Masturbation is a word that is taboo in our ‘civilized’ society. The debate if one should masturbate or not has gone much beyond the biological perspective and has landed into the court of morality. Though if one chooses to masturbate or not is absolutely a personal matter but there are many, many benefits of masturbation. However, the subject is often mired in myths only because it is a subject that is kept behind the closet and people do not discuss about it openly.
So, here we list five facts about masturbation which include bizarre myths that are prevalent and some facts that you must know.
Benefits of masturbating
Masturbation is a natural, safe and healthy activity. It is actually a way to explore your body, feel pleasure and release built-up sexual tension. Its benefit is not only limited to your sexual health, but masturbating regularly can also have physical and mental health benefits. Research and anecdotal reports suggest that regular masturbation can help to:
Reduce stress
Release tension
Enhance the quality of sleep
Boost concentration level
Lift mood
Relieve menstrual cramps
Alleviate pain
Improve sex life
Masturbating is unhealthy only if you get addicted to it. It is a kind of fun activity that helps to boosts your sex drive. It becomes unhealthy when it turns out to be an uncontrollable affair. Masturbation addiction can lead to behavioural changes, low self-esteem, low sexual satisfaction and starts interfering with your daily life. In such a case, take professional help to overcome the problem.
Many people continue to masturbate even after marriage
And there is no reason why they should not! Masturbation is your time that you would want to spend by yourself. There is no reason why a partner should mind it. However, if you think that your behaviour is excessive and you need to limit it, then you must see a doctor.
Masturbation cannot cause blindness, infertility, decrease in libido or shrinking of the organ
We know that these are all absurd ideas but there are many people who believe in them. They sound more like fear inducing talks which were spread to keep people off masturbation. None of these is true. Masturbation is completely safe to indulge in and has many health benefits, in fact!
Masturbating women can orgasm easily during intercourse
Many believe that if women masturbate, they will have trouble reaching orgasm in real life. However, it is absolutely false. Again, it sounds like a myth that was created to keep women off masturbating as masturbating is considered more profane for women than it is for men.
Masturbating once every day is normal
Yes, it is! There are many who would tag such people as addicts but they are not. Medically, if you masturbate more than that, that is, more than once a day or seven times a week, it can be a problem. Also, there are other symptoms which also need to be checked against. These include decreasing social activity to masturbate, guilt over masturbation and losing friends because of masturbation. You can read about masturbation adduction here (link).
A lot of people cry after masturbation!
Yes, that is true. Crying after you have masturbated is quite common a problem now. Medically referred to as post-coital blues, there is more research that needs to go in the subject. It has also been referred to as sex-induced depression in literature.