Doctors should ask: Do you masturbate twice a day?

Yes! I actually started struggling with unexplainable weight loss last March. From March to June I lost about 10 kgs, without really doing anything (I wasn't exercising, I was cutting down A BIT on candy, but that was it). During the weight loss period I also experienced a lot of stress and anxiety. I had bad dreams and was almost literally running up the walls with annoyance AT EVERYONE. In september, this finally stopped out of its own. In the end I lost about 20 kgs total.

Guess what I did in March? I had a girlfriend, so I stopped masturbating to porn. Seems so clear to me now, half a year later. But at that time, I saw every doctor and they were all telling me I was fine.
"I don't feel fine, jackass", was what came to mind every time.

 

I was thinking about this topic this morning. Why don't medical professionals ask about masturbation habits? It seems like a very important part of a person's health that should be captured and looked at in assessing overall wellbeing.

The only reason I've been able to come up with is that it's still too much of a controversial, taboo topic for docs to hand out advice on unless specifically brought up by the patient. Even then, how many different opinions there must be among professionals based on medical science, personal beliefs, other philosophies or some combination of these. One doc might advise never masturbating while another advocates doing it freely. Would people see a doc as a quack if he/she said that a patient's fatigue was because of too much fapping? Conversely, would it anger many people to hear a doc say that there is nothing wrong with it, or taken a step further, that it's beneficial?

Also, how many people won't ever ask their doc about masturbating because they have been conditioned to feel like it's something they shouldn't do in the first place, and keep hidden if they do? I know I've never brought it up or been asked about it during an exam. In fact, growing up I worried about my pediatrician somehow knowing that I masturbated, and me getting in trouble over it! So I lived with unnecessary guilt for many years...and now I'm finding probably other deleterious mental effects as well. It's a subject that the world is confused on, and it's no wonder why.

 

Unless you're seeing a doctor related to the sexual parts, they won't ask that because of the same reason we don't show our face here and openly talk about PMO with people on the street.
People is not used to talk about those topics. If a healthcare professional just comes up with such a question we'd lie at best. Or we'll be offended. Or some people may feel threatened or uneasy. It took time for me to be as open as I am to talk about my problems and even come up to my family about sexual things. I'm an adult so it's no big deal but M starts at a young age. In my 16-17's I'd totally lie if somebody asked me if I watched porn or M'd because it IS taboo.
It is not common to talk about sex in most families and the doctor appointment is sometimes a family activity.
Most doctors have absolutely no problem talking about those topics. I know because I asked a few and they were accessible about it. We are experiencing a point-of-view change about sex in general and not everyone feels ok to deal with this. Older doctors may give back the bad advice they got when they were young ages ago. Younger doctors may be open to talk and even show interest in those topics because they often investigate and keep themselves updated on all regarding medicine, including sexual health.

Now we know on this website that PMO is a problem so, let's turn the tables.

Why didn't YOU ask your doctor if your masturbation habits posed a problem?

I mean, if you are there in the room, paying your hard earned money to get everything on your body checked, what is the benefit of being silent about a health topic that bothers you? Your doctor is RIGHT THERE and you already paid. Ask him.

 

A lot of problems end up in depression. Which causes another problem once diagnosed: antidepressants and psychoactive drugs.
I'd rather fight with all my will to stop PMO, risk failure week after week, feel like shit for days, and watch the depression go away than be medicated to stop a random depression.
As you said, the habit change after stopping PMO is what takes some out of depression. If it means getting up again, without drugs, then it's a great method.

 

it happens to me too!

i went to 5 doctors within a year, complaining to them that my neck and my chest on the left feeling sharp pain on/off... until i realized it was because of excessive MO... ive done x-ray, thyroid test, blood test, everything seems fine... i was afraid that Im having heart attack or angina... but everytime i went to the doctor my blood pressure is high, more than 130/90... and one doctor suspect that Im having problem with my kidney because high blood pressure does not attack young people under 30... i did the ultrasound for my kidney, and again, everything is fine... i figured out that it because of MO is when i stop MO for 2-3 weeks, i feel better... and the pain still came but not very often when i was MO everyday..

and i also think that i have anxiety, panick attack, lost of concentration due to MO...

lastly, i cant sleep at night too because of MO and this is the worst that i hate... even until today, when i cant sleep, i have the urge to watch P and do the MO... this is the biggest reasons why i relapsed countless of time... but now when i cant sleep, or suddenly woke up in the middle at night, i will just take cold shower, watch movies, dance, and sometimes clean my house... PMO sucks!

 

I think you've provided my answer: "...the same reason we don't show our face here and openly talk about PMO with people on the street. People is not used to talk about those topics."

Your point about this starting at a young age when appointments are family affairs also has factored in for me. I never would have brought it up in front of my parents. As I mentioned, I was even afraid the doctor would be able to tell I MOed and I'd be in trouble for it. As a scared, backwards youth it would've been nice for my family to be excused, and the doc to ask me one-on-one about it. Maybe I would've lied, but having the conversation started, I think I would have opened up and got the advice I needed. It definitely helps informs how I will approach those teen years when my kids get there!

Since those days I've only been to my primary care physician for focused issues. I've needed to schedule a physical for years (no excuses for this). However, over the last decade or so, MO is just something I've done, without really considering it a problem, or feeling the need to discuss.

Although I acknowledge I have deeper social anxiety issues, I can attest that I feel better, more confident, and more available to the world since being off PMO for a week now. It may be the high of beginning to overcome something that has given me guilt for some time, rather than the effects of no MO.

Also, I really don't intend to swear off MO forever (P will be gone!)...I don't think that's the answer. But I do need to make sure I reintroduce M when I can control it, not the other way around. Quitting PMO isn't the answer to all of my problems, but overcoming PMO, including holding off on MO for the time being, is something I feel able to attain. It's building my confidence in the hopes of allowing MO to be an occasional, healthy, enjoyable activity instead of a compulsive, consuming, guilt-ridden one...honing my focus on and opening up to the people that are most important and don't deserve a backseat to PMO, MO, whatever.

I'm setting a goal to have a physical before the end of the year, and also have the goals of opening up about MO and anxiety at the appointment, and beyond. Thanks for such great insights!

 

my legs used to be so tired, I wonder if it was because I used to fap 2 times a day!

 

Ha! I've struggled with being tired, having low energy, and depression since my teens (when PMO use started). Went to various doctors, every test was "normal." From a religions perspective, I knew this was something I shouldn't be doing but had no idea PMO could impact my health. The longer I stay away from all of that, the better I feel. Just today I noticed that after getting off work I didn't feel the need to take a nap. Sweet!