Is it ok to masturbate?

Masturbating could probably trigger someone who's trying to quit PMO to either look at porn in the heat of the moment or at least THINK about porn when masturbating. It's a bit of a slippery slope. Obviously porn is much worse, but what I think a lot of people on here would say, and me included, would be that there are indeed benefits to not masturbating and you won't receive the full package that NoFap gives you if you masturbate. And that's self control which also comes with extra confidence, willpower, and the persistence to push through life's hardships without needing something to comfort you (PMO).

The key is to just do what works for you; most people on here will find that they're better off quitting both.

 

It is okay to masturbate only on every leap year.

 

I personally think that if you manage to stay disciplined and M like once a week it could get a bit easier since you don't deal with excessive hornyness and PMO addiction. At least that's what I will try after 5 months relapsing never getting past day 17. Actually, I noticed that if you like do a quick relapse like oh I slipped like I opened some P and O immediately. It's not as nearly as bad as when you binge after your spirit is crushed.I will try it since in my case nofap benefits tend to peek at around day 7 and then i get nervous and anxious and really horny. Keep us updated on your progress.

 

I can really only speak from my own experiences, but maybe that'll help you. I still felt weird about masturbation when I first quit porn. I would do it sometimes, but I would feel very guilty or very disgusted with myself after doing it. After a while, I was able to unpack things and I realized that porn and masturbation had become so intertwined that they were practically the same thing for me. Before quitting porn, I rarely masturbated without porn, and when I did masturbate without porn, I was usually thinking about porn.

After I had been clean from porn for a while, things got better in that respect. I started to realize that porn and masturbation are not the same thing. Masturbation can be about pleasing yourself, enjoying your body, and appreciating your own sexuality. It can even become somewhat of a self-care routine (other users have made interesting threads about this concept) if you're deliberate about it. It doesn't have to be about numbing painful experiences and having sexual imagery delivered straight to your computer screen.

I don't think masturbation is unhealthy either (though I know there are other users coming to this thread very soon who will debate me on that point until the cows come home). However, it's complicated for porn addicts. It took me a while before I was able to separate porn and masturbation in my mind, and it's still an ongoing process.

I think so. I masturbated with some regularity for the first 90 days I went without porn. It wasn't excessive (maybe once or twice a week), and I don't think it was damaging at all. It did nothing to harm my recovery from porn addiction. After the first 90 days were over, I wanted to be absolutely sure that masturbation wasn't a problem for me, so I did another 90 days (this time without porn and without masturbation), and that was fine, too. After the 90 days, I was able to masturbate again and it wasn't bad for me at all.

That's just my experience. Overall, I think it's fine to masturbate. I think it's been a part of our sexuality for as long as we have been human. I don't think it's bad for your body as long as you don't do it excessively.

Now that I've expressed my opinions clearly (keep in mind that they are only my opinions), I know there are other users on this forum who will disagree with me about this. There are some users on this forum who believe masturbation is extremely harmful, and I just want to make it clear that I think that's fine, and that we'll simply all have to agree to disagree. I am not here to debate this point (I have already done so in many other threads, and it never seems to go anywhere), but rather just to share my experiences with OP and offer my own perspective.

Overall, if you want to try masturbating, that's your choice. You have to find out the right answers for yourself. Just be careful. As I said before, masturbation is complicated for porn addicts. If you aren't careful, it can become excessive or even lead you back into using porn. Find out what works best for you and really listen to yourself.

 

I think the sensible choice (at least at first) is to not make excuses for it being ok. Masturbation is typically linked to porn and/or images you saw once that come back in the moment. It's a slippery slope and I'd avoid it until you are over your porn addiction. Only you can tell when that is but a word or warning; when you first think you are finally over your addiction, you aren't even close!

 

I masturbate regularly, without pornography, and I feel good about this practice. Every man has to be able to evaluate for himself whether something hurts him or not. You are the best judge to judge yourself. Take that responsibility. If you think that masturbation is not good for you, just do not masturbate.

 

Very good! Thats what I think and I do.