Masturbation is often thought of a “healthy release” and is even recommended for stress relief or to maintain a steady ‘balance.’ In fact, we often get questions from our students “Is masturbation OK?” “How many times a day can I masturbate?” “If I can’t masturbate are you saying that I can’t have any type of relief?” “If my partner won’t or can’t have sex, is masturbation an acceptable alternative?” These are all great questions and something that you need to decide for yourself, but there is some helpful information that will help you in this decision.
The truth is that from your brain’s perspective, masturbation is literally “self-sex.” Which creates two problems:
1. The neuro-chemical rush triggered by masturbation can quickly become your convenient and instant “drug-of-choice” for pleasure, escape, and self-medication from loneliness, boredom, and stresses of life – it becomes a “crutch.”
2. It can interfere with healthy sexuality in a long-term committed relationship. Over time, “self-sex” can become your brain’s “preferred” method for achieving sexual gratification.
Here are some experiences from our students:
Student #1:
“I’ve read that masturbation is not really that big of a deal. Why is it such a huge problem for me? I mean it’s all I think about. ALL THE TIME. I just feel like a slave and it’s just draggin’ me around wherever it wants to go. Like the tail waggin’ the dog. I hate this.”
Student #2:
“I’m struggling with a masturbation habit. I don’t know if you can help because my habit is out of control. I’m in my 40’s and I love my wife. We even have good sex together. I guess I’m afraid to tell her that I just feel like “I need to do it more often.” I hate myself and have sometimes even thought about suicide because I feel like a total freak. I’m not really into porn, but I do fantasize a lot about other women in my head. I feel like I’m keeping a huge secret from my wife and I don’t know what to do.”
If you’ve been experiencing the negative effects of masturbation, you have most likely tried to stop countless times, only to fall right back asking –Why does this happen over and over again? It’s not because you are weak, flawed or a lost cause. In fact, your struggle is because you have great strengths that have become weaknesses. Everything you need to change is already built into the very structure of your brain – What got you into this can get you out.
Candeo is a revolutionary program that teaches and trains people about the nature of their unwanted behaviors, and how to overcome them. Candeo is anonymous, private, safe, and completely accessible through our online portal. The Candeo program takes you through a step-by-step process to help you shed your habits of the past.
