Can you be addicted to masturbating? The quick answer is yes. But if you’re reading this and questioning if you have a masturbation addiction, you’re probably wondering how you got here. After all, masturbation is a common practice for all kinds of people, and it’s both natural and safe. Why am I addicted to masturbating, then?, you could easily be wondering.
Masturbation can evolve into an uncontrollable urge and compulsive sexual behavior. And when it does, it’s important to take steps to address your masturbation addiction, as it’s often more than just a behavior that needs to be cut back. How so? Let’s dive in.
Understanding Masturbation Addiction
Masturbation addiction, or compulsive masturbation, is when you masturbate excessively, so much that it impacts your ability to live a normal life each day. If you’re addicted to masturbating, you’re constantly pleasuring yourself. In fact, you likely depend on masturbation to calm down in stressful or emotional moments. And because you’ve been using masturbation as a coping mechanism for so long, you’re unable to stop doing it.
Over time, as you engage in compulsive masturbation, it can be easy to start struggling with your self-esteem, shares Verywellmind.com. You may also experience lower sexual satisfaction and have to deal with your addiction’s negative impact on your work performance and your personal relationships.
Trauma, Dopamine, and Compulsive Masturbation
How does a healthy practice that allows you to explore your body and your sexuality transform into a legitimate addiction over time? Most often, unresolved trauma and a dependence on dopamine are the culprits that cause your masturbation addiction.
When you experience a difficult circumstance (or a series of circumstances), such as a natural disaster, abuse, neglect, or assault, the emotional response that follows is called trauma. In some cases, people can relive their trauma several years later, often due to adverse childhood experiences that occurred in their formative years. When trauma happens, your brain naturally shifts into fight-or-flight mode, making it difficult to calm down as a result. You can even continue to enter back into this flight-or-flight mode years later as you recall memories of your past traumatic experiences!
When you’re in danger, you naturally seek activities that make you feel safe and relaxed. These activities release a chemical in your brain called dopamine, also nicknamed the pleasure chemical. Self-pleasuring sexual behavior like masturbation can release substantial amounts of dopamine, making it an easy way to help you emotionally recover from difficult experiences. Yet over time, your brain can create a neural pathway between trauma and sexual pleasure that gets well-worn. Soon, your habit of masturbation as a coping mechanism can turn into an addiction, leading you to crave it every time you deal with a new challenging experience or emotion.
Other Factors Contributing to Masturbation Addiction
While trauma and dopamine are often at the root of your addiction to masturbating, there are a variety of other personal and environmental factors that can make you more susceptible, including:
- Drug use
- Neglect
- Physical abuse
- Family challenges
- Privacy and isolation
- Easy porn access
Are You Addicted to Masturbating? Here are the Warning Signs
While masturbation can be a regular rythm of your life, how much is too much self-pleasure? If you’re concerned you may be addicted to masturbation, here are a few signs to look out for:
- Your masturbation is so frequent it gets in the way of other activities, relationships, or responsibilities
- You masturbate in risky places, such as at work, school, or in public
- You feel shame and guilt after you’ve masturbated again
- Masturbating is beginning to lower your self-esteem
- You routinely masturbate to cope with sadness, anger, or stress
- You’ve attempted to masturbate less, but you can’t stop doing it
If just a few of the warning signs above resonate, you may be addicted to masturbating. Even if it doesn’t feel like you’re hurting others, your addiction can actually be hurting yourself. It’s easy to feel trapped, isolated, embarrassed, or overwhelmed (even all of the above). Masturbation addiction may make you feel alone in the world, but you’re not. And you can take steps to overcome this unseen addiction and reclaim your life.
How to Overcome Your Masturbation Addiction
When you’re addicted to masturbating, learning how to stop your compulsive behavior isn’t something you can achieve overnight. It takes effort, time, and support along the way. If you’re ready to put this addiction behind you, here are a few practical steps you can take:
Connect with Others
Addiction is easy to continue when you’re in isolation from others. That’s why it’s key to spend more time with people when you’re wanting to overcome your addiction to masturbation. Having people in your corner to support you is critical. Plus, being around people produces more dopamine in your brain naturally.
Remove Your Triggers
Think about what typically sets you off when you masturbate. Is it porn or social media on your computer? An app on your phone? Something at home? Take steps to remove the triggers in your life that lead you to masturbation so you’re less tempted when stress or negative emotions come your way.
Pursue Your Hobbies
Fill your time with your interests so you have less time to masturbate. And doing activities you love actually helps your brain produce dopamine. So instead of seeking masturbation for dopamine when you’re stressed, pursuing your favorite hobbies can have the same effects—without the debilitating fallout of addiction.
Attend a Support Group
When you’re faced with masturbation addiction, it’s important to know that other people have dealt with it, too—and found freedom. Joining a support group can surround you with other people with similar goals and an understanding of what you’re going through. This gives you the motivation you need to keep going as you pursue recovery.
Seek Professional Treatment
Professional treatment programs that specialize in masturbation addiction and other intimacy disorders can make a major impact in helping you overcome your addiction. Providing a variety of therapies, expertise, and accountability, these programs not only help you recover well, but teach you how to move forward without falling back into relapse.
Find Freedom at Integrative Life Center
If you’re addicted to masturbation, Integrative Life Center in Nashville, TN can help. Utilizing trauma-informed care, we address the root causes of your addiction with personalized, evidence-based, and experiential therapies. Offering a variety of intimacy disorder treatment options, our compassionate team can help you overcome your compulsive behavior and take your life back. Call us today to get started!
