How can you stop masturbating? Here are some tips and reflections.
Masturbation is one of the most natural sexual manifestations that are available to us.
It is through it that men and women can get to know their own bodies better before starting to engage in sexual relationships.
Masturbation, when practiced in a healthy way, generates health in the body, promotes well-being, and improves the quality of sex.
When it becomes an obsession
In some cases, however, it can become an obsession that disrupts other aspects of your life.
Especially when, for example:
- it steals time from other activities;
- it impairs your romantic or sexual relationships (causing you to lose interest in affection or sex);
- it can even be a problem when it clashes with your personal values and beliefs (for instance, a religion and/or lifestyle that prohibits it).
In general, men have more cases of masturbatory compulsion (masturbating many times a day).
Let it be clear that what I intend to show here are not moral confrontations to repress the pleasure that masturbation allows, but rather to assist in the healthy manifestation of autoeroticism.
This involves controlling masturbation in the same way that you control many other behaviors in your daily life.
How to control masturbation
If you’re suffering and seeing your life become damaged due to compulsory masturbation, I’m going to suggest you to start looking for another outlet for your time and energy.
Yes, you can release sexual energy with a variety of non-sexual activities.
Include appealing activities in your schedule, as the excitement of doing something different will help replace the impulses that lead to masturbation.
Try one of these options:
Develop your creativity
The strategy of turning sexual impulses into creation has been used by scholars and monks for centuries.
Start writing something, learn to play an instrument, draw. You will feel useful.
Practice sports
Mastering a sport requires practice, discipline and persistence.
Swimming, soccer, basketball, tennis, or any form of exercise will help relieve tension, make you feel happier, and move your body in a positive way.
You will feel competent.
Find a hobby or cultivate a skill
Learning something new can keep you focused on long-term achievement (goals to reach).
Try things like cooking, making crafts, starting your own business. You will feel talented.
Do volunteer work
Spend energy working voluntarily in an NGO.
There are thousands of associations, institutions or even events and situations that need volunteer help.
Help others. You will feel important.
Get enough sleep
Go to bed early to wake up earlier and see how productive your day will be.
Respecting a minimum of 8 hours of sleep will help your brain process information better and think about your priorities clearly.
You will feel better.
Avoiding loneliness
If you masturbate because you feel needy and lonely (no sexual partner), find ways to engage socially.
Participate in events, do more activities, accept invitations and strive to make friends.
If you want to date someone and are not very good at talking or approaching them, ask a friend for help or sign up on a dating-relationship site to start moving towards having sex with someone.
Stop watching porn on your computer
There is a very close relationship between masturbatory compulsion and pornography addiction.
One reason is the ease of accessing porn in just one click.
If you are unable to stop watching porn on your own, you may need to apply other measures to do so.
Don’t believe masturbation myths
If you want to stop or lessen the addiction, you must do so for personal reasons, not moral or health-related myths.
The only real health problem is the pain caused by chronic masturbation, but it will go away if you stop or slow down.
These are some things that masturbation doesn’t do to your body:
- Masturbation does not cause infertility, premature ejaculation or impotence (anxiety causes this in more than 90% of cases).
- Masturbation does not cause insanity (the real madness would be to repress your pleasure).
- Masturbation does not cause blindness (not even if semen gets into the eyes).
- Masturbation doesn’t affect your growth, kidneys, testicles, or skin (it’s the hormones that you naturally produce that can affect them).
Keep in mind that your goal is not to cut off masturbation completely, but to decrease it to a healthy amount (like once a day).
Believing that you can win this battle will increase your chances of success.
Know when to seek help.
If you’ve tried everything, including the techniques mentioned here, and you haven’t been able to control the compulsion, don’t feel ashamed.
Remember that many people have addictions, the most diverse ones, including masturbating compulsively.
Ask an online sex therapist for help. Us sexuality specialists see cases like yours on a daily basis, and we are dedicated to helping and solving many people’s problems in these situations as well.
If you identify this difficulty in you, we are here to assist you. Schedule a conversation and see how we can help you.
Sources:
- Online Porn Addiction: What We Know and What We Don’t—A Systematic Review
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6352245/ - Male masturbation: Does frequency affect male fertility?
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/male-infertility/expert-answers/male-masturbation/faq-20058426 - Are there side effects to masturbation?
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320265
