A couple of days ago, some neighbourhood friends chatted away about a new movie, ‘All Pass’, and a major highlight of their gist was on a masturbation scene. They laughed out loud and marvelled at the scene where a man’s bid to get himself an orgasm in his car was publicly interrupted.
“The guy is a fool; you need to see the expression on his face while he goes about it,” a friend told another, while making faces as he attempted to mimic a man masturbating.
The others laughed out more
I tarried a little with them and a few cunning questions after, a couple of them admitted having been guilty of the act at a younger age. Some even went ahead to state with genuine conviction they believe it is a growing up phase all men experience. However, we had to change the subject of the conversation when some ladies joined the gathering.
Reminiscing afterwards, I pondered; how much do we know about this act? Why do people indulge in it to a level of addiction, even though they will never readily admit to it? Is it a peculiar only to males? Does stroking oneself have any advantage or negative side effect medically, physically, and emotionally?
24 year-old Banke, an undergraduate of Lagos State University, said she has never done it, but have heard her friends talk about it.
“I’m a wrong person to ask this question because I have never done it,” she said. “But I know a friend who said she does; she said it is because she is not ready to lose her virginity and yet she wants to satisfy her urges,” Banke explains.
“Masturbation addiction is referred to as a ‘process’ addiction, as opposed to a substance addiction like alcohol, or drugs. In a process addiction, the euphoric feeling, or high, comes from chemicals released into the brain, rather than from an external source. As the mind becomes accustomed to the release of these chemicals, it searches out for continued sources of that high,” lifestyle website, Allaboutlifechallenges.org, explains the addiction to masturbation.
Effect of masturbation
A brief research on the internet reveals that medically, masturbation appears to be safe. However, Jeroh Obukohwo of Lagos University Teaching Hospital, believes regular masturbation can lead to Oligospermia, reduced sperm volume.
“This is different from low sperm count; this is low sperm volume as a result of not giving enough room for the sperm volume to build up before another ejaculation,” Mr. Obukohwo said.
He, however, stressed that there is no research yet that proves that masturbation can lead to infertility, both in males and females. He also highlighted some negative physiological risk of indulging in masturbation.
“Addiction can lead to delayed ejaculation in men. If a man gets so used to touching himself in a specific manner, it might require stimulations in that particular way to get him to climax or ejaculate. If he is unfortunate to get a partner who will stimulate him in that manner, it may result into delayed ejaculation,” he concludes.
Allaboutlifechallenges.org further emphasises that “masturbation addiction comes from the flood of chemicals that are released into the brain during orgasm. As the brain begins to crave this “high,” the addict trains himself to climax quicker and more often. In addition, the addict becomes accustomed to the sensations of masturbation, sometimes to the point that “normal” sexual activity is not satisfying.
“By practising masturbation, the addict becomes accomplished at short, intense activity with a quick climax. Unfortunately, this isn’t very satisfying to a spouse in a sexual relationship,” it says.
Fighting the addiction
Like other form of addictions, letting go of masturbation will not come without some work. According to James Ogirima, a middle aged teacher, it will take a lot of determination and divine intervention to break away from the habit.
“You cannot just stop it like that; you first have to tell yourself this thing is harmful to me and I will not do it again. It is not going to be easy, but you have to be determined and prayerful to overcome the sinful act,” Mr. Ogirima said.
Another lifestyle website, Lightplanet.com, sets the fight to combat masturbation in ten steps. The website advised that an addict must reduce contact with intimate parts of the body, avoid being alone for too long, break contacts with friends who indulge in the act as well, wear pyjamas or other clothing that prevents easy access to ones genitals while in bed.
The website also suggests that getting the mind occupied with non sexual stuff, staying away from pornography, being prayerful, exercising, and not even talking about it are key to stopping the act.
- Better Man in brief ...
- Too much masturbation may lead to a reduced response to other people's touch.
- Possible side effect include abrasions or swelling of the penis.
- Compulsive masturbation can be a problem if it affects other aspects of your life.
"Will masturbating cause acne? If it did, 95% of guys would be walking around with a face full of zits."
My penis is mad at me. How could I write an article on the negative side effects of masturbation? He thinks I’m a traitor and switched teams. I hope he doesn’t take it out on me and be a passive-aggressive limp noodle for my next sexcapade. But how much do we really know about masturbation and its side effects? Sure, we know masturbation feels good -- that’s a gimme. But what else can it do to us? Playing with ourselves can help us fall asleep, reduces headaches and stress, anxiety and tension, it’s great for immune functioning, increasing endorphin production, and is so good for our prostates. But is there anything else we should be looking out for besides Kim Kardashian’s next Carl’s Jr. commercial?
The Negative Side Effects Of Masturbation Your Parents Believed
There’s a lot of history behind the negative side effects of masturbation. Since man could grab his pecker and stroke it, people have been coming up with myths that it’s bad for you. Will masturbating cause acne? If it did, 95% of guys would be walking around with a face full of zits. Masturbation must cause sterility, right? While it’s true that having consecutive ejaculations will reduce your sperm count and the volume of semen compared to the first ejaculation, your testes are a factory for sperm production and masturbation isn’t going to close this factory down. Does masturbation cause hairy palms? I don’t even understand this one; is semen Miracle-Gro? The same can be said for blindness, insanity and a whole host of other myths that have been proved false by medical science.So there have to be some negatives, right? Masturbation itself is harmless and there are no proven long-term physical issues with moderate masturbation habits. However, we can all experience some side effects, whether they are short-term, long-term or related to chronic masturbation habits.
Touching Breeds Unwanted Familiarity
One side effect of masturbation is that subsequent ejaculations will take longer. If you masturbate a few times before a date and, hopefully, proceed to have sex, you’ll probably find more difficulty reaching climax. Thankfully, giving our penis a day or two to recharge should do the trick. In addition, we each know the secrets to getting ourselves off. Masturbating can sometimes create an individual orgasm effect where we train our bodies to respond to our own familiar touch and have a reduced response to other people’s touch, resulting in a tougher time reaching climax with others. A lot of guys can relate to this.
Dr. Chaves discusses the possible negative side effects of masturbation further
There’s little evidence that too many erections or masturbation will have an effect on your erection in the future."Our hard-ons may also be affected by masturbation as well. After each ejaculation, you’ll notice the firmness of the next erection may get slightly softer and spongier, depending on how close apart the erections are. There’s little evidence that too many erections or masturbation will have an effect on your erection in the future. There’s a wealth of evidence that points to age, diet, smoking, and cardiovascular health as factors that affect your beat-meat getting stiff. Another side effect of masturbation is abrasions or swelling of the penis. Some people have rough hands, calluses, use vigorous strokes, or don’t use lube. Ouch!
Masturbation And Guilt
Masturbation can also have a negative psychological impact on a person. Many people feel shame and guilt because of their masturbation habits. Whether it’s a cultural, religious or moral issue, people can be very hard on themselves. The tug of war between what feels natural and pleasurable versus what they were told to refrain from can have lasting harmful effects on a person’s self-esteem, confidence and self-love. Psychosomatic effects can also occur, where physical symptoms are the result of psychological factors (feeling shame, guilt, anxiety can manifest into things like headaches, back pain, chronic pain, etc).The Problems With Chronic Masturbation
Biologically, chronic masturbating can affect our brain and body chemistry because it can overproduce sex hormones and neurotransmitters. This overproduction impacts each person differently, and can range from fatigue, pelvic pain, vision changes, lower back pain, testicular pain, or hair loss. There is current research that states increased testosterone production is linked to DHT production, which is associated with male pattern hair loss.However, we have to be careful of the conclusions we extrapolate from research. I still need more evidence to believe hair loss because correlation doesn’t imply causation. Did you know large consumptions of alcohol reduce testosterone production? So does this imply that drinking booze will reduce my testosterone levels, subsequently DHT levels, and stop my hair from falling out? Doubtful -- I’d just be bald and drunk. If you notice any of these effects, try cutting back on your masturbation habits for a few months and see if it helps alleviate your symptoms. If the symptoms are still there, you might as well keep tugging away and see a doctor for a medical checkup.
Compulsive masturbation can also negatively affect a person. What’s compulsive masturbating? There’s no set number of times; it’s associated with a person having difficulties in his life resulting from his masturbation habits. One guy masturbates six times a day and feels productive and great while the other feels the exact opposite. Compulsive masturbation can negatively affect your work, relationships, self-esteem, finances, social support, and have legal problems if you’re not able to find a balance between being responsible in life and satisfying your pleasures and desires.
Where Do You Get Off?
I hope I didn’t turn you off from masturbating. It’s a wonderful thing and one of the greatest gifts you can offer yourself. There are positives and negatives to everything in life: sex, singlehood, driving a car, being in a relationship, and working. We have to make sure the good outweighs the bad to find happiness.
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