Believe it or not, masturbation is healthy, and more importantly, it is necessary and normal for your sexual health. Moreover, it aids in discovering your sexuality and helps you to realize what sexually stimulates you and what does not.

Although this solo act does not entail any side effects, when it starts to interfere with your daily responsibilities, making it difficult for you to manage, perhaps it’s time to quit masturbation. Remember, masturbating is not bad, it is essential for knowing yourself and maintaining your sexual health, but not at the cost of other essential tasks.

Masturbation from a normal activity turns into a problem when you cannot resist the urge of doing it in the middle of other activities. You might also feel the need to skip work, school, college, or any other important event as you want to masturbate.

If you have been doing any of these things lately, perhaps it is better to reduce or quit masturbation as it leads to isolation and absence from the activities which require more attention.

Are There Any Side ffects of Masturbation?

Under normal circumstances, there are no side effects of masturbation. However, if one is regularly and vigorously masturbating for a long period, one might face the following side-effects:

Edema

Edema is a medical condition where the penis is swollen. This generally happens when a male grips the penis too tightly.

Irritation of the skin

When you are masturbating regularly., you might cause the skin of your penis to get chafed or irritated.

How to Stop Masturbating?

It is difficult to stop doing what you are addicted to for a while. Therefore, you will certainly not stop masturbating overnight. It is a long process that will require effort and time from your side but it is not impossible. So, hang in there!

Quitting masturbation is not just one decision to not do something. Instead, it is a plethora of other strategies and choices to whom you have to say yes. They are as follows:

1. Say yes to honesty

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, masturbation is completely normal and healthy for one person to do. There is nothing wrong with it. Nevertheless, there are various stereotypes associated with it which makes the activity immoral or dirty.

If you feel the same somewhere in the corner in your mind, it is best to uproot these stereotypes by talking to your friend or a therapist. This is done so that you are more comfortable around that area. The more you dislike a thing, the more you will be drawn towards it. Therefore, it is very necessary to normalize masturbation.

2. Talk to a therapist

If you find quitting the activity as difficult, then talk to a therapist or a doctor who will help you wrap your mind around the activity. Not only that, but he will also help you uproot the stigmas that are associated with the solo act, as mentioned earlier.

3. Create a healthy lifestyle

Masturbation is one way of providing your body with the pleasure and happiness it needs. It is good, but when it gets out of control, you will need to look for various other ways to provide that happiness and satisfaction.One way to do so is to follow a healthy diet and take care of your body. This will motivate you in various other ways and also help you to renew your focus and attention on different things.This also includes exercising, as it helps you to stay positive and focus your energy on different parts of your body.

When you exercise, your body releases the feel-good hormones in your body which will help you to lift your mood and energy for the day. Although maintaining a healthy diet and exercising are long-term commitments required on your part, once you get in the groove of it, your body will get an equal amount of happiness and satisfaction.

4. Distract yourself

When you distract yourself and keep yourself busy, you are reducing the opportunities for you to masturbate. However, the key here is to find equally exciting and pleasurable activities which can keep your mood happy and joyful.

You can start meditating or even develop a new hobby such as painting, etc. If you do not want to indulge in these activities, you can also go out on dates or make some new friends and get to know people.

This technique of distraction is extremely important during your troubled times. These are the times when you are experiencing the highest urge to masturbate. It can be before you sleep in the night or the afternoon.

During these troubled times, you need to develop certain strategies or techniques which will help you keep your mind distracted or busy.

5. Avoid porn

One of the major reasons you might be stimulated to masturbate is porn. It is extremely difficult to resist masturbating when you are watching porn. Therefore, it is necessary to throw every pornographic content from your view, be it magazines or CDs.

6. Be patient

As mentioned earlier, the decision to quit masturbation may be overnight but the process of it is long and time-consuming. That will not happen overnight, and you will need to mentally prepare yourself to invest efforts if not time to execute your decision.

Moreover, if you are visiting a therapist for this, you will need to open up about it. You will need to be more comfortable and honest about what you feel and what stimulates you the most to do it.

If necessary, then go out of your comfort zone and reduce your ‘me-time. We all know that solitude is important for personal growth and development, but it should not act as your excuse to pleasure yourself.

You can just go to your friend’s house or go to a restaurant. Such instances will help you to quit masturbation. Be that as it may, you will feel you are constantly fighting with yourself in the beginning. Not only that, but your mind will also trick you to masturbate by listing its benefits or how normal it is.

It is normal, but you also need to consider the important activities that you abstain from doing because of this urge. Therefore, be patient and continue to invest your efforts till the end.

Also Read: Mutual Masturbation