Almost everyone that’s reading this article masturbates. Masturbating is a natural and healthy part of life. Many people, however, believe that abstaining from masturbation can have many benefits to life. I decided to find out what happens when you stop masturbating.
For centuries there have been various groups that advocate abstinence from masturbation. Many religions have interpreted religious texts to condemn masturbation as a sin. In media, there have been tropes showing that a man who is abstaining from masturbation has increased levels of productivity.
Many people link masturbation to porn addiction and believe that it can become a serious health issue. Despite all of this, there’s very little scientific evidence to show positive benefits to not masturbating. However, it can be a fun challenge of self-discipline to try not to masturbate. It can also be productive if you believe you masturbate too much.
Why people choose to stop masturbating
There are lots of reason why people might choose to stop masturbating. Sometimes they choose to do it for a set amount of time whilst others simply want to stop for as long as possible. There’s no set time that people consider “the best”, but 30 days seems to be the most popular challenge. Reasons include, but are not limited to;
- A challenge in self-discipline
- Because the consider time masturbating as “wasted”
- To increase productivity levels
- To increase sexual pleasure during intercourse
- Because they feel guilty about masturbating
- Worried about masturbation affecting their testosterone levels
- To help with depression
- Because they believe masturbation affects their perspective on women
- Fear of addiction
- Help with erectile dsfunction
There are a lot of myths on negative effects masturbation might have on your body. These are not reasons why you should stop masturbating;
- You’ll go blind if you masturbate too much
- You’ll become mentally ill or an addict
- It might stunt your growth
- You’re hands and palm might grow hair or warts
- You won’t be able to have normal sex
- You’ll run out of sperm and won’t be able to have children
- Other people think you’re a pervert for doing it
Effects on your body from abstinence of masturbation
When you masturbate and climax, a bunch of things happen in your body. You release testosterone, dopamine and endorphins. Ejaculation also increases levels of the hormone cortisol. This hormone has been linked to better immunity in your body.There have also been studies that believe masturbation helps prevent prostate cancer.
When you stop masturbating you reduce these things from happening. Of course, normal intercourse will release the same chemicals in your body as they come from the actual act of ejaculation.
Many men report that they feel more energetic when they stop masturbating and that they are more productive. This could be because they have more sexual tension and stress built up and need to find an alternative method of relieving those feelings.
Athletes have been known to abstain from masturbation as well as sexual intercourse before a game, as it increases their testosterone levels briefly.
Many men, however, feel more agitated and stressed due to being unable to release sexual tension/frustration and find themselves more distracted by it than productive. Some studies have actually shown that masturbation breaks at work could increase productivity.
The pent up sexual tension may also lead you to be more hypersexual. This could be anything from constantly thinking about sex, to taking more notice of people you are attracted to. Some men find it helps them meet women, as they are more motivated to have intercourse. Others find it makes them more reckless in communicating and have often made overly sexual comments at inappropriate times.