Opening Insights
Lust is the ape that gibbers in our loins.
Tame him as we will by day, he rages all the wilder in our dreams by night.
Just when we think we’re safe from him, he raises up his ugly head and smirks,
and there’s no river in the world flows cold and strong enough to strike him down.
Almighty God, why dost thou deck men out with such a loathsome toy?
FREDERICK BUECHNER
American writer and theologian
Informational Insights
The topic of this blog is Masturbation. A topic commonly tabooed by many, yet practiced by many. This blog will explore what masturbation is, as well as the research around it. Additionally, the dangers and risks will be examined as well as the potential consequence of excess, compulsive and addictive behaviors forming.
What’s Masturbation?
- Masturbation is commonly defined as touching one’s own body, including sex organs, for sexual pleasure.
- Masturbation is common and considered by many as a safe way to get sexual pleasure.
- Masturbation has health benefits according to some in the scientific community.
- Excessive masturbation can lead to addictions resulting in brain and personality changes likened to heroin and cocaine addicts according to some in the scientific, recovery and spiritual communities.
The realities of sex education and socially accepted behaviors, of today are questionable. What some deem as sinful, others deem as normal. What some deem as healthy others, deem as unhealthy.
The point of this blog was not to demonize people who masturbate, but to provide awareness and a warning of the risks and dangers of masturbation and excessive masturbation to your brain, behavior and life. These realities are not communicated or taught to children and adolescents; whether we were told its right or wrong, many of us were never given all the facts, and thus made the best and most logical decisions we could at the time, which sometimes lead us down dangerous paths with long-term consequences we were not taught or warned of. The consequences of this lack of education, has resulted in many developing masturbation, porn and sex addictions. Like any substance or process that affects the reward centers of the brain (pain and pleasure) there is a fine line between “healthy / acceptable” masturbation and excessive – compulsive to addictive behaviors.
What’s society telling us about Masturbation?
Most schools have sex education. Most people experience the profound wisdom of the sex education curriculum: we learn about what sex is, how it happens, the risks involved (diseases etc), how to protect ourselves from these risks and most importantly what we can do as a safe alternative… i.e. masturbate. This teaching is the norm: explore an example of what government and a university site proclaim.
Government health sites around the world will tell you:
Masturbation is completely normal and extremely common. People of all ages masturbate and it’s often the first sexual experience they have.
However, not everybody enjoys masturbating and there’s no reason to do it if you don’t want to.
Masturbation is when you get sexual pleasure from touching your genitals, usually with your hand. You can masturbate yourself or a partner. Masturbation usually leads to an orgasm.
Generally, men and boys masturbate by rubbing or moving their hand up and down their erect penis. Women and girls may use their fingers or hand to rub the area around their clitoris or vagina.
Many people enjoy masturbating with their partner as part of a healthy sex life and there’s no right or wrong way to masturbate.
Can masturbating cause any health problems?
Masturbation doesn’t cause any harm, either physically or mentally, even if you do it often. Your genitals may feel sore if you masturbate a lot in a short space of time.
If you masturbate with a partner, the risk of passing on or getting a sexually transmitted infection (STI) is low, as long as you don’t pass genital fluids to one another on your fingers or in any other way.
Although people may be embarrassed to talk about masturbating, you shouldn’t feel ashamed of it or guilty about doing it. If you feel the need to masturbate is interfering with your everyday life, talking to a GP may help. [1]
Student health services will tell you:
Stroking the one-eyed snake, polishing your pearl, southern comfort… whatever you call it, masturbation is a healthy (and normal) sexual activity that people of any gender may enjoy. In fact, masturbation can be healthy in a number of different ways: physically, mentally, and emotionally. Masturbation can also be a healthy addition to solo, partnered, or group sexual encounters. Read on to find out why.
Masturbation is one way for you to enjoy your own body, and to give yourself sexual pleasure. It can also tune you in to your own sexual likes and dislikes. You then have the choice of sharing that information with a sexual partner(s) to enhance a sexual relationship. Mutual masturbation, when two people masturbate in front of each other, can also be arousing, and is a great alternative to intercourse without the risk of transmission of sexually transmitted diseases or risk of pregnancy.
Believe it or not, quite a lot of research has been conducted on this subject. And the overall conclusion is that masturbation is universal across nearly all cultures, and that it can have a number of healthy outcomes, such as:
- Relieving stress and releasing tension (including the obvious, sexual tension)
- Providing a sexual outlet for people who are not having sex with a partner (whether by choice or by circumstance)
- Alleviating pre-menstrual symptoms in some women
- Helping to induce sleep, or conversely, helping to start the day with an energized calm
- Strengthening muscle tone in the genital region
- Promoting a couples’ level of sexual satisfaction in their relationship
- Providing treatment for some types of sexual dysfunction
One study even found a correlation showing that ejaculating more often (whether through partnered sex or masturbation) led to a lower risk of prostate cancer in adult men.
In case you’re curious, there is also a great deal of information about who masturbates. The short answer is people of all kinds. But to flesh it out a little more (excuse the pun):
- Infants — while not necessarily erotic, many infants touch their genitals once they learn that the stimulation feels good.
- Children — again, not necessarily erotic, but many children also find self-stimulation pleasurable.
- Adolescents — perhaps the classic group associated with masturbation. Many males and females masturbate regularly in their pre-teens and teens.
- Adults — married, partnered, or single, adults ages 18 to 59 are actually more likely to masturbate than adolescents. What’s more, people with regular sexual partners are more likely to masturbate than singles.
- And then there are many people, from all age groups, who rarely or never masturbate.
While masturbation itself is normal and healthy, there are times when a person might have a negative relationship with solo sex. Certain cultures or religions place such a stigma on masturbation that some people feel guilt or shame after pleasuring themselves. On a different note, a few people feel the compulsion to masturbate so often that it begins to interfere with other life events and duties, such as working or going to school. For people who are concerned about masturbation, it may be helpful to discuss any quandaries with a counselor, health care provider, religious leader, or trusted friend.
To maximize your pleasure and safety, here are some tips to consider when getting a grip on yourself:
- If you’re using any objects to help get the job done (sex toys, cucumbers, what have you), throw a condom on first — especially if that object will be shared with someone else or enter more than one orifice (use a new condom for each “destination”).
- Plenty of lube = maximum comfort (and less chafing) — water-based lube is a universally good choice. Some men prefer using lotion on their penis, however it is advised that women avoid inserting lotion, oil, petroleum jelly, and anything oil-based, into the vagina to avoid risk of vaginitis (irritation and/or infection in the vagina).
- Masturbate when it’s enjoyable to you. If you don’t feel like it, don’t worry about it. If you want to do it again, go ahead.
- Try different techniques, positions, times of day, mood music, etc. to learn more about what feels best.
People sometimes wonder if a person can masturbate “too much.” To this concern, the answer is: not likely. As long as you are still able to participate in your normal daily activities, you can feel free to masturbate none, one, or multiple times per day. [2]
Great stuff… makes masturbation look all natural, normal, expected and accepted. What’s the other side of the coin, that funny little thing called REALITY!
What’s Research telling us about Masturbation?
Summary of the research. Studies on organism and masturbation show the following. :
- The orgasm is a strong analgesic. With brain-activation studies of orgasm showing unique patterns of activation in regions implicated in attention, self-awareness and consciousness, researchers believe its study may also help with the control of pain.” [3]
- “Orgasm is tied into the brain’s reward system and likely other important systems as well. There is much we can learn about the brain, about sensation, about how pleasure works and probably much more from this one physical response.” Julia Heiman, director of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction in Bloomington, Indiana.
- Masturbation, activates the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of the brain. [3]
- The PFC is involved in executive functions, specifically aspects of consciousness:
- self-evaluation
- selflessness
- compassion
- empathy [3]
- Imagined or real masturbation activated the same areas in the PFC, with somewhat less blood flow.[3]
- Research showed that there is more activation in the PFC when masturbation was imagined compared with real (touch). [3]
- Research suggests the heightened activation of the PFC (during imagined / fantasy) maybe a result of imagination, fantasy, or another cognitive process that “helps manage so ‘top-down’ control – the direct regulation by the brain of physiological functions – of our own pleasure.” [3]
- Organism (with a partner) has been shown to deactivate the area of the PFC called the left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), resulting in an “altered state of consciousness.”
- Some researchers believe that the OFC may be the basis of sexual control, offsetting systems that usually dominate attention and behaviour. [3]
- Frequent masturbation and ejaculation stimulate acetylcholine and parasympathetic nervous functions excessively, resulting in the over production of sex hormones and neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine, dopamine and serotonin. Abundant and unusual amounts of these hormones and neurotransmitters can cause the brain and adrenal glands to perform excessive dopamine-norepinephrine-epinephrine conversion and turn the brain and body functions to be extremely sympathetic. In other words, there is a big change of body chemistry when one excessively practices masturbation.[4]
For more details about the research click here.
Where to from here?
There are many people who will tell you how wonderful masturbating is for you and how everybody does it. They will tell you that the only people who don’t masturbate are religious freaks and nut jobs. This attitude is likened to some saying “if you don’t drink alcohol, there is something wrong with you and you don’t know how to enjoy yourself.”
People will tell you that you should not feel ashamed, guilty or fearful that you masturbate, instead you should feel proud and consider it a normal part of life. Maybe this is true for some people, however, would you tell someone that heroine is safe because its natural, it comes from the poppy plant? The reality is like everything in life there are pros and cons, yet for many people today the realities of over stimulation, poor emotional coping skills and contradicting messages from society can result in one thinking that masturbation is a natural means of coping and dealing with life… HOWEVER, the reality is that masturbation affects the reward centers (pain pleasure centers of our brains), releasing and changing the brain chemistry and biological processes that stimulate the body and mind in the same way as mainlining heroine.
Crossing the Invisible Line
There is a fine line between use-excessive-compulsive-addictive. The progressive pathway to addiction is clear.
“Addiction is defined by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) ‘as a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in an individual pathologically pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors. It is characterized by inability to consistently abstain, impairment in behavioral control, craving, diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships, and a dysfunctional emotional response. Like other chronic diseases, addiction often involves cycles of relapse and remission. Without treatment or engagement in recovery activities, addiction is progressive and can result in disability or premature death. [5]
The measurement of whether you have a dependency or problems can be measured by assessing:
- Is your behavior interfering with your daily life i.e. distracting you from work, family and life?
- What is the intention behind your behavior i.e. has it become something you need to survive, a self-medication of sorts?
- What is your level of secrecy about your behavior?
- Are you embarrassed and fail to disclose information about your behavior because you fear judgment of others?
- Are you secretive and avoiding judgement, with the real intention of staying in control and keeping up the dysfunction?
Given the rise of excessive fantasy addictions (gaming, porn, sex) and give the research about masturbation discusses above, it is very clear that masturbation addiction is very real for many people, and can play a part in other addictions. Additionally there is a real danger for school going children being taught that it is normal and comes with no risks.
If you think you may have a problem or would like more information around this topic, we suggest you explore the following Blogs for more clarity and an introduction to possible PWI Recovery-Discovery solutions:
- Sex and The Brain
- Addiction and The Brains Pleasure Pathways: Beyond Willpower
- Porn (Fantasy) Addiction and the Brain
- Digital (Fantasy) Junkies: Mainlining Heroin
- Accelerated Recovery
- The orgasm is a strong analgesic. With brain-activation studies of orgasm showing unique patterns of activation in regions implicated in attention, self-awareness and consciousness, researchers believe its study may also help with the control of pain. “Orgasm is a special case of consciousness,” says Barry Komisaruk at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. “If we can look at different ways of inducing orgasm, we may better understand how we can use top-down processing to control what we physically feel. [3]
- “Orgasm is tied into the brain’s reward system and likely other important systems as well. There is much we can learn about the brain, about sensation, about how pleasure works and probably much more from this one physical response.” Julia Heiman, director of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction in Bloomington, Indiana.
- Komisaruk and colleagues at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey, study the time course of orgasm, and particularly when the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of the brain becomes active. “The PFC is situated at the front of the brain and is involved in aspects of consciousness, such as self-evaluation and considering something from another person’s perspective. Komisaruk’s team recently found heightened activation in the PFC during female climax – something not seen in previous studies of the orgasm. Surprisingly, this was also the case in individuals who can achieve orgasm by thought alone. With fantasy and self-referential imagery often reported as being part of the sexual experience, Komisaruk and colleagues wondered if the PFC might be playing a key role in creating a physiological response from imagination alone. The results showed that imagined clitoral touches and Kegel exercises activated the same brain areas as real ones, albeit with somewhat less blood flow. The PFC, however, showed more activation when touches and pelvic squeezes were imagined compared with those that were real. He suggests this heightened activation may reflect imagination or fantasy, or perhaps some cognitive process that helps manage so called “top-down” control – the direct regulation by the brain of physiological functions – of our own pleasure.” [3]
- Georgiadis (University of Groningen, Netherlands) and colleagues, “performed similar experiments to Komisaruk and colleagues and found that the same brain region “switched off” during orgasm. Specifically, they saw significant deactivation in an area of the PFC called the left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Georgiadis argues that the OFC may be the basis of sexual control – and perhaps only by letting go, so to speak, can orgasm be achieved. He suggests this deactivation may be the most telling example of an “altered state of consciousness” and one not seen, as yet, during any other type of activity. “I don’t think orgasm turns off consciousness but it changes it,” he says. “When you ask people how they perceive their orgasm, they describe a feeling of a loss of control.” Georgiadis suggests that perhaps orgasm offsets systems that usually dominate attention and behaviour. “I’m not sure if this altered state is necessary to achieve more pleasure or is just some side effect,” he says. It is possible that the inability to let go and reach this altered state may be what prohibits individuals with anorgasmia from reaching climax.” [3]
- “There may be a simple explanation for the discrepancies between Georgiadis’s and Komisaruk’s work – they may represent two different paths to orgasm, activated by different methods of induction. While participants in Komisaruk’s studies masturbated themselves to orgasm, those in Georgiadis’s were stimulated by their partners. “It is possible there is a difference between someone trying to mentalise sexual stimulation as opposed to receiving it from a partner,” says Georgiadis. Perhaps having a partner makes it easier to let go of that control and achieve orgasm. Alternatively, having a partner may make top-down control of sensation and pleasure less necessary to climax.” [3]
- Frequent masturbation and ejaculation stimulate acetylcholine and parasympathetic nervous functions excessively, resulting in the over production of sex hormones and neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine, dopamine and serotonin. Abundant and unusually amount of these hormones and neurotransmitters can cause the brain and adrenal glands to perform excessive dopamine-norepinephrine-epinephrine conversion and turn the brain and body functions to be extremely sympathetic. In other words, there is a big change of body chemistry when one excessively practices masturbation.[4]
-
Over masturbation is perhaps one of the least talked about topic, meaning that the reality of the negative effects of it often go unknown within our culture, societies and schools today.
[1] //www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1684.aspx?CategoryID=118
[2] //goaskalice.columbia.edu/answered-questions/masturbation-healthy
[3] https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028124.600-sex-on-the-brain-orgasms-unlock-altered-consciousness
[4] //www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cupids-poisoned-arrow/201001/was-the-cowardly-lion-just-masturbating-too-much
[5] //www.addictionhope.com/sexual-addiction/
Possibilities for Consideration
Take a moment and examine…
- As you reviewed the material above, what stood out to you?
- What is the potential impact, economically and/or socially?
- What action is needed to stop or support this idea?
- You may want to consider whether you:
- want to be aware of,
- should become supportive of,
- would want to be active in this topic?
Add Your Insight
I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Being willing is not enough; we must do.
LEONARDO DA VINCI