The pleasures of masturbation can often feel too great to give up. But, masturbation has the potential to develop into a compulsive habit tied to pornography. You may be wondering how to quit masturbating if you feel out of control.
With numerous studies suggesting excessive masturbation causing nerve damage, and erectile dysfunction (especially when overstimulating the brain with pornography), it’s important to have practical knowledge to overcome excessive masturbation.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to work your way towards total control over this age-old, occasionally self-destructive habit.
Here are 9 proven ways to stop masturbating.
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9 Ways to Stop Masturbating
Masturbation and pornography often go hand-in-hand. While masturbation can be a normal sexual function, when pairing it with pornography, it can create a compulsivebehavior.
This realization quickly becomes a known problem when there is an attempt to quit. This can result in a condition known as compulsive masturbation and makes it even harder to stop using pornography, turning it into a compulsive behavior.
If this describes you, you may be looking for some effective ways to stop masturbating and/or watching pornography. The following solutions can help you identify the underlying cause of your addiction and find lasting solutions.
1. Avoid Pornography
Pornography has a long history of feeling like an addiction and creating negative brain patterns.
Those who consider themselves porn addicts tend to lose interest in other activities — activities that are more fun, more beneficial, and more productive.
Frequent pornography consumption affects the brain like alcohol and drugs, causing a chemical rush in the reward center of the brain.
The way porn affects the brain is similar (not identical) to the way drugs do. A study on compulsive porn users showed that they have less grey matter in their brains than non-addicts do. Grey matter is important for thinking, memory, and controlling behavior.
Currently internet porn is a big temptation, though, because it’s so available and easily accessed. Even internet filters can’t prevent it from being viewed.
Many people who spend a lot of time online get sucked into consuming hours upon hours of porn on the Internet. Pornography may seem like nothing more than harmless entertainment, but it can negatively change the way you think about other people.
The emotional damage porn can cause to relationships is also significant. Over time, porn rewires your “sexual scripts”.
Essentially porn turns sex into an impersonal experience where people think only about their own pleasure and ignore their partner’s needs.
In essence, pornography is capable of destroying every aspect of your life. It all starts by creating negative brain patterns until you’re stuck in a rut.
Working hard to stop watching porn can lead to less masturbation and fulfill you with a happier, healthier life.
2. Exercise
Professionals recommend exercise as a perfect remedy for masturbating because it helps you engage. If you think logically, when do you indulge yourself in pornography and masturbation? Of course, when you’re bored or you feel anxious. These are commonly referred to as triggers.
But if you are engaged in an activity, you won’t feel so bored or anxious. Exercise lessens the urges to masturbate with porn. You will be busy doing the activity and not have time to think about anything else.
It further helps keep your fantasies in check which can lead to sexual stimulation and porn use. And if that’s not enough, exercise improves your health, stamina, concentration. Most importantly, it makes your body feel tired and well-rested which can also keep you away from masturbating.
So exercise! It can be any physical activity that you enjoy, as long as it keeps you busy for long hours, helps you reevaluate your thoughts, and overall brings you enjoyment in knowing that you are fit and fine.
3. Get an Accountability Partner
Your journey to stop masturbating and watching porn won’t be without its challenges, but having an accountability partner will help you overcome them.
In your endeavor, you will face situations when you want to give up. You will want to masturbate, but you know that if you do, you’re going to feel terrible afterward.
For support, many people find it helpful to have a friend or family member whom they can turn to when they feel like giving up.
However, family members, even your spouse, may sometimes have difficulty understanding your needs, particularly if they don’t know about your struggle. But an accountability partner who understands the struggle can support you in your struggle and help you overcome.
If you decide to enlist the help of an accountability partner, you need to make sure that the relationship is based on mutual trust and that it is built on a foundation of honesty.
An accountability partner is someone who will check up on you and ask you how your struggle is going and if you’ve done everything you wanted to do.
They will remind you that this issue is important to you, and that they are there to help you and encourage you. We all need someone who will help hold us accountable for our actions. With help, you will be able to truly overcome this problem.
4. Join A Support Group
Another helpful way to stop masturbating is to join a support group. There are many support groups for people who are trying to stop masturbating, which can help motivate them. The idea of sharing your struggles with others can actually be really liberating.
You will find the motivation you need from others who are also struggling to control their addiction. Also, being part of a group is a more effective way to cope with the problem, as it eases your mind to know that you are not alone in your struggle.
You now have the support you need from others to help you through the toughest times and remind you that it is possible to overcome this habit. In addition, they can provide you with tips, guides, and practical exercises that will help you overcome your difficulties and stop masturbating.
Most importantly, you now have a social connection, friends, and a community, which is undeniably a perfect step towards a more balanced and healthy life.
5. Stay Busy
It may sound simple, but staying busy can help you avoid many sexual temptations in life. This is especially true when it comes to masturbation and porn. If you’re feeling the urge to masturbate or watch porn, go do something else.
Find a hobby or go to a social event that will take your mind off of self-pleasure. Cultivating non-sexual community and intimacy can be a game-changer over time.
Take up a new hobby, like playing guitar or knitting.
You can learn a new language or start playing chess or even volunteer at a local shelter. Check out our list of things to do to keep yourself busy so you don’t have the time or the urge to masturbate.
6. Investigate Your Triggers
Fantasies – the foundation of masturbation – can lead to sexual addiction and pornography use, so a little self-examination and awareness can go a long way in giving you the power to stop masturbating.
Try to identify the cues that are linked to masturbation. For example, watching pornography, reading a story involving sex, checking out an attractive person on the street, etc., may all be triggers.
Once you have identified the triggers, try to avoid them. For example, in the case of pornography, avoid watching it altogether. It might be hard at first, but if you can resist the temptation, you’ll be building better habits, and improving your self-control.
Remember your subconscious mind is incredibly powerful and your habits are ultimately created by your subconscious mind. So take control of your thoughts and you’ll take control of your sexual habits!
7. Find A Therapist
Seeking help from a licensed therapist is a great way to get support, insight, and comfort when you are trying to stop masturbating and/or watching porn. If you’ve tried many methods to stop masturbating and nothing has worked, a therapist may be able to help you find the answers you need.
A sex addiction therapist can help you discover patterns in your thoughts, behaviors, and feelings that may be contributing to your compulsion. This kind of insight can be very useful when you are trying to solve your problems. A therapist can also help you implement strategies for successfully stopping masturbation and overcoming future challenges that may arise.
Remember that they have training and resources for evaluating and understanding human physiology to help you stop these practices. A therapist will help you identify the real culprit and deal with it accordingly.
Your therapist will also create a customized program for you that will address all aspects of your health: mental, emotional, and physical. This helps you regain the confidence and self-respect you deserve.
8. Be Honest With Yourself
All expert assistance, guides, forums, and groups are a complete waste if you can’t be honest with yourself. Honesty with yourself is the key. You are the only one that has you covered all the time, so there’s no point to lie to anyone else in this regard. Let yourself be exposed to the truth.
Like an athlete preparing for a new race, you need to prepare yourself for a new competition. This “competition” is called LIFE, and it’s going to be the biggest competition you will ever face. Only you know what level of understanding and knowledge you have about life, relationships, and love.
You have some amount of understanding, but not enough to get the result you want in this competition. The only way to level up is to be honest with yourself and the challenges you face. This will take time, effort, and dedication, but you can do it.
9. Develop & Implement Strategies
You may find yourself constantly fantasizing about a sexual fantasy or scenario you’ve experienced in the past. Most of the time, our minds are going to naturally drift to these kinds of thoughts when we are idle or not occupied with something else. This is especially true if you are having a sexual urge that isn’t being met.
Imagining a sexual scenario can be a way to curb your desire temporarily and, therefore, may seem like a good idea. However, it may end up creating even more of a craving for porn or sex.
In fact, it’s far more likely that imagining a sexual scenario will leave you feeling more aroused and cause you to engage in sexual behavior. So developing strategies to deal with these kinds of thoughts and fantasies will help you eliminate them. The most important thing is to eliminate all sources of sexual temptation.
Also, make sure you develop other hobbies and interests to keep your mind engaged when you aren’t working or spending time with your family and friends.
Keeping your mind preoccupied with positive activities will help reduce the number of times you have sexual fantasies, which will ultimately help you stop masturbating and watching porn.
But please don’t just create a long list of strategies — implement them. Nothing is more valuable than actually taking steps forward!
So create a plan, implement it, evaluate it, improve it, and enjoy the benefits of a healthy, no-masturbation lifestyle.
Conclusion
Leading a life free of porn and compulsive masturbation has great potential to make your life happier and healthier.
Harness the power of accountability and connection to break free from porn and masturbation with Ever Accountable’s porn accountability app. You deserve to live your best life, putting your best foot forward.
14-Day Free Trial
Protection From Pornography
Change your habits, change your life: Start our 14-day free trial to help get rid of pornography for good.
