I am brand new member 29 year old lust addict. Ive been addicted my ENTIRE adult life. It's the one thing holding me back from a fully happy life. I've hesitated for a long time from joining on here but i really really want to do this. Im from the midwest and would appreciate all the chiczuk i can get. I am ready to jump in this - i just need people to hold my hand

I've only started this journey recently, and I can tell you with 100% certainty that you've come to the right place.

I was skeptical at first, and just from reading your short cry for help, I can already see that we're two very similar people. Just being here, posting and reading, is huge step in the right direction, and you will cherish the day you first stumbled in to this community for the rest of your life. I'll let the veterans welcome you properly (with links and stuff), but i just wanted to personally tell you that if you really want help, this is the best place you could have come to.

In addition, im very overwhelmed with info - ihave no idea where to start can someone please lead me in the right direction?

up

Welcome to our community, you have finally come home!

We're all in the same boat here. Tzuras Rabim Chatzi Nechama   Once you've arrived, there's no turning back. Everyone here will just grab a hold of you and pull you up with them!

GYE Program in a Nutshell: (Right Click the link and press "Save Link/Target As" to save the PDF file to your computer).

'Guard Your Eyes' offers a unique approach to helping people by recognizing that there are many different levels in the struggle for "Shmiras Ainayim" and "Shmiras Habris". After studying the experience of hundreds of religious strugglers over the past few years, we put together the suggestions and recommendations that we feel are best for the various levels. We divided the tools, features and services that GYE offers into 8 different levels. This "GYE Program in a Nutshell can help people quickly identify at what level of the struggle they are at, and which tools and features would help them most at their particular level.

Here are some quick things you can do to help you jump straight into recovery:

1) Make sure to install a strong filter. It will be almost impossible to break free of this while having all the garbage within a mouse click away. See this page for one good filter option, along with instructions on how to install it best – and give away the password to our "filter Gabai"… See this page for another 20 (or so) filter ideas and information… We also highly advise installing "Reporting Software" such as webchaver.org to give you some accountability, because filters alone are usually not sufficient and they can often be bypassed.

2) Join the daily Chizuk e-mail lists to get fresh chizuk every day.

3) Scientific studies have shown that it takes 90 days to change a neural thought pattern that was ingrained in the brain through addictive behaviors. Did you join the 90 day chart on-line? Sign up over here.

4) Post away on this forum! You will get tons of daily Chizuk and support. This disease can't be beat alone. It works best when you get out of isolation!

5) GuardYourEyes also offers many free anonymous phone conferences where you can join a group of other frum Yidden, along with an experienced sponsor. See www.guardyoureyes.org > Tools > Phone Conferences for many different options. Our conferences are taking place every day, morning, noon and night… Joining a phone group would be a tremendous step in the right direction for you and help you learn freedom from this addiction. Not only will you learn the secret of the 12-Steps – which is known to be the world's most powerful program for beating addiction having helped millions world wide, but the daily call will be another way of GETTING OUT OF ISOLATION and connecting with others who are going through what you are.

6) If you need more general guidance, write to our e-mail helpline at gye.help@gmail.com or call our hotline at 646-600-8100.

7) Download and read the "Guard Your Eyes Handbook". This handbook outlines the GYE approach in detail, and makes our network much more effective and helpful for people. The handbook has two parts:

A) The first part, "Attitude & Perspective", details 30 basic principles to help us maintain the proper attitude and perspective on this struggle. Here are some examples: Understanding what we are up against, what it is that Hashem wants from us, how we can use this struggle for tremendous growth, how we can deal with bad thoughts, discovering how to redirect the power of our souls, understanding that every little bit counts, learning how to bounce back up after a fall, and so on and so forth…

The second part, "The 18 Tools", detail suggested tools and techniques, in progressive order, beginning with the most basic and fundamental approaches to dealing with this addiction, and continuing down through increasingly earnest and powerful methods. No matter what level our addiction may have advanced to, we will be able to find the right tools to break free in this handbook!

May Hashem be with you!

Start by reading the GYE Handbook.

It's the official user's guide to GYE.

http://www.guardureyes.com/GUE/PDFs/eBooks/GuardYourEyes%20Handbook.pdf

Welcome!

Welcome!  You're in great hands - see the welcome message by ZemirosShabbos above.  You can start by reading the "GYE Program in a Nutshell", which is linked in the above post.  You can then move on to the GYE Handbook, which is also linked there.

Hatzlacha!

Welcome to the journey!  Now there's no turning back.
Hatzlacha!

MIDWEST REPRESENT!
Also, as a newcomer myself, I think this is a great place to end up when you get that "end of my rope" or "hitting bottom" feeling. I know when I got to the end of my rope, I needed a lot of help from the chevrah here to realize that I had probably been on the wrong rope!