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Can masturbation really help with stress and mental ill-being? (might be a bit explicit)


sweetbitter

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sweetbitter

I'm turning 19 soon. I'm asexual, I don't have libido. I've only started being interested in masturbation not so long ago. Earlier I was sort of ashamed, sort of disgusted. I have tried some manual external stimulation, just for a moment, out of curiosity. It's... meh. Pleasurable, but not more than watching tingly ASMR on Youtube or having someone play with my hair. For me it's not really a sexual thing, just sensual. 

I don't necessarily want to go deeper and "fancier" with touching myself or try to seek an orgasm. In fact, the idea of orgasm kind of weirds me out. But here's the thing: I've heard masturbation helps to relieve tension and stress, and is good for overall health. I'm a very anxious person. I stress out and get tires easily, I often have mood swings. My final exams are coming up, so the next few weeks are going to be really stressful. I started wondering... could regular masturbation help me cope with all of this? Should I try, even if it seems weird for me? 

I do not go to any therapist or anything, and I don't really have the opportunity to do so. 

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Yes it can help with stress/tension according to studies. But I wouldn't say it will help more than say, exercise, or petting a dog/cat, or other things that all have been shown to help with stress. It's just one of many things that physiologically people react to by releasing hormones that help calm us down/make us a little happier. If you're comfortable with it then sure it can't hurt, but if it weirds you out enough where you're uncomfortable or tense it probably won't help you much if at all.

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If it makes you feel relieved, go for it. It can't cause you any physical problems unless of course you do it too much. The only problem I can think of is if it goes against your religious beliefs, if that's the case then don't feel pressured to do it because it'll help. There are plenty of other things that can relieve stress. There's a lotion for stress relief as well. 

Edit: I used to run away my stress and pain :') 

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everywhere and nowhere

If you don't feel comfortable with pleasuring yourself and don't feel a need to do it, don't. I seriously think that all these "benefits of sexual activities" are seriously exaggerated. I simply consider it absurd to believe that these benefits can't be achieved through other means, such as sport, meditation, nonsexual intimacy... Remember that whenever the media write about how sex or self-pleasuring are supposedly healthy, they are doing this with allosexual people in mind. They hardly think that there are people who don't enjoy sexual activities. They just want to make people feel good by telling them that something they like anyway is also "good for them", but they don't realise that not everybody likes this kind of activities.

Given how earlier there were a lot of ridiculous beliefs about supposed harms of autoeroticism (sorry, I hate the M word and will keep using synonyms) - how it supposedly "causes hairy palms", drains life force etc. - it's useful to remind people that no, it is in fact not dangerous or unhealthy. But I don't think that its benefits, if they are real, are universal to everyone. Particularly I doubt if self-pleasuring can be beneficial to someone who really feels uncomfortable about doing it.

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andreas1033

The answer is that its a personal thing.

 

Some people need it, and some people do not.

 

Its like the question, of having sex before sports, for sports people. Some people should not have sex before sporting events, and some people need to have sex beforehand.

 

Only you will know, if its for you.

 

Remember there is a difference between sex drive(which sexuals have), and sexual energies(which everyone should have after puberty, as long as you have the biology for it).

 

For me masturbation is not sexual, but i am asexual, and do not use it that way, or see it that way. But for sexuals, they associate masturbation with sex. Like i said, sexual energy is different than sex drive.

 

In males i agree it does affect affect males health, to not release that energy. Not sure in females, but for me, in males, its important for your health, to do so.

 

Its  a personal thing, like i said, only you know your own body.

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Autumn Season
17 minutes ago, andreas1033 said:

sexual energies(which everyone should have after puberty, as long as you have the biology for it)

Except for nonlibidoists. Just wanted to point this out.

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user23974865

Sometimes I notice that sexual relief actually does make me feel significantly better (both physically and mentally) even when it seemed like nothing but an inconvenience a moment earlier. So I think, yes, it's something to consider.

 

I think those types of articles and statistics that sound like "there's no such thing as too many orgasms, you'll live ten times longer!!" really are either bogus or just correlation with little or no causation, but I think you shouldn't be afraid either. Don't assume that the way you feel when you think about it is the same way you would feel if you actually tried it. Ask yourself if the "weird feeling" you experience related to it really is because it's something fundamentally uncomfortable and not pleasurable to you, or if it's just that you're anxious about doing something you haven't done before. If it's the former, then you'll probably be better off just doing whatever else instead. If it's the latter, then you actually could be missing out on what's basically a free and immediately-accessible leisure activity and a potential boost to your immediate well-being.

 

1 hour ago, sweetbitter said:

Pleasurable, but not more than watching tingly ASMR on Youtube or having someone play with my hair.

Well, for me at least, that's exactly the spirit. It actually is in the same basic category as those things. It just goes through slightly different mechanisms in the brain and body, just like ASMR is similar but not the same as someone playing with your hair.

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It does help me with stress and mental well-being, however I like masturbating. If you find it uncomfortable, I can't help but think that it would just make your stress worse. Masturbation and orgasm are fun for me, they feel good. However it's not for everyone and you shouldn't feel bad if you don't like it.

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If masturbation is no more pleasurable than watching tingly ASMR, watch tingly ASMR. lol. that's just my two cents. 

but in all seriousness, you do you. whatever makes you comfortable and doesn't leave you feeling some type of way and benefits you in the long run, then you're alright. 

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The only benefit I've ever had from masturbating other than 'I'm bored and a bit horny' is actually pain relief, weirdly enough. Not sure if that's a common thing but particularly with period pain I find it's one of the only things that really helps.

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Male perspective = might not be relevant. However I thought I'd share my opinion and experience in case it helps! 

 

Masturbation does not obviously assist me in terms of my mental state. Generally speaking, if I'm fretting about something, the build-up / process / afterglow of self-intimacy does not diminish those feelings of stress or provide a distraction / relief. 

 

For the record though, I do not look forward to or enjoy masturbating, which may itself cause an amount of stress for me! For other people it may be different, so you do you. 

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