Masturbating one to two times a day is very normal for many young adults. Although the amount of times one masturbates in a week varies from person to person, masturbating three to seven times each week is acceptable. Masturbation sessions might be reduced to two to three times per week for persons in their 30s and 40s.
However, when masturbation turns into a habit or an addiction and poses an obstruction for one’s daily activities, it becomes a problem, and one might start feeling guilty after doing it. But every problem has its solution within, and hence masturbation addiction has a lot many ways to be curbed.
Why Masturbation Is Usually Not A Problem?
Masturbation is a normal and healthy activity involving the stimulation of certain zones, which include the clitoris, vagina, and anus. The only goal is to attain orgasm and sexual satisfaction. If you want to know whether 'is it OK to masturbate once a week,' here are the benefits of masturbation you must know:
1. The Safest Form of Sex
It is a safer form of sex, especially for women. Masturbation limits the risk of getting pregnant or acquiring STIs (sexually transmitted infections).
2. Helps Lower Stress and Anxiety
Studies show that sexual activities release oxytocin, which helps reduce stress hormones. Masturbation, a vital sexual activity, helps lower the cortisol hormones in the body, providing relaxation.
3. Improves Sleep
As masturbation helps lower stress hormones and release essential neurotransmitters like dopamine, it relaxes you and makes it easy to fall asleep. Although an orgasm during masturbation helps one fall asleep fast, one should not succumb to masturbation addiction.
4. Helps Boost Mood
Masturbation helps trigger the brain to release endorphins. It is a feel-good chemical that helps boost your mood. Moreover, endorphins act as a natural pain reliever for period cramps.
5. Know and Explore Your Body
Engaging in masturbation means exploring one's genital anatomy. It even helps develop a better understanding of your partner and contributes to orgasm or pleasurable sex.
6. Helps Improve Sex Life
As masturbation contributes to exploring one's body, you get to know what makes you feel the best. It makes you more confident and vocal with your partner. It develops clear-cut communication of what excites you the most.
7. Helps Ease Menstrual Cramps and Body Aches
One of the perks of masturbating is helping relieve menstrual cramps. It releases happy hormones that block the pain. Moreover, masturbation causes uterine contractions, promoting better blood flow and reducing cramps.
8. More Orgasms
Generally, women tend to orgasm more easily during masturbation than penile penetration. Research showed that 66% of bisexual women and 65% of heterosexual women reached orgasm during sex. It gets difficult for them to identify their preferences during sexual intercourse, making it less likely for them to orgasm.
However, masturbation helps them to explore their body the way they want. It gets easier to know how they feel and what they feel with a particular stimulation.
Also read: Masturbation benefits
When masturbating for fun and pleasure, it is perfectly normal. However, if it turns into a masturbation addiction and hampers your daily routine and co-relationships, it is time to look for a solution and ask yourself 'how to stop masturbation.
What Is Masturbation Addiction?
Masturbation addiction is an excessive or compulsive urge for masturbation. Even if it is not diagnosed as a mental health condition, it can significantly impact daily functioning for those whose sexual behaviour is out of control.
Masturbation may be enjoyed by individuals in a relationship or used to make up for the lack of sex with a partner. However, the desire to masturbate can become excessive to the extent that the practice feels out of control for other people. It can come in the way of one’s regular commitments and cause emotional distress.
Also Read: Does Female Masturbation Cause Pimples & Acne ~ Research-Backed
Why Should You Stop Masturbating?
One symptom of masturbation as an addiction is a strong sense of guilt and regret afterwards. Masturbation can cause bad feelings or interfere with various parts of a person's life in some situations. The increased distress due to excessive masturbation can lead to alcohol and substance abuse in some people.
It may be time to examine how to quit masturbation if a person limits their engagement with others or misses work to masturbate. Additionally, frequent masturbation, however unusual, can cause skin irritation and swelling of the genitals. It may be essential to cease masturbating to alleviate the symptoms in this instance.
How to Stop Masturbation?
If and when masturbation causes a problem, there are strategies and techniques to help a person stop. A combination of such techniques are given below:
1. Limiting Access to Porn
Pornography may now be accessed in a matter of seconds. People can try to minimize their exposure to pornography by using electronic device filters and restrictions that prevent particular categories of content, such as pornographic material.
2. Diverting Energy Elsewhere
Masturbation can be replaced by other ways to release energy. People can indulge in physical activity or learn a new skill, like learning a musical instrument or playing a new sport.
3. Exercise
Running, swimming, and weight lifting are all good ways to strengthen the body and release endorphins, making you feel good. It's possible that feeling happy and calmer will limit your desire to masturbate as frequently.
4. Keeping Patience Throughout
Find the assistance you require to regain control of your sexual health. If the process is challenging, don't give up. Keep your concentration and seek advice from a health care expert with experience in sexuality.
Tips to Stop Masturbating
Like dealing with any compulsive or addictive behaviour, changing masturbation habits starts with accepting the problem, determining to make healthy changes, and seeking help. Likewise, here are some tips to stop masturbating:
1. Professional Help
Masturbation is still a taboo issue for many people and others; it is a cause of shame. So go to a counsellor, psychologist, or psychiatrist specialising in sexual health who doesn't pass judgement or criticism into the conversation regarding your difficulties with excessive masturbation.
2. Acknowledge the Feelings
Many people try to quit masturbating without addressing the underlying emotional and autonomic nervous system patterns that lead to the activity. Establish and commit to a long-term relationship with a therapist you trust, and be patient with yourself as you go through the process of changing your behaviour. Many therapy methods, such as the trauma treatment methodology, may aid with treating emotions and nervous system reactions.
3. Wear More Layers at Night
Going to bed nude or even wearing a single layer of clothes around the home, such as underwear or lounge pants, might make it all too easy to start touching yourself without even noticing it. Adding extra layers might help you resist temptation and lessen the discomfort if you accidentally touch yourself.
4. Prioritise Self-care
A good diet and regular exercise are essential self-care activities that can help you quit masturbating excessively. Recharging your batteries and increasing your self-esteem, diet, and exercise can help you focus on behavioural change.
5. Stay Engaged in Other Tasks
You can't masturbate while holding a tennis racquet or a baking pan. In other words, spending your time with other enjoyable and rewarding activities is an excellent method to reduce the amount of time you spend masturbating while combating despair and loneliness, both of which can contribute to compulsive behaviour. Find relaxing, enjoyable, and exciting things for you, such as exercise, mindfulness, yoga, learning a new hobby, going out to dinner with friends, or visiting new museums or exhibitions.
How to Stop Thinking About Masturbation?
Attempting to stop thinking about something will make it worse. You believe that if you think about something long enough, you will do it; therefore, you attempt to avoid thinking about it, and that isn't how it works. So the first step would be how to stop thinking about masturbation.
There are two types of thinking: that which comes naturally and that we consciously manufacture. While masturbating, you might tend to conjure up fantastical scenarios and then act on them, and it becomes a habit. Thinking emerges unintentionally due to that habit, and curbing those thoughts by distraction is essential.
You may have developed a habit of sleeping with porn and masturbating. It may take a few nights of doing nothing to form new habits. It is advised to develop a strong interest in "doing nothing." It's a solid strategy for dealing with many types of habits. You may also divert your attention in various ways, although this is less effective and may introduce additional problems.
Take it one day at a time. Do not consider "forever." Think about today; in fact, just thinking about the next 10 minutes would be enough. If you pay attention to how these impulses to function, you'll find that they're relatively fleeting.
How to Control the Urge to Masturbate?
Masturbation triggers are thoughts, feelings, actions, and events that cause arousal and the desire to masturbate. Looking at attractive individuals, body parts, clothes, animals, or inanimate items can all be triggers for certain people.
Our obligations can help us focus on what is necessary (money, food, shelter, education, etc.) rather than what is not essential for daily life (masturbation). Having less free-time overall can decrease your desire and actual ability to masturbate because it becomes an impractical part of your day. If you don't have time for it, you might not do it.
Determine the negative personal implications of your masturbation practice. Things like trouble completing a job or school responsibilities and an interruption in personal relationships might be on this list.
Psychology Behind Excessive Masturbation
The main reason behind excessive masturbation is one's lack of impulse control. Generally, masturbation addiction is due to alterations in one's mental state. It leads to a behavioral disorder, wherein one does not have control over their emotions, sometimes getting out of control.
It even pushes the individual toward a guilt zone after masturbation. Further, it may turn into compulsive masturbation, wherein one forces an indulgence at the cost of anything else. It affects the individual in the following ways:
- It may lead to edema, causing swelling in different body parts due to inflammation or infection. Moreover, extreme guilt feelings might make one sad or feel negative about oneself. The condition may turn severe, and a person might succumb to phobia or depression; how they perceive society also gets impacted.
- Psychologically, one fights with the inner self as a result of excessive masturbation. It may result in changes in perceptions and behavioral changes over a period. It may cause unnecessary and unusual sexual conflicts, poor communication, and relationship issues with the partner.
If your masturbation habit turns into excessive masturbation, it is time to work on tips to stop masturbating.
What Happens if You Don't Masturbate?
Abstinence, or not masturbating, could raise your testosterone by 45 per cent. Not masturbating can increase your motivation, confidence, energy, mental clarity, and overall productivity.
Is It Ok to Masturbate Once a Week?
Masturbation has been shown to be beneficial to one's mental and physical wellness. It's also the safest kind of sex because there's no chance of becoming pregnant or contracting an STD.
When you have an orgasm, endorphins are released. These are the hormones that prevent pain and make you feel wonderful. Climax generates delightful sensations whether you're masturbating or having sex.
Masturbating within limits proves to be good for your health, as long as it does not interfere with your daily activities. Hence, it is ok to masturbate once a week.
Interesting Facts About Masturbation
Generally, masturbation is taboo in many civilized societies. People do not talk about it openly, especially about female masturbation. Here are some interesting facts about female masturbation:
1. Females Masturbate More Often
It is the biggest misconception that women don't masturbate often. The fact is they also touch and rub their genitals to attain sexual pleasure. They might, typically, only not talk much about it or how they explore their body.
A study revealed that women masturbate more often; 40% revealed they had masturbated in the last month, and 50% had used vibrators for self-sex.
2. Many Continue Masturbating Even After Marriage
There is not any specific reason why one should not masturbate after marriage. It is just one of the ways to satisfy your sexual desires and the time you want to spend with yourself. However, if it turns into excessive or compulsive masturbation, you should think about ‘how to stop masturbation.'
3. Masturbation Doesn't Cause Infertility, Blindness, or Shrinkage in Organs
Many people believe that touching the genitals may cause infertility or organ shrinkage. However, masturbation has nothing to do with infertility, blindness, or decreased libido. It is entirely safe to indulge in masturbation, and it has several health benefits.
4. It is Normal to Masturbate Once Every Day
Masturbating once every day is normal and does not push you into a masturbation addiction zone. However, it may turn problematic if you masturbate more than once a day or seven times a week. It may result in decreased social activity, losing friends, or feeling guilty after masturbation.
5. Women Orgasm More Easily While Masturbating Than in Intercourse
According to this article, women orgasm more quickly from masturbation. Penis penetration or toy-vaginal penetration may not cause an orgasm easily. With clitoral stimulation (satisfying through masturbation), one tends to orgasm more than vaginal penetration.
Side Effects of Too Much Masturbation
Masturbation usually has no negative consequences. Masturbation that is obsessive, persistent, or strong, on the other hand, may result in the following adverse effects:
- Oedema: When a man grabs his penis too strongly during masturbation, the friction can result in slight swelling or oedema.
- When masturbation is done too forcefully, it can cause chafing and skin irritation. Skin irritation is usually minor and goes away in a few days.
- Guilt: While masturbation is not necessarily evil or unhealthy, it can lead to unpleasant feelings of guilt or shame in certain people.
- Anxiety, sadness, low self-esteem issues, and other mental health conditions can be intensified.
Also Read: Side Effects of Masturbation: Myths and Facts
Summing Up on How to Stop Masturbation
Masturbation is pretty natural, but it is common for the habit to go out of control. It might generate negative sentiments or interfere with many aspects of a person's life in certain cases. If a person's interaction with others is limited or they skip work to masturbate, it may be time to consider how to stop masturbating.
Additionally, masturbation on a frequent basis can irritate the skin and swelling of the genitals. In some cases, it may be necessary to stop masturbating in order to relieve the symptoms.
How often one masturbates is different for different people, and there is no such thing as a normal frequency. When masturbation begins to disrupt other elements of a person's life or causes misery, it may be useful to stop or reduce the frequency of masturbating.
It's vital to realise how your masturbation habit is harming your overall quality of life and take actions to alter your habits. Avoiding pornography and focusing on other tasks are two methods for stopping masturbation. If you're having trouble doing it by yourself, get professional help or join a support group.
FAQs
Is Masturbation Healthy?
Yes, Masturbation is good for one's health, both mentally and physically. It is one of the safest forms of sex, reducing the risk of getting pregnant or having STIs. Moreover, with masturbation, one tends to orgasm more quickly, helping the body to release endorphins that help block pain and improve one's mood.
However, it may turn unhealthy if it gets excessive and interferes with one’s job and responsibilities. Hence, it becomes essential to work on 'how to control the urge to masturbate.'
Is Masturbation Good or Bad?
Yes, masturbation is good for you, both physically and mentally. It allows one to stimulate the G-spot more easily and orgasm more quickly. It helps release certain chemicals like endorphins and other related hormones, making you feel happy and relaxed.
Is Masturbation Harmful?
No, masturbation is not harmful unless it turns into compulsive masturbation or masturbation addiction. It is a normal sexual activity that helps one to get relief from sexual and other forms of stress. However, it can be harmful if it hampers your relationship with your partner or reduces social interactions.
Do Women Masturbate?
Yes, many women masturbate and experience clitoral stimulation with fingering. Women insert either two fingers into the vagina or use sex toys for optimum pleasure. Light fingering over the clitoris also helps attain orgasms.
Does Masturbation Cause Pimples?
No, it is a common misconception that masturbation causes pimples. Hormonal changes in the body result in excess sebum secretion, which leads to acne. It generally happens when one attains puberty or experiences excessive hormone release. There is no connection between masturbation and pimples.
References
- Marc N. Potenza, Michael Irvine, July 2014; Neural Correlates of Sexual Cue Reactivity in Individuals with and without Compulsive Sexual Behaviours - https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0102419
- Timothy W. Fong, November 2006; Understanding and Managing Compulsive Sexual Behaviors - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC2945841/
