How and why does masturbation become a problem

Masturbation starts as teenagers mainly try and discover their sexuality and what usually begins as harmless fun can take a drastic turn and become harmful – physically, mentally and sexually.

Masturbation, when not done excessively, has been termed to be medically healthy and a psychologically normal habit. So when it is that masturbation becomes a problem? In the Merck manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, masturbation is said to be abnormal when the act is carried out in public or done so frequently that it causes distress to the person carrying out the act.

So how do you know if you happen to suffer from chronic masturbation? Well, there happen to be signs that point to a direction that you need to go easy on masturbating.

One of the most frequent reasons cited by those who masturbate is that they feel guilty afterward and it affects their quality of life. This is when you know that it is not exactly healthy for you and you need to work on either decreasing the number of times you masturbate or give it up completely. Masturbation is also a problem if it happens to be an act that you carry out to escape from reality. Let’s get one thing straight. Masturbation is not equal to having actual sex with someone. Watching adult entertainment and imagining yourself to be with someone else while ignoring the reality around you is a form of escapism and if you happen to be doing that a lot then there are things in your life that you need to face and change.

Excessive masturbation is also a problem if you are ignoring your family and friends and choosing to spend your time alone in a locked room. Lack of a healthy social life also causes people to lose focus in their job and have a dip in their overall productivity levels. It is also a hindrance if you are dealing with stress and your problems by masturbating instead of dealing with them positively.

Sex is beautiful and healthy. The more people engross themselves with adult entertainment and consider the other person to be just a release for their sexual tension; it leads to objectifying people and is not a healthy trait to have.

How the problem of masturbation increases

What starts off as harmless fun can reach the tipping point and become addictive at any certain point. A lot of theory has been published that masturbation in limited amounts is actually helpful for the body. What is not taken into account is the link between masturbation and the consumption of porn.

Regular viewing of mainstream porn and adult movies eventually leads to the person reaching a point where he does not garner the same satisfaction from viewing just regular pornographic material. Two things happen in such a case. Either the person will view regular pornography for a longer amount of time or he will search for more extreme versions of the pornographic material. This can be seen especially when we take into consideration the statistics of viewers of child pornography, an extreme and illegal branch of pornography is watched. The majority of the viewer’s fall under the age group of 34 to 49-year-old; who have been addicted to pornography and masturbation for quite some time.

The problem with masturbation increases the more you continue to practice this act. That is why if someone wants to quit it they can either decrease the frequency of how often they are masturbating or just go cold turkey by giving it up once and for all. Giving it up all together at once can be difficult but some people prefer to choose this method as even if you decrease the frequency of masturbation, the ill effects are still there and you might again drift off to regularly masturbating.

Influence of Porn in today’s time

Laptops, tablets, smartphones – pornography today is just a click away and though pornographic websites claim to be for users above 18 or 21 years of age, truth is that just about anyone can easily access pornographic material. It is estimated that by the year 2017, a quarter of a billion people will be accessing adult entertainment content from their electronic gadgets – an increase of over 30% compared to data of 2013.

The rise in people watching pornography has not surprisingly coincided with the number of people masturbating too. In a survey carried out by the Kinsey Institute, 72% of the respondents said that they used porn to masturbate and help them in a physical release. The average age of a male child being introduced to pornography is 12 years old and it is around this age that they start experimenting with masturbation too. The influence of porn on masturbation is undeniable and what is disturbing is that the amount of porn a person consumes increases with time as they get desensitized to pornography. What this means, is that people watch pornography for either a longer duration or start searching for different and aggressive genres of pornography.

The disturbing influence of porn in the modern world is also seen in the different methods that are coming up in trying to deal with PMO (Pornography, masturbation, orgasm) issues. Communities of individuals giving rise to groups such as the NoFap movement have seen reasonable success as people try to give up pornography and masturbation in an attempt to recover from porn addiction.

Physical problems of Excessive Masturbation

Hair loss – Good healthy hair is a sign of a good healthy lifestyle. This is not to say that everyone who masturbates will be having bad hair days and losing hair. However, research has shown that excessive masturbation is a reason for thinning of hair and general hair loss.

Erectile dysfunction – There is an increase in the number of pills being popped for strong erections. Erectile dysfunction is becoming a common problem in these high paced, high-stress lifestyles that we live today. Along with poor lifestyles, excessive masturbation is also to blame for erectile dysfunction and weak erections. This is especially common for people who consume a lot of pornography and cannot be ‘aroused’ unless they see certain things. Over consumption of pornography and excessive masturbation together, leads to a higher rate of erectile dysfunction.

In a study conducted by medical experts representing the Italian Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine showed that regularly viewing pornographic material and masturbating to it causes a decrease in libido. While this starts slowly in the beginning, eventually it becomes difficult to even get an erection, causing erectile dysfunction.

Back aches and pain in the shoulders and joints – While there is no conclusive evidence that masturbation leads to back aches, it could be one of the many factors that lead to back aches and pain in the shoulders. There have also been cases of people suffering from Rheumatism, but as mentioned previously, this could be due to multiple factors and not just masturbation.

A study conducted in 2007 even went on to say that excessive masturbation could increase the risk of prostate cancer. The study conducted by the University of Nottingham published the result in the British Journal of Urology. The test which featured 840 men had 431 of men who were diagnosed and suffered from prostate cancer while the other 409 men were taken as the control. It was observed that among the men who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, 34% of them were involved in frequently masturbating during their 20s. The number came to just 24% with regards to the control group. While the results are not conclusive and the research carries forward, there does happen to be a correlation between the two.

Mental problems of excessive masturbation

When a person masturbates and gets an orgasm the brain releases dopamine and endorphins. These chemicals are the ‘feel good’ chemicals that our body craves and that is one reason that people masturbate when they are under stress or just to feel good for a limited duration of time.

This can become a dangerous and unhealthy coping mechanism for anyone dealing with stress. It can become addictive and it is an act that does not deal with the root cause of the problem and is also not a final solution to stress related problems. Brains scans of orgasms were found to be very similar to the effect on the brain when a drug like heroine is used. While orgasms are good for you there is a difference between orgasms resulting from natural sex with another person and masturbation which is akin to sex without any intimacy.

Research has shown that heavy usage of porn and excessive masturbation can lead to a change in the neural pathways in our brain that causes addiction. Further, it can also lead to sexual dysfunction and various hormonal changes.

The problem with the mental effects that masturbation can bring along is that it is difficult to put them in just one category. For instance, experiencing brain fog and low will power to do things can affect a person mentally for sure but also can be a hindrance to his physical goals and have an effect on his relationships – both personal and professional.

One of the effects of excessive masturbation is that it makes the person lazy and unwilling to complete tasks. Masturbation can affect your willpower and desire to do what needs to be done. What this means is that a person will find it more difficult to concentrate and focus on getting things done. This can hamper your work-life balance as instead of working on what is important, there is the desire to watch even more pornography and indulge in masturbation.

People who have indulged in excessive masturbation often say that it starts from boredom. The problem with excessive masturbation is that it causes the victims to become lethargic and lose their self-esteem and confidence. This will mean that the person will want to spend even more time indoors in their cocoon watching a screen.

Effect of masturbation in relationships

Masturbation, especially if coupled along with pornography, can be damaging to relationships. One of the prime reasons behind divorces and couples breaking up is due to pornography and masturbation playing a significant negative role. Porn and masturbation decrease your sexual drive towards the opposite sex while you are attracted to fulfilling your needs in an artificial manner while looking at a screen instead of a real person.

It also makes it difficult to be aroused by an actual person instead of the stream of countless choices you have online. Excessive masturbation and pornography also lead to premature ejaculation, a low sex drive, reduced orgasms and weak erections – all playing a big role in making sex a chore and not the enjoyable and fun act that it should be.

Excessive masturbation also breaks down relationships when it becomes an addiction and the person looks forward to masturbating more than he looks forward to being with his partner. It could also be psychologically painful for someone to realize that their partner finds someone on a screen far more beautiful and fulfilling than an actual person.

Masturbation does not just destroy your personal relationship with a sexual partner but also can have ill effects on your professional relationships. Becoming lethargic and unwilling to complete the tasks that you have undertaken will not really make you a popular member of any working team.

Effect of masturbation in workplaces and overall productivity

An increasing number of people are being caught and admitting to watching pornography during office hours. Quite a few people are also admitting to masturbating in the workplace. In a survey conducted by the Nielson Company, it was reported that in the year 2010, in just one month over 21 million Americans accessed adult websites during office hours. The number of people admitting to masturbating in the work place varies from 3% to 31%, results from different surveys conducted have shown.

Deaths due to excessive masturbation

On an average, there are about 500 to 1000 Americans who die every year due to autoerotic asphyxiation. This is an act of accidentally or even knowingly trying to suffocate oneself during an orgasm in an attempt to try, induce and experience a powerful orgasm. Autoerotic asphyxiation is sometimes done with a partner involved and a lot of times just tried out by someone all alone.

Though the cases are rare, there has been news of people dying due to excessive masturbation. The most famous case was when a Brazilian boy of just 16 years of age died after masturbating 42 times at a stretch. There have been other such cases too and it just goes on to prove that nothing good comes from excessive masturbation.

The positive side of giving up masturbating

Can the effects of masturbation be removed? Yes, slowly and steadily. The truth is excessive masturbation did not start in a day so there will not be any quick way to remove its effects too. You can, however, go cold turkey and quit masturbating. The positive effects of giving up excessive masturbation is what will take some time to become apparent.

There needs to be a proper distinction between masturbation and natural sex. While the positive aspects of natural sex are manifold, the benefits of masturbation are not conclusive. Here is a list of positive effects that people have experienced after giving up on excessive masturbation.

 

• Increased happiness and calmness in one’s demeanor.
• A higher sense of calmness.
• Taking a stand for oneself and feeling more confident.
• Less anxious in social situations.
• Feel more emotional about people and the things that matter.
• Better and healthier sex life.
• Less intimidated in the presence of good-looking people of the opposite sex.
• Increased quality of sleep.
• More productive throughout the day and completing more tasks.
• Deeper, richer voice.
• Able to concentrate for longer durations of time and not losing focus easily.
• Better and more vivid dreams.
• Increased athletic performance.

Conclusion

If masturbation is not taking control of your life then it is all good and should not be a matter of concern. Unfortunately, a lot of people are entrapped by masturbation and losing focus on what is truly important. Giving up masturbation and rebooting will help you to get back to the energy levels that you truly deserve. Furthermore, you will also be experiencing a deeper sense of calm along with better sleep and a whole lot of other physical benefits.