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I've just stumbled upon a really interesting article from Psychology Today about the effects of porn and masturbation. It's a good read for everyone dealing with social anxiety and poor self-image in general.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cup ... g-too-much
From the article:
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Over and over, a common pattern appears: As users manage to abstain from porn and cut way back on masturbation, their desire to connect with others surges. So does their confidence, their ability to look others in the eye, their sense of humor, their perception of their "manliness," their concentration, their optimism, their judgment, their attractiveness to potential mates, and so forth. Even those formerly suffering from social anxiety are more often than not emboldened to explore new avenues for social contact: smiling and joking with work colleagues, online dating, meditation groups, nightspots, and so forth. In some cases it takes months, but often the shift is so rapid that it catches them by surprise. (I'm not implying that social anxiety is solely due to porn use, or that extroversion is a sign of its absence. I'm merely wondering whether, for some, more careful management of sexual desire might be surprisingly beneficial.)
I can actually relate a lot. Even though I was not an "addict", stopping masturbation has changed me. I'm more confident, more self-assured and I'm eager to have social interactions. I'm also way more optimist.
Try it out.
Is this the only study you could find? I'm interested to see if you could find another that supports this one. Please forgive me of my skepticism. Last time I checked masturbation had no notable side effects. I'm not dogging the concept of abstaining from masturbation. I'm just not sure that masturbation has as many "mental" side effects as this article proclaims it does. I've used Google and found several men's health articles that were indeed reliable sources. None seem to have agreed with the aforementioned statements in this article.
The only reason I personally think masturbation is a bad habit because it is potentially time consuming, especially if the individual is a "chronic masturbator" (2+ times a day). It takes a lot of time and concentration to masturbate that many times a day. Plus
LOTS of free time. However, I've never seen anything that confirms the article above.
Could the experiences you felt be "self-affirmations" instead of actual positive side effects? I'm not supporting a bad habit, but I find the claims in your post to be dubious at best.
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All I can say is your biggest enemy is boredom. If you stay busy, get out more, work more/harder then it won't seem as difficult than if you're at home all day.
I concur with your statement. Getting new hobbies and things to do often helps eliminate this hobby all together. A lot of people try and use
"will power" against masturbation which is more often than not a losing battle. You can abstain for quite some time. However, when the opportune time arrives, you will most likely take that opportunity. This is why it is essential to develop new habits and explore new hobbies. Keeping busy and out of the house is a sure fire way for
"most" to stop masturbating.
CHAT
