My experience is similar but different.

Sugar, booze, drugs, video games, social media, television, etc. are destructive. Those are unnatural things which are engineered to give a dopamine rush. I've been healthier in periods of my life when I did. Going "clean" is stressful, but lands me in a healthier place. I can't usually do that because of family and social ties.

The odd item on your list is sex. Sex -- in the context of a permanent, stable relationship -- builds social bonds and helps emotionally regulated. Studies show that too.

the context there is important

in shorter term relationships it makes me want sugar booze drugs more

sometimes it’s like

oh this is “pleasure” why not get more

i hope that in a committed relationship it would be different

It's completely different.

I'm not going to generalize to anyone else, but for me:

- Casual sex is psychologically harmful.

- Regular sex with e.g. a spouse is healthy.

I find that it (1) Builds a close emotional bond. Conflicts don't seem so important. (2) Emotionally stabilizes me and makes stress go away.

As well as a number of additional positive effects. The older I grow, the more I agree with conservative, traditional cultures about sex: One lifetime partner is ideal. A small number or zero is okay. A large number is bad.

I'll mention: I'm not drifting conservative overall. Some places, I'm to the left of the left, some to the right of the right, some off-axis, and some at the center.

I'm reminded of The Oatmeal comic https://theoatmeal.com/comics/unhappy

Also, stoicism.

I have been cultivating this mindset for 10 years. I'm into month 6 of semen retention now and finally have zero urges or frustration at this stage. I eat one meal of meat, eggs, butter a day. Have finally been able to isolate and clearly see the effect listening to music has on my dopamine and happiness (its very bad for it). All of my belongings fit into one suitcase and a backpack. I live in an apartment by the beach. My hobbies are simply short walks in the morning, emotional movies in the evening, programming and reading in quietness during the day alone. Eliminated playing videogames for the most part, Hobbies are reverse engineering and decompiliation modding of childhood N64 games, coding my rts game engine from scratch, coding my programmable bot platform im creating. Reading. Finally i reached that peace you know about. Would love to hear a few things about your routine and how you spend your time or be e-friends e___cr___@gmail.com replace the first ___ with nda and the second ___ with aig :)

This sounds really depressing, you might be taking things a little too seriously.