Masturbation is "healthy"?

It is so mainstream now, and many people even here support it depending on their goals. For me it's become a vice that I hope to 100% rid myself of. No one NEEDS to do that. The body has ways of handling built up sperm/hormones levels. Plus, it really messes you up once you are actually with a mate. It's called self-abuse for a reason.

 

Some say masturbation is healthy. Maybe it is, but those who say that masturbation is healthy never really mention the frequency.

Fapping maybe once a month probably isn't too bad for your health. Fapping 1-3 times a day every day probably is terrible for your brain.

It's kinda like drinking alcohol. Some say moderate drinking of wine is good for you. That does not mean alcohol isn't a poison to your body, and that does not mean that you should drink lots of alcohol everyday.

Some say that masturbation is natural because animals do it. From what I've heard, it's mostly captive ones that do, not the wild ones. Captivity isn't natural to animals, therefore masturbation isn't either. I do not have the source to back this up however.

I do NOT encourage anyone to fap. This is my take on this.

 

As Saserman said, fapping multiple times a day or at least once a day obviously suggests you have an addiction, and it's very rare that an addiction is ever a positive thing. Fapping once a month or so in my eyes isn't bad, but I personally believe that after you fap once, it just progressively becomes a more repetitive habit. For example I could say to myself that I'll only fap once every two weeks, but eventually this turns into once a week, then every other day, and then every day, etc.

Humans naturally experience days when their hormones are sky high and you just have a dying urge to release a load. I believe that masturbation on these occasions is perfectly fine and natural, and I'm sure people even 1000 years ago probably pleasured themselves if sex wasn't an option at these times. It is hard to say whether it's healthy for sure, but I definitely think porn has caused masturbation to lean more towards the negative side. It's definitely not natural to have thousands of hot women available at the click of a button, we are not designed for this.

 

I think the rule here is that it IS healthy, however if you have got to the point that it is excessive and has affected your relationship to women, work or socialising then clearly it is not healthy. It's certainly not a black and white issue. Same can be said for people going for a drink with friends is really not a problem, but for alchoholics it really isn't an option.

 

I believe that masturbation, by itself, is not a problem (and actually quite normal) as long as it's not done to excess. The definition of excess varies by person, but it pretty much means that if it's interfering with anything else in your life, you're doing it too much. The problem in my experience is that when masturbation becomes linked to the unlimited variety of internet porn, you can't do one without the other. Even when you masturbate without porn, your brain is still seeing it and getting the same rush that you get from porn. That's why I've cut masturbation out along with porn for the time being; after 90 days of neither I'd like to be able to masturbate occasionally without turning to porn.

 

I can't recall the exact science on the subject, but from what I remember from YBOP, it is normal for your brain to rationalize that what you are doing is "good" because your brain wants to keep doing it (as a survival instinct to release the pain (pressure)). I firmly believe that the "masturbation is good" belief is rationalized by their brain. though.. ask me 2 years ago.. i would have totally agreed with it.

For me personally, if i masturbate without porn, it can trigger a binge of relapse all the way to PMO and lasting for weeks. I can MO one day, then will probably not the next day, but the day after that I'm basically fucked. So, masturbation is probably normal, but stay away if you have ever had a sexual addiction. This is my current point of view.

 

Just because 94% of males fess up to it, and 85% of women admit to it as well does not consider it normal, good, or morally correct. Majority really doesn't rule when it comes to PMO. It becomes very addictive very quickly.

~Squeaky Soul

 

I cannot answer why the media portrays masturbation positively. However, I have read the article you cite and I can tell you that after 35 years of masturbation, I have almost all the health problems they claim that masturbation helps to prevent! This is pseudo-science. There are no details about the methodology of this research. It reads more like a couple of guys that have an opinion and think people will listen to them because they happen to be scientists! Those of us here know to our cost how unhealthy it is to our brains and the knock on effects to normal sexual functioning.

 

yes this new world and society that unfortunately we live in now tries to portray masturbation is normal and healthy, you could only imagine what men would be like if we did not have porn at all and did not masturbate. i feel like pmo and mo has ruined my life and reading the long term effects of constantly watching porn and masturbating is really disturbing. i hate this world we live in... i have lost all hope in humanity... until i found this site and forum of guys helping each other to stop what i believe is ultimately ruining all men in this world.
if men would stop pmo and mo completely and your brain starts to function normally you start thinking more clearly and gain healthier habbits instead like exercising or learning more this world would be such a better place

 

I don't think anyone can really argue this one way or another. Even if there is legitimate scientific research done in multiple countries by multiple scientists with similar or identical controls, people will argue this. There would be questions of ethics and morality all over the place to do this test properly. And lets not mention the vetting process of test subjects to really determine what is going on. The never masturbated or don't/limited usage group would almost have be taken on an assumed honesty basis. Then the time to get a decent read (under a year, over a year, five years, 10+ years?) is another issue to factor in for long term "health benefits or risks." I think discussions like this are more for the enjoyment of debate and should not be taken with any validity as you can not get a factual answer on either side. This is similar to the debate of religion. Some yes, some no, what do you believe and works for you? That is all that matters, like religion, and that is what you should stick to.