Masturbation Addiction Explained
Masturbation addiction is probably one of the most misunderstood of all addictions. There are many who passionately argue that it is not an addiction but a perfectly healthy act to do whenever you please. Then there are those who are addicted and cannot stop and know that it is not good but have instead lost control of their life. There are many health professionals who endorse masturbation and quote a list of supposed benefits. Also, many parents encourage masturbation in place of teenage sex. In fact, it seems the only part of society that discourages masturbation is certain religions and addiction recovery groups. The rest of society just isn’t sure what to make of it. Since you are reading this you are probably confused yourself. I hope to clarify for you the mental and physical consequences of masturbation, especially if it has become an addiction for you. Keep in mind that porn addiction is closely related to masturbation addiction in terms of bodily pocesses.
Mental Consequences of Masturbation
The body is an amazing thing if used correctly. We can make choices and have feelings we could never have without the body. Your mood and level of happiness are directly effected by how you treat your body. When a person is addicted to masturbation it has a direct effect on their mental health. First of all, when we lack control in any area of our life we are not as happy as we could be if we were in control of that area. This is especially true with masturbation.
Everyone instinctively feels bad when they misuse the body. Some people choose to ignore these feelings and pretend to be happy when they actually are not since they lack inner peace. Masturbation addiction is the opposite of self-control and instead your body controls you. When ever your body feels an urge you feel like you have no choice but to do what it wants. This feels enslaving and saps your confidence and your ability to control your life in many aspects. When we set out to do a certain thing or accomplish a specific goal, this gives us confidence in our ability to control our bodies. When we masturbate, confidence is all but gone.
Emotionally, masturbation is devastating. Our bodies were meant to be used for a good purpose and to teahc us important lessons so that our character would increase in strength. We were meant to be in control of our bodies and our destinies, not the other way around. We become strong and confident by controlling the body. When we are single that is exactly what we are supposed to do. The most confident and successful people in the world are those who have learned self-control.
When we are married we use our bodies to create a bond of love with deep feelings of care for the other person. It is an act of sharing your feelings for the other person and it produces a union that is never experienced by the lone masturbator. The single person should be in control of their body and life before getting into a marriage otherwise the outcome of the marriage can easily be predicted. Masturbation is an act that makes a person selfish since there is no bond of love and kindness being created. The single person should be in control and be confident as they maintain a hope to create a bond of love with someone in the future. There is nothing more beautiful than two people in control of their bodies and their lives coming together in marriage. That is the marriage that will most likely succeed. Two confident people making a confident marriage.
Life involves relationships whether dating, at work, business, or just having fun. When a person masturbates, the ability to create and maintain relationships is hindered. Masturbation makes us more reserved and turns us inward to be concerned mostly with pleasing ourselves. Relationships are about caring for others and this is hard to do when we are being so selfish in private. Masturbation can cause us to be less outgoing and and we may isolate ourselves from others in shame. We may feel uncomfortable in crowds because we lack the confidence to conduct ourselves in a healthy social way. It can effect our dating relationships and put too much weight on the physcial part of the relationship and ignore the friendship that should be devoloping.
Physical Effects of Masturbation
I find it odd that so many health proffesionals promote masturbation when it has so many negative effects. The usual argument is that as long as you don’t do it too frequently then it is perfectly healthy. There are a couple of problems with this idea. First, what is too frequent? There are many numbers thrown around out there from several times a day to several times a week. Know one knows exactly. The other problem and the biggest is once you have started it is difficult to stop and keep the frequency low. There are a couple of reasons it is difficult to keep the frequency low. For one people usually masturbate to relax and escape the stresses of life. Well, life is stressful almost every day and eventually you find yourself masturbating to smaller stresses like the alcoholic drinking for any reason at all.
The other reason it is difficult to keep the frequency low is because the body was not made for masturbation. What I mean by that is there are different chemical reactions happening when you masturbate as opposed to having healthy sex in a marriage. A lot of what is going on during and after these acts originates in the pituitary gland. Two main hormones are interacting and regluating each other. These are the dopamine and prolactin hormones. Dopamine makes us feel excited and prolactin makes us feel relaxed. When a person reaches climax after arousal the body knows to release prolactin to suppress the dopamine so we will feel relaxed and satisfied. In marriage this is accompanied with many emotions of love and so the satisfied feeling is multiplied and you become bonded to your spouse physically and emotionally.
Over 400% more prolactin is released at climax when engaged in healthy sex with a loved one than when one masturbates. So What does that mean? That means that the person who masturbates is no where near as satisfied and defintiely not bonded in love as they would be in a healthy normal marriage. In fact, the person who masturbates has no idea what they are missing out on but instead have sort of a psuedo miserable bond with fantasies that are ever changing and progressing in order to keep the person somewhat satisfied. The person who masturbates will continue to be excited by the unregulated levels of dopamine. They make feel a little relaxed but the arousal returns quickly and they must masturbate again in order to feel relaxed again. So with a shorter period of relaxation the person must masturbate more frequently to try to reach the equivelant level of relaxation they would have in a healthy marriage. They will never reach this level of satisfaction.
In this uncontrolled and unhappy state the person is definitely not even ready to experience a marriage since they have no self-control and would bring their warped sense of love into the marriage. Remember, true love involves self-control.
In conclusion, no good comes from masturbation. Those who promote it either have never dealt with the problem or have just created an opinion with little knowledge of the negative effects.
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[...] came across this website (www.newlifehabits.com) the other day. On one particular post “Masturbation Addiction Explained“. It speaks of the harmful mental and physical benefits of [...]
[...] came across this website (www.newlifehabits.com) the other day. On one particular post “Masturbation Addiction Explained“. It speaks of the harmful mental and physical benefits of [...]
It is very true that Masturbation is unhealthy for any person, but in terms of gender, more thank likely harder for men than women. I have been affected by this and still am affected by this unhealthy habit. I can tell anyone that it is not healthy! The addiction can become such a problem that depression becomes masturbations best friend. Once that occurs a women’s or man’s social status with the opposite sex declines rapidly. This is not good at all. One can start to feel uneasy around the opposite sex, which causes his or her to drift away.
It is no doubt that masturbation is unhealthy, moreover the vices, such as pornography, lust and sexual disrespect to oneself and others causes the eruption of masturbation addiction. The more interesting thing to remember to is that you have to have the will to stop. It is more difficult for people who suffer from this problem because it is initiated by hormones. In order to stop the addiction it takes time and patience. The body uses hormones as the key initiator of sex response stimulus. Now when masturbating and frequently masturbating the body learns of shooting off hormones for a set time (i.e. per day, per week or even month), when we get emotionally excited about a picture or emotion. The problem is that it can learn to be habitual. So to fix this we have to fight it for a very long period. The good news is it can be fought.
The most important aspect is to realize that it is not in the best our interest to seek masturbation for any reason. Masturbating is not intended to be used at all. The other facet as well, is if any one person desires to have a family that it must be fixed or the entire family could be deeply affected by the vice.
I hope this helps. I know that it is an extremely difficult addiction to stop but the reward I am sure is more than worth one’s time in effort.
im 18 years old and i have been masturbating from the age of 12 i can’t stop and i have side effects like back pain and fatig so if some one think’s that it’s good he is wrong
I found that masturbation had become my primary stress reliever without me realizing it. This has made sobriety hard and led to slip ups because I had no effective coping mechanisms other than masturbation for dealing with stress.
Stopping masturbation is kind of like going for a swim. It takes time to adjust to the water, but once you’re swimming you’re glad you didn’t just go home before the cool water got up to your balls and caused a moment of discomfort.
I’ve come to realize that masturbation is as dangerous a drug as any other because it makes us ignore our real problems for another few hours or days while the problems persist, grow, and eventually crash down on us with devastating consequences. Those celebrity drug addicts don’t ruin their lives because cocaine or heroin is $10 per “hit.” They can afford more hits than they’ll ever consume in one life. Their lives are shattered because the drugs destroy their ability to cope, just as masturbation does for us. Losing your wife, job, or possessions due to masturbation is every bit as tragic as a celebrity or professional athlete losing those things due to snorting coke. Your losses might not make the tabloids, but you still have to suffer with them.
Thank you for this helpful information. I began masturbating at age 15 and am now 40, I pray I can overcome this addiction.
i am 38 years old and i have been addicted to masturbation since i was 18. i have masturbated almost every day since then and have only stopped for brief moments due to sickness or post surgeries. I have also stopped a few times when trying to prove to myself that i can stop masturbating. of course, it is a futile attmept. i have also suffered from other addicitons such as drugs and such but this one has ruined my life. it takes alot for me to not commit suicide and the only reason i dont is because i am scared to blow my brains out and beacuse i was taught that you go to hell if you do. if you are in your teens or early twenties, please stop mastrubating daily. i think it is ok to masturbate once a week. but if you do it at the rate i have been doing, your life will be a total hell. i guarantee it.
I started masturbating when i was 12, I am now 13 and am 3 days off from my last masturbating time. I realise it’s unhealthy and i just felt bad.
when i started masturbting I was feeling really, really horny. I’d try to imitate sex with anything i could, a tissue box, my soft toy. I never would have realised that my own hand would be most effective.
I felt the orgasm (dry as i hadn’t gone through puberty at the time) and i felt like i was having a fit. My family is a spiritual one, so i thought i would literally be cursed. I went to the toilet and tried to pee, I don’t know, maybe i thought i could cleanse myself… and i couldn’t. I vowed never to do it again. But i realised that it had felt nice. So two days later i tried again. And every time i just kept going. Each time (almost) that I would never do it again. Im pretty good. And i’ve even stopped talking about all the gossip over msn in a hope to distance myself from any sexual feelings for a while. Wait until im married and i love someone dearly. I hope my willpower will stand up to the addiction of masturbation.
i am from an orthodox hindu family and i have wrought sin upon myself and grief upon my family due to this wasteful habit of 14 years. i am now 26.
i will swear it anywhere that heroin or any other drug is a baby compared to this demon of masturbation.i think God makes sinners addicts of this habit as a form of terrible punishment in this world. punishment in hell will come separately.
masterbating since 13 and have been trying to stop this dreadful habit that has taken away 4 years of my life. All of my problems link to this horrible demoniac, no matter how many times i try to kick it, it comes back stronger and stronger! It has led me to countless suicidal thoughts and failure to cope with life… I cant take it anymore, i am the worst case scenario of masturbation. ive been highly disturbed by explicit images ive been exposed to and continue to feed my filthy-made mind.
Its become out of my control, ive been abusing myself lately because of my shame….this habit, destroyed me…..killed who i was, killed who i could have been…i never told anyone of this, i fear the reactions, the history, it will leave a permanent scar on me, i dont want to be this, i hate me…..i hate me…..
I have been addicted to masturbation all my life. i always felt uncomfortable amongst the opposite sex and used masturbation as a means of relieving my frustrations. This meant I never had the self confidence to project myself and as a consequence I am still a virgin such is my low self esteem at an age over 50 in spite of a high (and masturbation fuelled) sex drive. Now, alone in this world, I have a nasty growth on my penis probably caused by the excessive life-long abuse it has suffered, literally, at my own hand. Just recently I have been told it is likely malignant and that I may have to undergo partial or complete penile amputation. Let my experiences be a warning to others: leave it alone and allow your self esteem to come through as a happy and confident human being.
Masturbation is a downward spiral. First, it is an exciting feeling; you realize that you have a simple way to pleasure yourself. Eventually, though, like any drug, it becomes harder and harder to please yourself in any real way. You must increase your habits: first, you masturbate more. Second, you need more of a stimulus; no longer is your imagination of that one cute girl good enough, as you need actual pornography. Then, it goes further downward. Regular consensual sex in pornography is no longer good enough. The choice of women are too great and you demand the best looking ones. You need new and risque images of sex to help you.
Eventually, no matter how long it takes, you will cross the threshhold of public shame. Shaytan has gotten to you in private, now he wants to drag you into public and humiliate you. You will see that strip bar or that xxx store and you will feel the temptation to go in. After seeing it many times, you decide to make the plunge. You traverse the aisles, pick out things that will make your habit easier, and return home.
More and more stimulus is needed, and your body has been trained to do everything anonymously. Soon enough, you crave the casual encounter, wanting nothing more than to live out the sickening fantasies you’ve grown attached to online.
I reached my lowest point when I resorted to escort services to meet my needs. I contantly felt the need to masturbate for ridiculous reasons and excuses: “I need to make sure I don’t have ED”, “I could seriously hurt my body if I don’t let it all out”, “it makes it so I have to go to the bathroom less and that is a good convenience,” or “I won’t be able to fall asleep unless I expel some energy.” No longer was I desperate for razzle and dazzle, I was just desperate for the fix. I was willing to meet someone anonymously, pay them exhorbitant amounts of money, and leave entirely unsatisfied as I was delivered less than what my pornstar-oriented mind demanded. I lacked true intimacy, connection, and love. I failed at being able to translate my compassion to another.
After that, I completely gave myself up to Allah, realizing my faults. I haven’t masturbated since, and I can tell you that there IS hope for a good life outside of the habit. For all those thinking there is no joy outside of your world of pornography, I will tell you there is. I have rapidly begun to appreciate relationships in life again. My connection with my family has grown more than before. I can see true beauty in all people around me without envisioning lust and denigration. What is most amazing is that I can realize the beauty in things besides women as well: nature, my self-control, and so much else make me feel good about myself. When I think about sex in any way, I can feel myself willing to give my body to one person and one person only and feel good about it. I no longer fear sharing my tech toys with my friends in case they find something dirty I missed. I no longer feel out of control.
There are always a couple difficulties with escaping an addiction, though. It has only been a short time for me away from my addiction, so occasionally I still feel urges to return. Every time, in my mind, I scream away the addiction, yelling at Shaytan to leave me alone, and I feel much better. The morning is the hardest to overcome; whatever dreams I have leave me in a state that desires masturbation. Every morning I must remind myself of how unhealthy I felt when I was out of control. But, every morning, the temptation becomes weaker.
Looking back just a short while ago from the outside, I realize that I lost a complete concept of reality. The world has come back into focus again. I only had one other addiction before in my life, and it was to soda (I have since returned, to my regret, but I had a purpose to quit so I could run better and I am no longer able to run after an injury), and I have to say, masturbation was the most dangerous beast I have ever experienced.
For those trying to escape masturbation: try fasting. you become more god-conscious, you lower your metabolism, and you have a lower amount of lustfulness inside you. I pray all of you can escape this habit and I hope you will all pray for me, whatever your faith is, to allow me to stay away.
wow! You have been through the rut for sure! I know exactly what you are talking about. When i first started, i was 13 and i was able to do it any time and any place. Then i discovered pornography on the internet… it was a roller coaster ride to hell from there. I became dependant on pornographic images, i could orgasm in less then three minutes with porn, but without it, it would take me twenty to thirty minutes! Then i would feel so guilty and perverted after masturbating to porn. My slump into the world of porn, distorted my mind, and convinced me that the things i saw was normal sexual behaviors…IT ISNT! Porn addiction leads to unhealth sexual behaviors like sleeping with excorts of even ppl of the same sex! It totally perverts your mind… things that would’ve digussed u before, becomes interesting and attractive. It’s totally sick! Now i’m in a committed relationship. My girlfriend hates porn and anything label “adult material” I promised to get rid of my pornography but fell short two times bcuz i was so dependant on it for masturbation. It’s a battle everyday to stay away from porn, but i still masturbate to images recorded in my brain!
i am 22. i am not so much addicted to the act of masturbating itself, but pornography. i feel pornography is almost if not the equivalent to cocaine (another substance i have abused in the past), considering both’s affects feel too good to be true. the ridiculously good looking woman completely exposed is like a magnet that pulls you back for more. the toxic images of porn along with the release of important nutrients that my body produces and exposes of after climax leaves me feeling high and dry, unconfident, anti social, and just shameful. masturbation/pornography is as much a drug as any other but what makes it even more frightening is that it is almost free if you have connection to the internet. it is a selfish act and i want to push it away. going without indulging for months periods makes me such a better person- im a hit with the ladies, my confidence sky rockets, i just feel more energetic and over all happier. one peak at that bullshit sends all that down the drain in a second and i have to wait another month to feel the same again. kids, teens, adults, who ever you are- porn aint right. it’s tempting for sure, but it’s nothin but a black hole. what it has the potential to do is straight up ugly.
I’m only 20, started masturbating at 13. At 15 I started feeling like crap, depression and all. At 18, I stopped masturbating for a little bit, just to test self control, not knowing masturbating had negative mental health issues that came with it. I will say i had never felt better in my life. I started again at 19, and now I feel like crap again. After a very stressful event recently, I started masturbating 2-5 times a day. I do not have an addiction problem as I have not masturbated for the last week, but I’m here to tell you this article is 100% true. It’s absolutley SICK that teachers, and society tells young teens masturbation is okay. This world is getting more and more screwed up.
I’ve been masterbating for over a year now. I started noticing that I get disgusted afterwards. I want to stop (its been a week) but it keeps pulling me back in. I go through cycles where I’m just not that into it. The next few days….I won’t be able to resist. I’ve never read anything about this addiction but I did notice a change in myself. Its been to the point where I don’t have control over it. The porn I watch is not a reflection of what I want but it has to be something that stimulates me enough so that I reach my peak even more quickly (it gives me a rush). Sick….it is! I hate it! I am trying to kick this habit before it gets even worse…….HELP!!!
I can’t remember when I started masturbating…sometime in middle school. I’m now almost 24.
I’m really thankful I found this website….and article. I’ve searched countless times on the internet about this subject…trying to get other people’s outlook on it. I’ve never heard the medical and hormonal side of it until tonight.
I hate masturbating because of what I expose my eyes to to get me arroused. If I think about it, I have to gratify myself or else I obsess over it. It IS an addiction. so true.
I want to stop so it doesn’t affect my future relationship with a husband and family, so I don’t feel like I’m living a secret life, so I don’t feel addicted and worn down, and many other reasons
And Prasan, if you read this, I don’t believe God punishes us with sins and addictions. He HATES sin and doesn’t want to see us hurting ourselves or eachother!!!! And I believe there is hope for our struggles. hell does not have to be our destiny. I can’t explain it all in this….it has to be something God is showing you too. In his time. In your heart. But please, please see that God is merciful. There is grace. Please ask God to help you and show you his heart for you! I believe he gave us an AMAZING gift of grace and salvation through his Son. I know as a hindu you don’t believe that. But please….ask God to help you see his grace and love and ask for HELP! It’s in his hands!!!!
I have been suffering from masturbation addiction for decades (I’m now 48). It has caused me numerous problems, including my pending divorce. It takes so much of my time that I am not living up to my family’s reasonable expectations and I have no time for any social activities. I find the urge to masturbate strongest when I’m under stress, but it seems to just feed the stress more soon afterward because it puts me under more time pressure.
I’m going to seek medical help - finally. I don’t know if an anti-depressant or an anti-anxiety medication would be suitable.
Anyone who says that this isn’t a very destructive addiction doesn’t understand it.
hey im new here. i 17 and masturbating for the last 4 years almost twice daily sometimes thrice also. and i am very addicted to porn also. the first thing i do when i switch on the p c is check out a porn video but i have always wanted to change.luckily, luckily i found a website where many masturbation obsessed people were trying 2 give up the habit by challenging themselves to a 30 day masturbation challenge. i took the challenge and 2day is the 4th day without masturbation, n its going okay. the only thing i’m worried about is that are there any health consequences for a person who used to masturbate twice daily all of a sudden stops it.
i had a weird thought that maybe the sperm forming capacity of my body had incresed due to masturbation and if i stop i suddenly then it may get stored in the prostate(OR SOMEWHERE ELSE?!) which may lead to bad results. please comment urgently n quickly
help me out guys…..
To abhishek,
I’m no expert on the body functions but your fears are incorrect concerning sperm storage. Nothing like that will happen. If it did, there would be comments warning about that and this article would have mention that. Search the internet and you’ll see it’s only your imagination. No one else has complained about this.
masturbation is healthy for prostate, masturbation increases you confidence, masturbation relieves stress….
B.S.
Maybe it may be healthy for the prostate but I cannot recall a single time in my life of having energy after masterbating. I become very sluggish and depressed and the thought of having wasted time on self pleasuring myself ALONE without any social life increases my stress level. It maybe beneficial physically but the notion that it relieves pent up sexual thoughts is useless. Masturbating and porn only increases one’s frequency of lusting after women and seeking more extreme and bizarre way of sex.
This is not a healthy habit to develop, and there have been so many serial killers and rapist who have had the recurring pattern of porn/masturbation in their early life.
Although I myself have not been able to go without masturbating over a week, I’m realizing very well that I have to change my way now or else just worsen this addiction. “I’ll stop tomorrow” or “just one more time” will NOT work.
I believe that the only solution is not masturbating at all. Building a specified pattern for when to masturbate never worked for me and never will.
Hey guys thnx 4 helpn me out n rplyin. Wth a hvy hrt i say tht i broke the 30 challenge after 5 days only but let me tell u tht i started noticin the positive effects of it after 4 days only. Dnot know if its just psychological or what but its good to give up masturbation really. Im on the challenge again n todays the 4th day. Why dnot u guys take the challenge and comment about ur experiences here. Maybe together we can fight this habit. Lets do it guys! Best of luck
To abhishek,
you don’t have to worry. Your body is God’s masterpiece and is perfectly designed. God took care for everything. Your body will expel unused and stored sperm from time to time since night fall (unconscious expulsion of sperm during sleep) occurs. Just give up this destructive habit once and for all.
P.S. To the author of this blog,
You are doing a tremendous favor to the suffering mankind. I don’t know do you realize how valuable and worth your work is. You are a great man. God made me come across your blog. May God help you keep doing your honorable and noble mission. Thank you very much.
okay…
taking up the challenge
DAY 1- BEGINS!
Well i changed myself, and i find i have a crazy sex drive.. I am now trying to take a more religious path, i am a orthodox christian 19 years old, and i’ve had bad stages of doing it 6 times a day. I just went the past 4 days, and now i wont do it again. Your exactly right, you feel much more social and confident after not doing this. Pray to jesus that he may help you get through. I’m praying not only for this little bad habit too go, but i’m trying to hold out till the woman i marry. God Bless you all and Good luck, theres still a chance for everyone to give it up, i suggest filling in your time a little more E.g, church, excersize (football, afl, rugby, running, walking,). When someone asks you to go for a coffee or talk on the phone, do it and dont say no. Even if they dont arrange plans to do something, believe me makes it alot easier to quit instead of sitting at a computer one click away.
research jesus, learn about everything, every key term, every saint. This would fill in alot of time, and not only tell you about god but let you know you can be forgiven for what you’ve done.