YouTuber Rene Z.Z. He recently said in an episode of his podcast that he hasn’t masturbated in a year. He feels better every day. This naturally caused quite a stir on social media. Are we returning to the era of “don’t masturbate or you’ll go blind”? Is this a psychological effect? Is masturbation really bad? Before I continue my explanation, you can relax: no, masturbation is not bad. Masturbating is actually very beneficial.
People who claim that sexual abstinence healthy, usually attributed to psychological reasons. It’s supposed to be a way to find yourself and not live off the dopamine that masturbation gives us. This is partly due to the dopamine fast that is so fashionable in Silicon Valley.
However, this is much more complex than what dopamine fasting is all about. Avoiding masturbation for a long time may help reboot your brain and focus it on other activities that may be more rewarding for some. But we’re guessing masturbation isn’t. We believe that exploring one’s own sexuality is bad. We return to that taboo that is so difficult to give up, especially in the case of women. And above all, we forget what masturbation actually gives us many advantages which you shouldn’t do without. Can it become a pathology? Yes, but just like shopping, gaming or even eating. No one stops eating because compulsive behavior is considered a disorder. Why should masturbation be any different?
Masturbation is healthy
Orgasm is not always the end of masturbation, but it is most common. At this peak moment a huge cocktail of substances such as dopamine, oxytocin, prolactin, serotonin, adrenaline or endorphins and endocannabinoids. All this usually has a relaxing and mood-improving effect. In fact, this is an ideal measure against insomnia. But that’s not all. So to speak, there are more physical benefits.
In 2013, a study was published showing that masturbation can help relieve migraine symptoms. Additionally, through the release of endocannabinoids, it helps reduce other types of pain associated with inflammatory processes. Not just migraines.
On the other hand, it has been observed that sexual activity can improve cognitive skills in older adults, lower blood pressure and strengthen the immune system. In men it also prevents prostate cancer risk. All this, not to mention the fact that it is important for self-knowledge, which also helps us enjoy sexual relationships with other people more.
To do this, it is not even necessary to achieve orgasm, since we must remember that this does not have to be the end of a sex session, be it alone or in company. However, we have already seen that on a physical level (and also on a mental level, why not say so) masturbation has many benefits. What’s the problem then?
Spending time without masturbating will not lead to dopamine starvation
In fact, the term “dopamine fast” is confusing because dopamine is necessary and inevitable. healthy brain will always generate dopamineno matter how much we remove pleasant stimuli. The most we will achieve is to get dopamine. otherwise. For example, if we stop spending hours on social media looking for quick rewards, we can enjoy other activities, such as reading, where the rewards are somewhat more gradual, much greater. But there is still a reward.
If someone does not masturbate for a long time and continues to have social sex, the benefits will remain the same. What matters is hormonal cocktail what is released, not the presence or absence of the company.
Now, if we’re not masturbating or having social sex, we can divert that dopamine to other tasks, but those tasks might not benefit us as much. It will always be better to distract him from such activities as alcohol or tobacco usefor which there is no benefit.
What about porn?
Pornography and masturbation, especially male masturbation, are generally perceived as phenomena they always go hand in hand. For this reason, there are those who believe that masturbating a lot is unhealthy because it involves watching a lot of porn. However, there are many errors in this concept, as he well explained in a conversation with Hypertext psychologist and sexologist Laura Marcilla.
“Although images are known pornographic images Since the times of Ancient Egypt, it can be assumed that masturbation is even older,” explains the expert. This means that logically it could be masturbation without porn.
“Whenever masturbation occurs, it doesn’t have to be stimulated by pornographic images, and it doesn’t have to be directed toward masturbation when there’s porn,” Marcilla says. “This can also be seen in worry like a couple or, for example, as a form of distraction.”
Therefore, we cannot point out that daily masturbation is dangerous because it must be associated with porn. This is often not the case. But even if this is true, this in itself is not so bad.
There are many more types of pornography than we think
To explain this better, Laura Marcilla tells us that there are many types of pornography. On the one hand, there is what is colloquially called mainstream. This is the most typical and, although there are also many different ones, in general conditions such as great heterocentrism and strong masculinization. “It is directed and written by straight men for the pleasure of straight men.”
Exists alternative pornoften directed by women, in which there is much more emphasis on desires and fantasies female sexuality. However, access to pornography is more difficult. In fact, it usually costs a fee. The sexologist tells us that in the past there was a movement that recommended betting on this type of pornography, which usually also involves improving the working conditions for the people who work in it by paying for the videos. Just like with any audiovisual entertainment platform.
But since it is much rarer and harder to find, we will refer to mainstream pornography when we talk about possible risks of frequent use. In this aspect, Marcilla explains that each case is individual and that the reaction of consumers depends on many factors. “I can watch a very violent film and I don’t become violent because I know it’s wrong,” she gives an example. “The same thing happens with porn.”
According to her, there are factors such as maturity, critical thinking and sexuality education consumer perception, which plays a key role in the interpretation of pornography and whether its consumption can actually cause bad behavior. Although, he insists, it also depends a lot on what the person is like, beyond what they consume. For example, “people whose values align with masculinity and female dominance are able to be aroused by this type of content.” Maybe another person, “if he saw a scene in which a woman was being vilified without her consent, he wouldn’t get aroused.”
What if masturbating to porn becomes a necessity?
It is true that there are people who are unable to masturbate without pornography. But this, as Marcilla explains, is simply due to addiction phenomenon. Our brains become accustomed to producing pleasant reactions to certain stimuli. For example, a person may become accustomed to always achieving orgasm in the same position or always through oral sex. If you choose to come a different way, it may cost you more and you may have to implement new practices over time.
But this is also not a problem. If a person is happy reaching orgasm just by watching porn, nothing happens. The important thing is that you know and understand that porn is not a form of sex education. Which should be treated as science fiction, just like we watch any other film.
When do we talk about addiction?
For a YouTuber who hasn’t masturbated in a year, this could be an achievement showing that his happiness doesn’t depend on sex. This is very good and very legal if he decides so. But above all, we should not think that someone who masturbates a lot is addicted to masturbation or has even developed an addiction.
Any stimulus that can cause dopamine It can make us addicted. From food to sex, through drugs or gambling. However, to talk about sex addiction, it is not enough to masturbate every day. The need to masturbate must interfere with that person’s daily life.
If you can’t work because you’re thinking about masturbating, or it’s affecting your social or even romantic relationships, it’s an addiction. But if you do it in a healthy way and just for fun, there is no maximum number of masturbations per week.
Why does Renee ZZ feel better without masturbation?
In the case of the YouTuber, we are not talking about scientific research. It’s just the person who said it after a year without masturbation he feels better. But this could be for many reasons. You may have changed other factors in your life that have improved your mood. It could also be a simple coincidence. Or maybe he used to masturbate a lot because he was trying to hide something wrong with the pleasure. This is a problem.
But no, we can’t guarantee that a year without masturbation will be beneficial. In fact, it may be completely unnecessary torture. It’s not worth it, no matter how much a successful Internet YouTuber talks about it.
Source: Hiper Textual
