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Ultimate Guide to Breaking an Online Addiction
(Disclaimer: If you are dealing with a serious addiction, get help)
Ok so I have been thinking about this for a while, especially considering I've dealt with multiple online addictions in the past and probably developing a new one right now, but who cares, coach don't play (Disclaimer: If you are dealing with a serious addiction, get help)
In this guide I will be going over how you can break an online addiction through a few methods that range in severity (eg. Small addiction to major addiction and it will include different tools and processes to break an addiction completely using basic human psychology. Also, I recommend mainly focusing on level 3 (severe) addiction module as that one is the most detailed and will most likely get rid of your addiction. Also this is a computer based guide, I might make one for phone later, but I don't know much about it because I don't even know where my phone is located, I mainly rot on my pcTypes of Addictions:
In this guide I will be referring to the severity of the addictions based on levels, so level 1 = minor whereas level 3 = severe, look at the module you think best fits your scenario:
Level 1:
- Minor Addiction
- Checking said addiction maybe once or twice a day
Level 2:
- Moderate Addiction
- Checking said thing a few times per day, (3-10)
Level 3:
- Severe Addiction
- Refreshing constantly, waititng for notification, checking many times per day, loosing sleep + social life
In this guide I will be referring to the severity of the addictions based on levels, so level 1 = minor whereas level 3 = severe, look at the module you think best fits your scenario:
Level 1:
- Minor Addiction
- Checking said addiction maybe once or twice a day
Level 2:
- Moderate Addiction
- Checking said thing a few times per day, (3-10)
Level 3:
- Severe Addiction
- Refreshing constantly, waititng for notification, checking many times per day, loosing sleep + social life
Fighting Level 1 Addiction:
Ok at this point, you are in a safe range, you are only a tad bit addicted, checking once or twice per day, and not simping over notifications. This is probably the easiest addiction to break, and requires a simple protocol:
2. Taper down day by day the amount of activity you do. 1 day do 1 hour, next 45, next 30, then stick with a set number.
2. Fill the remaining time with other activities
Pretty generic, but this should suffice at this current level, as you are likely to not try to bypass. You are basically relying on your self control in this scenario, as you are likely strong enough because your addiction isn't severe.
Ok at this point, you are in a safe range, you are only a tad bit addicted, checking once or twice per day, and not simping over notifications. This is probably the easiest addiction to break, and requires a simple protocol:
2. Taper down day by day the amount of activity you do. 1 day do 1 hour, next 45, next 30, then stick with a set number.
2. Fill the remaining time with other activities
Pretty generic, but this should suffice at this current level, as you are likely to not try to bypass. You are basically relying on your self control in this scenario, as you are likely strong enough because your addiction isn't severe.
Fighting Level 2 Addiction:
In this point, your addiction becomes noticeable, not in an extreme way, but it defentially becomes much more present. I wouldn't say this addiction is bad, but it isn't ideal. To break this addiction, it requires a bit different and stronger protocols:
1. Setup a website/app blocker
2. Turn off all notifications
3. Set the website/app blocker to allow access at certain times (eg. after school, after work, and for a set time period
4. Slowly reduce the time your app blocker allows you per day
5. Delete account on platform if these don't work
Also pretty generic, but I promise you, the severe addiction level will be much more in-depth. Moderate addictions are easier to break with self control, but harder than minor addictions.
In this point, your addiction becomes noticeable, not in an extreme way, but it defentially becomes much more present. I wouldn't say this addiction is bad, but it isn't ideal. To break this addiction, it requires a bit different and stronger protocols:
1. Setup a website/app blocker
2. Turn off all notifications
3. Set the website/app blocker to allow access at certain times (eg. after school, after work, and for a set time period
4. Slowly reduce the time your app blocker allows you per day
5. Delete account on platform if these don't work
Also pretty generic, but I promise you, the severe addiction level will be much more in-depth. Moderate addictions are easier to break with self control, but harder than minor addictions.
Fighting Level 3 Addictiton:
At this point your addiction has likely become a very noticeable issue, maybe impacting social life or other aspects. It's not as severe as level 4, but this is the point where you must take substaintial measures:
Technical Stuff:
Deleting Account:
1. Change the password of your account to random characters and remove the email/phone number. Set it to a temp email with a random password.
2. Permentially delete the account, not temp. For platforms like discord that require 14 days, say "i'm 12" in chat and get someone to report you.
3. Log out of all devices after deleting, you won't be able to log back in because of the password
4. Log out of the email or delete the email depending on your preferences.
DNS Blocking:
This is your first line of defense. You can use your terminal to block website access completely
1. Open Terminal
2. Type: notepad c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts and scroll down to the very bottom of the Notepad document
3. Create a new line
4. Ask chatGPT to come up with every directory of the website. so for example, looksmaxxing. com has www .looksmaxxing. com, www. forum. looksmaxxing. com, block every single 1.
5. Now, type those web URL's vertically like this: example. com www. example .com www .forum. example.com
6. Type: ipconfig /flushdns
If this fails to work, look up a tutorial on how to do this. I'm on a different operating system so I just asked chat for this. And for other operating systems, ask chat.
Using Multiple Powerful Web/App Blockers:
This is your second line of defense. You will want to use the most powerful web blockers avaliable that are almost impossible to bypass, and you want to use multiple. I recommend Cold Turkey and Self Control combined, they are fucking annoying to get rid of in my experience. (Took me 1 week lmao)
1. Install Self Control by following the instructions
2. It only has a limit for 1 day to block websites, so open the terminal and type: defaults write org.eyebeam.SelfControl MaxBlockLength -int 43200
3. Insert the websites (every directory from previous list) and set the time to 3 months
3. Install Cold Turkey (It's paid though) and input all the directories of the website
4. Set the time for 3 months (mostly enough time to break a major addiction
Now you have 2 very powerful web blockers working, blocking everything you do. Cold Turkey works with apps as well.
Setting Screen Time/Blocking Through your PC's default screen time module:
This is your third line of defense. Obviously this is the worst security measure, but it's meant to work as another layer of protection against accessing the addicted website.
1. Navigate to your devices in build screen time controls.
2. Put a password/code to block you from changing these controls (What I would do is type a random password or code, and if it asks you to do it again, remember the code for a short time and then spend 5 minutes flooding your brain with random codes and random numbers and go to a memory game where you have to remember different things so you forget
3. Input the sites then select "0 Minutes per day"
Blocking Sites using Wifi Router:
This is your 4th line of defense. As you can now see, our goal is to create as much friction as possible so it's highly inconvinent to try to bypass and will take multiple hours.
1. Look up how to log into your router admin panel
2. Find the URL Filtering/Parental Controls module
3. Input the sites/apps and select Block or 0 Minutes
4. Generate a long password then write it down, put it in a glass jar, then bury it in your backyard
Blocking Sites On Tor:
Yes, I know you were all thinking that all of this is pointless against tor. But that isn't the case. There are two things you can do. 1. redirect specific websites or 2. for more severe addictions, completely block tor using the app blocking module. (Extreme though)
1. Open fire explorer on windows
2. Navigate to the folder where you installed tor. It usually is named "Tor" or "Tor Browser"
3. Look for the file named "torrc"
3. Open this file with notepad and scroll all the way down.
4. Type: MapAddress *.example.com [ Local IP ]
5. Save and Restart Tor
6. Block access to editing this file with powershell script (ask chatgpt) i'm too lazy right now to type it out
Psychological:
Install so many blockers + protocols that you get overwhelmed:
The point of adding all of these protocols wasn't to just add more security, it was to make you psychologically inclined to be overwhelmed and intimidated when having an urge to remove these things. Think about it. If your account is deleted, you have passwords stored in the literal ground, your wifi router won't let you access those links, chances are, you will be too lazy undo all of this stuff.
Prepare Mentally a week-two weeks in advance:
Ok, basically all you want to do is try to minimize the amount you are spending per day on the addiction. Don't go fully in and completely restrict, your goal is to prime your brain for the second you set up all of those protocols so you don't end up going mad the second you loose access to all those websites. In this time, try to fill it with other activities, preferably offline.
Use that time to do something else:
Once you put all the restrictions, you will go insane (from my experience) and become bored in less than 1 hour. The worst thing you can do for your mind when recovering from an addiction is doing nothing. So fill this time with an activity you like.
Conclusion:
The minor and moderate addiction modules are water, but if you really want to beat an addiction, look at my severe module. If that doesn't work, you might need rehab or an even stronger protocol, because that module is pretty strong. But anyways, I hope this helped someone because I personally have struggled with many addictions in the past, and this protocol is the only thing that has helped. Most things online are kinda water and bad, but let me know if you have another strategy.
At this point your addiction has likely become a very noticeable issue, maybe impacting social life or other aspects. It's not as severe as level 4, but this is the point where you must take substaintial measures:
Technical Stuff:
Deleting Account:
1. Change the password of your account to random characters and remove the email/phone number. Set it to a temp email with a random password.
2. Permentially delete the account, not temp. For platforms like discord that require 14 days, say "i'm 12" in chat and get someone to report you.
3. Log out of all devices after deleting, you won't be able to log back in because of the password
4. Log out of the email or delete the email depending on your preferences.
DNS Blocking:
This is your first line of defense. You can use your terminal to block website access completely
1. Open Terminal
2. Type: notepad c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts and scroll down to the very bottom of the Notepad document
3. Create a new line
4. Ask chatGPT to come up with every directory of the website. so for example, looksmaxxing. com has www .looksmaxxing. com, www. forum. looksmaxxing. com, block every single 1.
5. Now, type those web URL's vertically like this: example. com www. example .com www .forum. example.com
6. Type: ipconfig /flushdns
If this fails to work, look up a tutorial on how to do this. I'm on a different operating system so I just asked chat for this. And for other operating systems, ask chat.
Using Multiple Powerful Web/App Blockers:
This is your second line of defense. You will want to use the most powerful web blockers avaliable that are almost impossible to bypass, and you want to use multiple. I recommend Cold Turkey and Self Control combined, they are fucking annoying to get rid of in my experience. (Took me 1 week lmao)
1. Install Self Control by following the instructions
2. It only has a limit for 1 day to block websites, so open the terminal and type: defaults write org.eyebeam.SelfControl MaxBlockLength -int 43200
3. Insert the websites (every directory from previous list) and set the time to 3 months
3. Install Cold Turkey (It's paid though) and input all the directories of the website
4. Set the time for 3 months (mostly enough time to break a major addiction
Now you have 2 very powerful web blockers working, blocking everything you do. Cold Turkey works with apps as well.
Setting Screen Time/Blocking Through your PC's default screen time module:
This is your third line of defense. Obviously this is the worst security measure, but it's meant to work as another layer of protection against accessing the addicted website.
1. Navigate to your devices in build screen time controls.
2. Put a password/code to block you from changing these controls (What I would do is type a random password or code, and if it asks you to do it again, remember the code for a short time and then spend 5 minutes flooding your brain with random codes and random numbers and go to a memory game where you have to remember different things so you forget
3. Input the sites then select "0 Minutes per day"
Blocking Sites using Wifi Router:
This is your 4th line of defense. As you can now see, our goal is to create as much friction as possible so it's highly inconvinent to try to bypass and will take multiple hours.
1. Look up how to log into your router admin panel
2. Find the URL Filtering/Parental Controls module
3. Input the sites/apps and select Block or 0 Minutes
4. Generate a long password then write it down, put it in a glass jar, then bury it in your backyard
Blocking Sites On Tor:
Yes, I know you were all thinking that all of this is pointless against tor. But that isn't the case. There are two things you can do. 1. redirect specific websites or 2. for more severe addictions, completely block tor using the app blocking module. (Extreme though)
1. Open fire explorer on windows
2. Navigate to the folder where you installed tor. It usually is named "Tor" or "Tor Browser"
3. Look for the file named "torrc"
3. Open this file with notepad and scroll all the way down.
4. Type: MapAddress *.example.com [ Local IP ]
5. Save and Restart Tor
6. Block access to editing this file with powershell script (ask chatgpt) i'm too lazy right now to type it out
Psychological:
Install so many blockers + protocols that you get overwhelmed:
The point of adding all of these protocols wasn't to just add more security, it was to make you psychologically inclined to be overwhelmed and intimidated when having an urge to remove these things. Think about it. If your account is deleted, you have passwords stored in the literal ground, your wifi router won't let you access those links, chances are, you will be too lazy undo all of this stuff.
Prepare Mentally a week-two weeks in advance:
Ok, basically all you want to do is try to minimize the amount you are spending per day on the addiction. Don't go fully in and completely restrict, your goal is to prime your brain for the second you set up all of those protocols so you don't end up going mad the second you loose access to all those websites. In this time, try to fill it with other activities, preferably offline.
Use that time to do something else:
Once you put all the restrictions, you will go insane (from my experience) and become bored in less than 1 hour. The worst thing you can do for your mind when recovering from an addiction is doing nothing. So fill this time with an activity you like.
Conclusion:
The minor and moderate addiction modules are water, but if you really want to beat an addiction, look at my severe module. If that doesn't work, you might need rehab or an even stronger protocol, because that module is pretty strong. But anyways, I hope this helped someone because I personally have struggled with many addictions in the past, and this protocol is the only thing that has helped. Most things online are kinda water and bad, but let me know if you have another strategy.
TL;DR
1. Delete Account perm, change password and email/phone number before deleting, switch to temp mail and delete temp mail after deleting
2. Install Web/App Blockers (Cold Turkey with Self Control) together
3. Use Terminal to block every domain of that website
4. Set Screen Time to 0 minutes in default Screen Time manager and set random password
5. Block the websites by configuring the router (see my guide)
6. Delete the apps perm
7. Block the sites on tor (see my guide)
8. The purpose of adding all of this stuff is to make you psychologically overwhelmed when having an urge
9. Prepare mentally 2 weeks in advance by reducing the amount you spend so it's not as difficult once you cut off access
10. Use the time to do something else you enjoy
