We’re obv both right. You’re absolutely right, and I agree, it’s very important to consider the mental aspects that could be causing issues. The brain is way more powerful, and has way more control over things than we’d probably like to admit. Even if it’s on a subconscious level that we’re unaware of.
When I use my personal method, I make sure to only use the same few porn videos, so that there are less variables to consider. And one could argue that maybe those videos get old, and they have less of an effect. But it doesn’t seem to be the case. What controls how I feel about them, and how they effect me, seems to be all related to my hormones. At least for me. And even I could be wrong. Maybe there are mental things going on at a subconscious level that I’m not aware of that’s effecting things.
Even though the mental aspect does play a role obv, it has always just bothered me a little on a personal level, when people chalk things up to it being a mental thing that we can overcome, or will ourselves through. I honestly think I might be coming from a biased perspective, as I’m only basing these things off of my own experiences, but hormones have way more control over things than we realize. Again, in my experience. For instance, while on clomid, my thoughts were completely different, how I treated people was completely different, had extreme depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, libido was in the drain, erections gone, energy gone. Just dark thoughts all day. This was while making no mental changes in my life. No added stress, still eating the same, still working out like I always do. Literally changing nothing. It was all from hormones, imo. For me, libido and erections are the same thing. I change literally nothing in my life, and hormones appear to control these things almost entirely.
But again, you’re right. The mental aspect has to be considered as well. Performance anxiety is absolutely a real thing. Level of attraction doesn’t matter too much imo. If you’re hormones aren’t balanced, and you’re with a very attractive girl, you might go from a limp noodle to being able to get a decent erection. But I doubt being attracted to a person and a high level of intimacy is going to take you from low/ no libido and limp noodle, to 16 year old libido and erections. I’ve found that a lot of the mental aspects can help a little, but without the hormonal foundation, you’re still playing with a handicap.
But again, this is just my current opinion. I respect anyone that favors the mental aspect a little more than I do. And obv the world works on a balance system. So the real answer is to focus on balancing out both. Not just focusing on one or the other.
