Does masturbation really affect your sexual health?

Have you ever indulged in masturbation? I know most of you or to be precise almost all of you must have dared to try it at least once in your life. Actually the truth is as soon as we take our first step in adolescence, the first thing we hear about sexual fantasies is about trying masturbation. Most of the kids have no idea of what they are doing but just out of curiosity they try it out. And once they try masturbation by their own the sheer excitement and the heavenly experience just keeps them trying it again and again. This becomes a habit over time which becomes so hard to quit that some people find more pleasure in masturbation than actual intercourse with a lady.

Being a sexologist most of the time I am asked by people about the effects of masturbation. I know most the people have questions in their mind whether doing masturbation is harmful for health specially sexual health. Well there two answers to this question : “Yes” and “No”.

No because everyone do it and not everyone gets into sexual dysfunctions just because of masturbation. You believe it or not but everyone does it. I have not come even a single male in my whole life who has never done or at least tried it. Then why do some people develop the complications while others may never see any problem ever in their life. Is there any thing that specifically targets some people and not others? Is it a psychological thing as claimed by many psychologists? Is it really the guilt and depression and the social stigma which is killing our libido or is it really the consequence of masturbation? Read on to find out…..

I have read many newspapers where they appoint some psychologist to answer their readers queries related to sexual dysfunctions. Firstly I dont understand why psychologists are regarded as the doctors who treat sexual dysfunctions? Psychology is a totally different discipline than sexology. I guess this is because there is no sexology course yet introduced in India, so the load has been taken over by the psychologists. Whatever the scene may be, I have a really strong opposition to their belief that it is the psychological stigma and guilt after masturbation which damages our sexual life. I totally disagree with this. There is no major depression or psychological factor associated with hand practice that may cause such sever case of premature ejaculation or even impotence in patients. The depression and guilt felt after hand practice is just temporary and doesn’t last for even up to a few hours. So the point of chronic or persistent depression and sexual dysfunctions does not arise. This is evident from the fact that the person doesn’t think twice before again doing it on the next day.

Masturbation does not cause sexual problems at all if done in moderation. By limitations I mean once or twice a week will not do any harm to your body or mind. It may lead to serious consequences if you follow any of the following characters :

1. Doing it in excess. Once or twice a week is OK but anything above this may be harmful. This is because you are loosing your precious semen continuously. Since most of the times people start doing masturbation in their early age, production of semen and sperms is not as evident as it is in an adult person. This leads to a negative semen deficit which may be felt by young people by the fact that sometimes they don’t ejaculate semen after doing it even for long time.
2. The social factor : Since masturbation is considered to be taboo in our society we develop a sense of fear in our mind that its not right. We always have the fear of being caught by parents or guardians. This forces us to try to do it as fast and quickly as possible. This way our nerves and mind gets trained to ejaculate as quickly as possible. Sometimes without even proper stimulation. This leads to premature ejaculation and semen leakage problem.

Apart from these two points I don’t feel masturbation can be harmful in any other way. If you have any experience of your own or you would like to share your experience please leave your feedback in the comments section below.