The Negative Effects Of Excessive Masturbation

Over-masturbation can result in a negative impact on anyone who practices it. Excessive masturbation impacts physical and sexual health, psychological and emotional balance, cognitive abilities, and relationships. Below, we outline the negative effects of masturbating too much and potential outcomes:

• Physical effects: Can lead to chronic fatigue, genital discomfort like edema and chafing, and sexual dysfunction, including erectile issues and desensitization. 

• Psychological effects: May triggers a guilt cycle and decreased self-worth, often fueled by dopamine burnout. 

• Cognitive effects: Can cause brain fog and reduced focus, where the mind constantly drifts toward sexual thoughts. 

• Social effects: Creates interference with responsibilities and relationship problems, as individuals may choose isolation or partner neglect over real-world intimacy.

While masturbation is a natural biological behavior, it can become excessive as it shifts from a healthy action to a compulsive habit. When this happens, the brain's reward system is hijacked by the floods of various hormones and neurotransmitters that make a person feel good.

Excessive masturbation can replace genuine sexual human connection with a trance-like state of isolation, leaving individuals in a cycle of temporary highs followed by emotional and physical crashes.

What Is Excessive Masturbation?

Excessive masturbation is when the frequency of masturbation moves from becoming a choice to being a compulsion that you can't control.

Three signs of excessive masturbation are when it interferes with your daily life, has an impact on your physical health, or has an impact on your mental well-being. When masturbation impacts your daily life, you end up skipping school, work, or social hangouts. The physical impact appears as irritation or pain, usually in the genitals. The mental impact is from the sense of compulsion, where you lose control over the habit.

When masturbation becomes a compulsion, it changes from being a healthy source of stress relief to becoming a source of stress on the body and mind.

What Are The Negative Effects Of Excessive Masturbation?

The list below describes the negative consequences of excessive masturbation:

• Impact on physical and sexual health: Your body needs time to rest. If you don't give it a break, you might deal with constant tiredness, soreness, and problems having sex with real partners.

• Psychological and emotional balance issues: Excessive masturbation can lead to feelings of intense guilt, burnout, and stress.

• Impact on cognitive abilities: You may find it hard to pay attention or feel like your brain is moving more slowly than usual.

• Relationship problems: You may avoid people in favor of staying home alone, or stop wanting to be close to your partner.

Excessive masturbation can have negative effects on your physical and sexual health, psychological and emotional balance, cognitive abilities, and relationships.

Urinary and Prostate Issues

The muscles and tissues in the urinary and prostate area can get irritated because of excessive masturbation. Common urinary and prostate issues include prostatitis, which is a painful swelling of the prostate gland, and frequent urination, where you feel a constant, annoying urge to pee.

Sexual Dysfunction

Sexual dysfunction from excessive masturbation happens when your body stops responding naturally during sex. It usually shows up as erectile dysfunction (ED), where it becomes hard to get or keep an erection with a partner. Another manifestation of excessive masturbation-induced sexual dysfunction is delayed ejaculation, where it takes an unnaturally long time to reach a climax.

Decreased Sexual Sensitivity

Decreased sexual sensitivity is a numbness caused by excessive masturbation where touch doesn't feel as pleasurable as it used to. It can be physical numbness, where the skin on the genitals becomes tougher, or mental desensitization, where your brain needs more extreme triggers than what it's getting from simple touches.

Genital Discomfort

Genital discomfort is direct physical pain or irritation in your private areas caused by overmasturbation. The most common types of genital discomfort are Edema, a form of swelling, and chafing, which causes raw, red, or stinging skin from constant rubbing.

Impact on Sperm/Fertility

Excessive masturbation changes the quality and amount of seminal fluid your body produces. Low-volume sperm is caused by your body's inability to keep up with demand, while a lower sperm count is caused by insufficient rest between masturbation sessions.

Chronic Fatigue

Chronic fatigue caused by excessive masturbation is a deep, heavy tiredness that doesn't go away even after a full night's sleep. You might experience physical fatigue, with your arms and legs feeling heavy and weak, or mental burnout, feeling completely exhausted and unmotivated.

Guilt and Shame

Excessive masturbation may cause negative emotions where you feel bad, dirty, or disappointed in yourself. These feelings of guilt and shame often include immediate regret, that feeling of wishing you hadn't done it, and social shame, where you fear that people around you might find out about your habits.

Decreased Self-Worth

Decreased self-worth after excessive masturbation is a loss of self-respect or the feeling that you aren't good enough as a person. This can lead to feelings of inadequacy, where you feel like a failure, or negative self-talk, where you constantly criticize yourself in your own head.

Dhat Syndrome

Dhat syndrome is a culture-bound syndrome, primarily in the Indian subcontinent, characterized by severe anxiety and somatic symptoms (fatigue, weakness, depression) related to the belief of losing semen ("dhat") through urine, nocturnal emissions, or masturbation. It usually involves a mix of physical symptoms, such as fatigue, and a deep emotional fear of leaking vital nutrients or life force.

Reduced Focus and Cognition

Reduced focus and cognition, also known as brain fog, can be caused by excessive masturbation. It can show up as mental cloudiness, where you can't think clearly, or a short attention span, where you find yourself easily distracted.

Compulsive Behavior

Compulsive behavior is when you masturbate because you feel you have to, not because you want to. It can appear as a routine compulsion, where you do it at the same time every day regardless of how you feel, or as a stress reaction, where you automatically turn to the habit to hide from boredom, sadness, or pressure.

Interference with Responsibilities

Interference and responsibilities caused by excessive masturbation are when the habit gets in the way of your real life. It typically manifests as procrastination, where you put off important tasks, or absence, where you miss work, school, or important appointments.

Relationship Problems

Relationship problems caused by excessive masturbation is about the distance or tension that grows between you and your loved ones. It can lead to partner neglect, where you choose masturbating over being intimate with a significant other, and social isolation, where you stop socializing and prefer to stay home alone to masturbate.

What Are The Effects Of Masturbation On Different Organs?

Masturbation can impact several key organs in the body. The reproductive organs are most directly exposed to physical irritation and fatigue. The brain changes how it processes pleasure and focus. The heart and kidneys experience secondary stress from the physical exhaustion and hormonal changes.

Below, we list the organs affected by masturbation and the specific effects that masturbation can have on them:

• Reproductive organs: Overmasturbation leads to swelling, skin chafing, and soreness of the genitals. Over time, they become less sensitive to normal touch.

• Brain: Dopamine desensitization can occur, leading to boredom with everyday activities. It can also reinforce compulsive pathways, making the habit feel like an automatic response rather than a conscious choice.

• Heart: Excessive masturbation can spike heart rate and blood pressure. This puts unnecessary tension on the heart over time.

• Kidneys: The kidneys can be affected by the body's overall state of balance. Examples include urinary tract irritation or frequent urination.

Does Masturbation Cause Inflammation?

Yes, masturbation, especially excessive masturbation, can cause inflammation. Inflammation caused by masturbation mainly appears as localized tissue inflammation and systemic inflammatory stress caused by hormonal imbalances.

As an example of inflammation caused by masturbation, studies often cite "excessive sexual activity" as a cause of pelvic inflammation. Sports medicine and endocrinology research also show that chronic masturbation without recovery periods leads to a higher risk of inflammation and lower immune system efficiency.

Does Masturbation Decrease Testosterone?

No, masturbation does not cause a long-term decrease in total testosterone levels. Your testosterone levels actually increase during the period of arousal, before returning to normal levels following climax. 

Research published in the World Journal of Urology found the same average level of testosterone in men who masturbate regularly as compared to that in men who had stopped masturbating for 21 days.

What Are The Common Myths About Masturbation?

The most common myths about masturbation are that it can cause physical problems such as blindness, disabilities, or a disruption in sperm count. However, most of these myths are false and typically originate from historical taboos, cultural fears, or a lack of understanding about human biology.

Below, we provide a list of the most common myths about masturbation:

• It causes blindness or vision problems.

• It causes hairy palms or physical deformities.

• It lowers your sperm count permanently.

• It causes your genitals to shrink (or grow).

• It leads to mental illness or insanity.

• It causes acne or pimples.

What Is Gooning?

Gooning is a slang term for a type of excessive masturbation session that's taken to extreme stages. The main difference is that excessive masturbation focuses on climaxing, while Gooning's focus is on maintaining the state achieved during masturbation.

Gooning is the result of porn addiction getting worse. It often happens as porn addicts chase the increasing highs that they need from seeking more extreme content. This trance of seeking more extreme content results in a loss of control, even in the face of daily responsibilities and life.

Due to the trance that occurs in Gooning, more significant risks are raised compared to regular masturbation sessions. These elevated risks include total numbness, physical damage, extended lengths of brain fog, and a loss of time that can stretch into days and nights.

How Excessive Masturbation and Porn Addiction Are Connected?

Excessive masturbation and porn addiction are two halves of a constant loop. They join to create a cycle where the brain demands higher levels of stimulation from porn to achieve the physical release from masturbation.

The connected cycle of addiction begins with a trigger, such as stress, boredom, or loneliness. This leads to a phase where searching for porn causes a state of anticipatory arousal, driven by the Coolidge Effect. This effect is biological, where the brain is flooded with dopamine in response to the novelty of new porn imagery. Finally, excessive masturbation serves as a delivery system that fixes the craving for porn.