Has the urge to masturbate taken over your life? Do you feel shame surrounding your masturbation habits? If the urge to masturbate feels uncontrollable, it may be time for you to seek masturbation therapy.
There is a difference between healthy self-pleasure habits and masturbation addiction. Understanding what causes a sex addiction and its symptoms can help you know if you need therapy for masturbation addiction.
Masturbation Addiction
Almost everyone masturbates at some time or another. It is perfectly natural and does not say anything about your morality.
Masturbation is part of having healthy sexuality. Some people masturbate once in a while, perhaps as much as every day. Just because you masturbate regularly does not mean that you have a masturbation addiction.
Masturbation addiction is when you’ve lost control of your sexual impulses and actions. Masturbation has become something you can’t control and want to do all the time.
If you have an addiction, you experience real consequences for your compulsive sexual behavior. It begins to affect your work and relationships negatively. You start feeling guilty or ashamed of your behavior. Then you try to stop and realize you can’t.
Signs and Symptoms of Masturbation Addiction
You may recognize that your behaviors have become problematic, but you aren’t sure if you have an addiction. Masturbation addiction looks different for each person, but many of the signs and symptoms overlap.
Masturbation addiction symptoms include:
- Thinking about and engaging in self-pleasure takes up a lot of your time.
- Your work performance suffers as a result of your time-consuming masturbation habits.
- Your compulsive sexual behaviors escalate, and you masturbate in public places.
- You masturbate to cope with stress, anger, frustration, or any other adverse emotion.
- After masturbating, you feel guilty, upset, or ashamed.
- You try to stop your habits but find you’re unable to.
- You have an inability or unwillingness to engage in intimate relationships.
- You avoid activities that don’t involve sexual outlets.
What Causes Masturbation Addiction?
Trauma and dopamine are two key factors behind masturbation addiction and other types of sex addiction. Together, they create a compulsive, uncontrollable desire to seek sexual pleasure.
When you experience something traumatic, your brain and body help you survive. When there is a perceived threat, your system turns off your brain and body’s “unnecessary” functions. Emotional processing shuts down, so you can use energy to pump adrenaline to your muscles. This rerouting is the fight-or-flight response.
During and after trauma, you’re unable to comprehend or process what happened. Your body is still in a state of shock. The only way to get things running, as usual, is to give your brain a hit of dopamine.
Dopamine is the “pleasure chemical” that helps you learn what feels good. Your body releases it during pleasurable activities like eating fatty food, sharing a hug, and exercising.
Sexual pleasure is a readily available source of dopamine. Soon, every time you experience something adverse, you use masturbation to calm yourself down. Masturbation becomes a reaction to trauma.
In response, your brain shuts down the dopamine receptors bit by bit. Meaning every time you masturbate to experience that same “high,” it’ll be less and less intense. You’re dulling the response you’re seeking. You develop a tolerance.
Soon, you’re using masturbation to cope with stress, temper happiness, and satisfy boredom. Your compulsive behaviors become out of control, and your actions start to escalate over time.
Masturbation therapy can address dopamine overload and reset your dopamine receptors. More importantly, it can help you understand what happened to you that caused you to seek this relief.
The Principles of Masturbation Therapy
The philosophy of masturbation addiction therapy doesn’t just include stopping the habit. Sex addiction treatment should work to uncover the source of the addiction and address the deeper layers of the issue.
Masturbation therapy should:
- Stop destructive sexual behaviors
- Identify the root cause of the addiction
- Create a solid foundation for lasting recovery
It should help you heal from the root cause of the addiction, not just address adverse behaviors. In doing so, it helps you better understand where the addiction originated, while providing the tools you need to stop these harmful behaviors.
Techniques and Approaches in Masturbation Therapy
Masturbation is normal and healthy, but if it has begun to consume your life, it can cause shame and guilt. A therapist can help you get to the root of that shame so you can overcome those feelings. This is a vulnerable process, so honesty is key to progressing toward recovery.
A mental health professional will want to identify any problems caused by your masturbation habits, understand whether you are pursuing other sexual behaviors, past traumas that may have influenced your masturbation habits, and any current stressors you’re experiencing.
Working with a professional is integral to your healing journey, but you must also remain disciplined in your recovery.
Techniques to try at home include:
- Avoid watching pornography
- Identify any triggers
- Be aware of the typical times you masturbate (in the shower, before sleeping, etc.)
- Seek out healthy replacement hobbies
- Create a busy schedule to avoid excessive downtime
- Seek support groups
- Take one goal at a time
You’re not alone in your addiction. Therapists who specialize in sexual addictions exist because many others have experienced masturbation addiction.
Benefits of Masturbation Therapy
Therapy specific to masturbation differs from traditional therapy in that the solution tackles underlying issues you may experience.
Benefits include:
- Recognizing your maladaptive behaviors
- Determining your unmet needs
- Uncovering the root of the addiction
- Feeling validated in your experience
- Implementing healthy coping strategies
- Finding a supportive community
When you work with a professional who understands the complexities and layers of masturbation addiction, you’re more likely to feel heard and find much-needed relief.
Seeking Masturbation Therapy
If masturbation has become a compulsive habit for you, seeking therapy can help.
When looking for a masturbation therapy program, consider:
- Is the center focused on sex and masturbation addiction therapy?
- Is your therapist a Certified Sex Addiction Therapist?
- What treatments will they use?
- Is the treatment timeline acceptable for you?
- What type of ongoing support do you receive?
If your partner has experienced distress as a result of the addiction, it’s worth finding a program that offers partner support to help your partner process complicated emotions, learn healthy coping techniques, and find a supportive community.
Choosing the correct masturbation addiction treatment is critical for your success.
Find the Help You Need
If you’re afraid your masturbation habits have gotten out of your control, you’re not alone. All you need to do is ask for help.
At Begin Again Institute, we specialize in sex and masturbation addiction. We offer an exclusive and practical 14-Day Men’s Intensive and a faith-based 14-Day Christian Men’s Intensive to help jumpstart your recovery.
We also offer a virtual Partner Support Program to help your partner heal from the trauma of the addiction. The program is free for partners of men enrolled in either of our intensives.If you’re ready to start your recovery with the help you deserve, contact us today.
Edward Tilton is a proven behavioral healthcare leader with an established track record in the recovery industry space. As an accomplished healthcare leader, Ed has diverse management experience including clinical and business operations, expansion of program development, and clinical service offerings.
