There’s significant use of the word “addiction” online, in discussions about masturbation addiction and porn addiction, and it seems this is a myth that just won’t die. No matter how many legitimate articles are published by doctors and sexual therapists debunking the idea of “addiction,” an equal number of bogus articles appear suggesting it’s a real thing.
Masturbation addiction has no clinical evidence
First of all, the word “addiction” has always been synonymous with substance abuse; referring to how the human body adapts to compounds like alcohol, opioids and stimulants, and their related withdrawal symptoms. There is no clinical evidence to link either porn or masturbation with the word “addiction.”
Here are just a few references to articles on the myth of porn as it relates to masturbation addiction:
“… as French psychologist Barbara Smaniotto and her colleagues point out… there’s no consensus within the professional community as to whether problematic porn use should be thought of as an addiction in the same sense that psychoactive substance abuse is.1
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“”Pornography addiction” is being consistently rejected from all medical and psychological bodies as there is no clinical evidence of addictive properties to porn.3
“Now, researchers have put a nail in the coffin of porn addiction. Josh Grubbs, Samuel Perry and Joshua Wilt are some of the leading researchers on America’s struggles with porn, having published numerous studies examining the impact of porn use, belief in porn addiction, and the effect of porn on marriages.
And Rory Reid is a UCLA researcher who was a leading proponent gathering information about the concept of hypersexual disorder for the DSM-5. These four researchers, all of whom have history of neutrality, if not outright support of the concepts of porn addiction, have conducted a meta-analysis4 of research on pornography and concluded that porn use does not predict problems with porn, but that religiosity does.”5
Masturbation addiction conflicts and beliefs
Unfortunately, it seems there will always be that conflict between established scientific/medical/clinical facts and whatever other nonsense people will choose to “believe.” We can’t help it if some folks choose to believe the Earth is flat, or the moon is made of cheese or that masturbation gives you hairy palms or erectile dysfunction.
Similarly, it has been established that there is no such thing as “masturbation addiction.” But there are a lot of people making, shall we say, poor choices. You might be spending too much time masturbating if it causes you to:
- Skip chores or daily activities
- Miss work or school
- Cancel plans with friends or family
- Miss important social events
I really love to masturbate, as much as the next guy, but it’s not responsible for any of the above.
Unless you just spent the rent money on porn DVDs, or rubbed your penis until it was raw, or got arrested for public masturbation, it’s not “masturbation addiction” and you’re not an addict sir, even still that’s questionable; you’re just an enthusiast.
Media and other consumptions
If someone finds themselves aroused by looking at images of other naked people, posing or engaged in sexual activity, is that really significantly any different from someone who enjoys viewing images in thematic magazines like Car and Driver, Bon Apetit, or Sports Afield? I don’t know if people actually masturbate to these other images, but they’re just exercising their reading freedom and preferences. Written erotica and visual adult media are simply personal preferences like any other.
Stop and think for a moment about many of the popular activities in which people participate and spend significant money, like professional sports, NASCAR, hunting, fishing, boating, live arts performance and all of their related merchandise. The NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL alone generate roughly $17 billion in annual revenue. And Viking and Packer fans are some of the most flamboyant sports enthusiasts, ever. But we don’t call people who like these activities “addicts.” They’re just enjoying themselves and willing to shell out big bucks to do so. While painting themselves purple, green and gold.
The braggadocio
And lastly, there are a lot of bators saying “masturbation addiction” and using “addict” as braggadocio. They’re just boasting about how much they enjoy stroking their cocks. Some people like to use negative terms to describe their activity. But nothing bad would happen to their bodies if they should choose to reduce their stroking activity. There’s no masturbation “withdrawal.” As I said in the beginning, the word “addict” is commonly accepted as a negative term and it’s not a word I’d associate with something beautiful like self-love.
So at the end of the day, be a decent person, a good coworker, a responsible family member and take care of your various obligations. And then, when you find time for some self-maintenance, enjoy yourself without hesitation or guilt.
Use a good lube and clean up after yourself.
- Smaniotto, B., Le Bigot, J., & Camps, F.-D. (2022). “Pornography addiction”: Elements for discussion of a case report. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51, 1475-1381.
- Ludden, D. (2022). “The Trouble With Porn Addiction”: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-apes/202207/the-trouble-with-porn-addiction
- Neves, S. (2021). “7 Major Myths About Pornography”: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-sex-and-relationships/202104/7-major-myths-about-pornography
- Grubbs, J., Perry, S., Wilt, J., and Reid, R. (2019). “Pornography Problems Due to Moral Incongruence”: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-018-1248-x
- Ley, D. (2018). “Science Stopped Believing in Porn Addiction. You Should, Too”: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/women-who-stray/201808/science-stopped-believing-in-porn-addiction-you-should-too
