose.

I respect the effort and the intent, but I can't see how a one size prohibition approach fits all.

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#158

Post by lolc »

edgyquant wrote: post #83
lolc wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, that's a low bar. By that metric therapists also capitalize on other people's pain.

They do but there’s nothing wrong with that. Everything in life is an economic transaction if it involves more than one person. The other poster is just being pedantic and a bit mean.

The therapists (and the app) are supposed to capitalize on improvement. Saying that they capitalize on pain takes a dystopic perspective that I find unjustified. Until they are shown to employ dark patterns, we shouldn't dismiss them like that.

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#159

Post by erklik »

zero_billion wrote: post #47
erklik wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> our space is inherently non viral There are communities on the internet that are specifically for these issues. Light advertisement with the consent of various moderators would not be bad idea. /r/NoFap comes to mind specifically, but also various religious communities where the desire for NoFap extends more from religious obligations would still find this interesting, I imagine.

that's true. a few of our competitors are quite strong in religious channels to promote their products. this is definitely an interesting channel to explore. as to /r/nofap - for some reason this channel doesn't show in the sub reddits where ads can be shown. it could be due to adult words used in the forum (just a guess, not sure what the reason is).

I was thinking more organic sort of marketing in /r/nofap. Not actually placing ads but rather actually interacting with the members, and seeing if they'd be interested in such a tool. More work, but also more viable to get customers that are die-hard fans sort of thing.

Re: Launch HN: Atmana (YC S21) – An app to help cut down on compulsive porn usage

#160

Post by floodyberry- »

crsv wrote: post #10
zero_billion wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

after speaking to users, we figured out that what to replace with is best left to the user based on their choices. a lot of our users keep posting in our forums that they took up weight lifting, exercises, meditation etc. to distract them from their problematic behavior. as to studies, there is very little research on impact of porn. but, our users seem to be happy when they make progress and stay off porn for a long…

So that's a "no" to the question of whether there is any empirical evidence saying that this intervention has a positive effect. Got it. No evidence.

> After failing to monetize any healthy habit apps, I decided to work on reducing harmful habits, hoping this would be easier to monetize.

effects don't matter, making money matters

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