Half awake masturbation

[Catholic19]

So for many years now I have had an addiction to masturbation, however this year I began to deal with it. Lately it has been easy for me to fight the temptation while I’m awake, whether it be occupying myself with something constructive to take my mind off of it, or offering it up to God. My concern however is when I go to sleep at night ( this doesn’t happen every night) after an hour or two I find myslef still asleep, but physically masturbating. Sort of I’m half asleep, and unable to stop myself like how I would be able to if I was fully awake. Is this a sin, some priests I have talked said not to worry, and others have said nothing about it, and acknowledged it as a one of my sins confessed. Really need some guidance on this topic, and some tips on how to stop this from happening at night.

 

[Vico]

So for many years now I have had an addiction to masturbation, however this year I began to deal with it. Lately it has been easy for me to fight the temptation while I’m awake, whether it be occupying myself with something constructive to take my mind off of it, or offering it up to God. My concern however is when I go to sleep at night ( this doesn’t happen every night) after an hour or two I find myslef still asleep, but physically masturbating. Sort of I’m half asleep, and unable to stop myself like how I would be able to if I was fully awake. Is this a sin, some priests I have talked said not to worry, and others have said nothing about it, and acknowledged it as a one of my sins confessed. Really need some guidance on this topic, and some tips on how to stop this from happening at night.

It is not full consent when you are half awake, for there must be sufficient reflection. In fact it may be a dream where the activity is something like exercise (e.g., running) that is causing the heart to speed, but in reality there is no running but some friction occurring. When you discover the undesired behavior, all you can do is fight it from that point.

 

[Zaccheus]

Perhaps this is a trial being sent you. Continue to resist temptation, keep on praying, and if you discover that there is anything that increases the chance it will happen then avoid that something.

 

[cookie-san]

Hi! You can’t mortally sin if you’re sleepy. Period

 

[Kei]

How do you know you are actually doing this physcially and are not just dreaming?

But, if it is sin, it would be venial as you do not have full consent of the will.

 

[Jared2914]

So for many years now I have had an addiction to masturbation, however this year I began to deal with it. Lately it has been easy for me to fight the temptation while I’m awake, whether it be occupying myself with something constructive to take my mind off of it, or offering it up to God. My concern however is when I go to sleep at night ( this doesn’t happen every night) after an hour or two I find myslef still asleep, but physically masturbating. Sort of I’m half asleep, and unable to stop myself like how I would be able to if I was fully awake. Is this a sin, some priests I have talked said not to worry, and others have said nothing about it, and acknowledged it as a one of my sins confessed. Really need some guidance on this topic, and some tips on how to stop this from happening at night.

It sounds like you are lucid dreaming, which means you don’t really have control over the dream. You can’t be culpable for mortal sin. However, what you need to make sure of is that you don’t foster these dreams. If you are dealing with arousal before sleep, it could easily lead to one of these dreams. You aren’t in complete control of arousal, but you have to make sure you aren’t feeding your mind any impure things during the day. Avoid any entertainment that has nudity or people talking about impure topics. Avoid any friends that talk about these things as well. End every night with a rosary and prayer to God. Put yourself in the best possible state you can before bed. Then trust God to handle the rest.

Hi! You can’t mortally sin if you’re sleepy. Period

I don’t think that’s always the case. It’s possible that sleep deprivation could be enough to reduce culpability enough down to a venial sin, but it would really depend on how sleep deprived the person was. Just because someone feels a little sleepy or tired is not enough to say they didn’t commit a mortal sin. That is not the case in the example by Catholic19 though.