Masturbation and endorphins

[Paul_theApostle]

Im not sure how to word this but

Ive learnt that sex or masturbation , releases feel good endorphins and gives you a high.

If someone has done regular masturbation or sex for years when they really shouldnt have ,like outside of marriage,have they been experiencing high feel good feelings from these endorphins which really they should never have been feeling,?

Im trying to say if one does cut out masturbation one day after doing it for years,would they have an imbalance of some kind,because they wont be getting those ‘high feelings’ anymore?

would they maybe become depressed without these ‘highs’ or have some kind of struggle because they have now stopped masturbation and the release of the endorphins?

 

[Quirious]

Im not sure how to word this but

Ive learnt that sex or masturbation , releases feel good endorphins and gives you a high.

If someone has done regular masturbation or sex for years when they really shouldnt have ,like outside of marriage,have they been experiencing high feel good feelings from these endorphins which really they should never have been feeling,?

Im trying to say if one does cut out masturbation one day after doing it for years,would they have an imbalance of some kind,because they wont be getting those ‘high feelings’ anymore?

would they maybe become depressed without these ‘highs’ or have some kind of struggle because they have now stopped masturbation and the release of the endorphins?

This can be a big issue in marriages that are struggling. Males especially, can grow acclimated to extreme sexual content on the web, and to masturbation. Sometimes they become incapable of enjoying the less stimulating interaction with their spouse. Sex therapists and relationship counselors will typically suggest stopping the masturbatory behavior.

Your nervous system adapts to prolonged opiate release by physically changing the synaptic junctions, reducing the neurotransmitter receptors. This is why former heroin or morphine addicts often must remain on anti-depressants. Their neural responses are permanently muted. Endorphins are also opiates in their mechanism. In fact, the reason that opioid pain meds work is that they mimic the activity of endorphins.

It is well known that combatants become addicted to the thrill and stress of combat. Athletes become physically addicted to athletic activity. Endorphins may play a role in sex addiction. So, yes, depending on how often one masturbates, one could experience a physical withdrawal, to answer your question.

 

[ATeutonicKnight]

Im not sure how to word this but

Ive learnt that sex or masturbation , releases feel good endorphins and gives you a high.

If someone has done regular masturbation or sex for years when they really shouldnt have ,like outside of marriage,have they been experiencing high feel good feelings from these endorphins which really they should never have been feeling,?

Im trying to say if one does cut out masturbation one day after doing it for years,would they have an imbalance of some kind,because they wont be getting those ‘high feelings’ anymore?

would they maybe become depressed without these ‘highs’ or have some kind of struggle because they have now stopped masturbation and the release of the endorphins?

As someone who struggled with a masturbation addiction for three years, I can tell you that after doing it one to three times a day minimum, the moment you suddenly stop, your body goes crazy. Everything reminds you of it. Your thoughts involuntarily slip into thoughts of lust, you automatically look at women the wrong way, you have involuntary erections 99.99% of the day, and after a day of not having it anymore, you eventually cave. It is scientifically proven that masturbation and porn addictions are harder to break than drug addictions. How I made it, only the Lord knows. It took infinite willpower, prayer, and a lot of confession trips to finally break the habit of doing it everyday, let alone the addiction itself, and it was the hardest thing I ever did in my entire life. If anyone thinks there’s no consequences, and that once you start you can quit whenever you like, pray that Saint Augustine will come down and give you a much-needed slap upside the head. Read his book Confessions, and you’ll truly see what sexual addiction does to people.

 

[Quirious]

As someone who struggled with a masturbation addiction for three years, I can tell you that after doing it one to three times a day minimum, the moment you suddenly stop, your body goes crazy. Everything reminds you of it. Your thoughts involuntarily slip into thoughts of lust, you automatically look at women the wrong way, you have involuntary erections 99.99% of the day, and after a day of not having it anymore, you eventually cave. It is scientifically proven that masturbation and porn addictions are harder to break than drug addictions. How I made it, only the Lord knows. It took infinite willpower, prayer, and a lot of confession trips to finally break the habit of doing it everyday, let alone the addiction itself, and it was the hardest thing I ever did in my entire life. If anyone thinks there’s no consequences, and that once you start you can quit whenever you like, pray that Saint Augustine will come down and give you a much-needed slap upside the head. Read his book Confessions, and you’ll truly see what sexual addiction does to people.

Thanks for sharing your story.

Chemically, nicotine might be the most addicting substance. It is certainly more addicting than any known opiate, including endorphins.

Sex and love addictions are very difficult because of the emotional component. Addiction is complicated. A simple view of it, thought, which is not too far off, is that the behavior is a denial of self - a way to avoid inner pain. Typically, but not always, the particular behavior stimulates the so called “pleasure centers” of the brain. This can involve the release of endorphins and/or adrenalin, of the direct consumption of food, drugs, etc…

The key with kicking addiction on a long term basis is to (1) stop using, and (2) come to terms with the underlying emotional deficit. This is where faith comes into play. We saw how dangerous a “dry drunk”, that is someone who stopped using drugs but never came to terms with the underlying emotional problems, with a recent president. We also had another recent president in office who was a apparently a sex addict. The compulsive nature which often is part of the addictive personality can drive a person to success in the work place. It is very common for successful people to have addiction problems.

 

[michelleds]

what about once you stop and are trying to combat this addiction but you have non-genital “symptoms”? let’s say you used to use masturbation as a way to relax every night before going to sleep. then you stop. you can go about 3-6 weeks, but then you have trouble falling into a deep sleep, you just sort of toss and turn, slipping in and out of sleep. your leg muscles and joints start aching and hurting. if you give in, then afterwards, all the pain and aching in your legs goes away and you fall asleep. and by giving in, you are awake enough to know that you are giving in and awake enough to prevent yourself from having any impure thoughts.

 

[ATeutonicKnight]

what about once you stop and are trying to combat this addiction but you have non-genital “symptoms”? let’s say you used to use masturbation as a way to relax every night before going to sleep. then you stop. you can go about 3-6 weeks, but then you have trouble falling into a deep sleep, you just sort of toss and turn, slipping in and out of sleep. your leg muscles and joints start aching and hurting. if you give in, then afterwards, all the pain and aching in your legs goes away and you fall asleep. and by giving in, you are awake enough to know that you are giving in and awake enough to prevent yourself from having any impure thoughts.

This shouldn’t be a problem. After a month or two your body will learn to fall asleep without it. I would recommend taking a sleeping pill for the first month or so. Not only will this help you sleep, but it will put you to sleep before you have the urge to masturbate to help you fall asleep.

But even in this case, the endorphins will play a large role in this. You will still feel the urge to do it, even if you’re already tired. Your body will still crave it. I can tell you that masturbating never helped me sleep. It gave me an adrenaline rush, causing me to stay up throughout the night, sometimes doing it again and again to help keep my up. I don’t see how this could help anyone sleep in the first place. In fact, if I had fallen asleep quicker, I wouldn’t have done it as much. The night was when I was most active.

 

[ATeutonicKnight]

and by giving in, you are awake enough to know that you are giving in and awake enough to prevent yourself from having any impure thoughts.

You probably don’t know this from experience, but masturbating causes impure thoughts to happen. This is because you want something to help arouse you. Being mentally awake doesn’t help you stop having lustful thoughts. The problem I ran into was I could no longer control where my mind went after a while. No matter where I was, or what I was doing, if I was somehow reminded of sex, my mind would keep flashing pictures or kept playing a scene, and I wouldn’t be able to stop it. I’m still having trouble with this, in fact.

 

[ATeutonicKnight]

Thanks for sharing your story.

Chemically, nicotine might be the most addicting substance. It is certainly more addicting than any known opiate, including endorphins.

Sex and love addictions are very difficult because of the emotional component. Addiction is complicated. A simple view of it, thought, which is not too far off, is that the behavior is a denial of self - a way to avoid inner pain. Typically, but not always, the particular behavior stimulates the so called “pleasure centers” of the brain. This can involve the release of endorphins and/or adrenalin, of the direct consumption of food, drugs, etc…

The key with kicking addiction on a long term basis is to (1) stop using, and (2) come to terms with the underlying emotional deficit. This is where faith comes into play. We saw how dangerous a “dry drunk”, that is someone who stopped using drugs but never came to terms with the underlying emotional problems, with a recent president. We also had another recent president in office who was a apparently a sex addict. The compulsive nature which often is part of the addictive personality can drive a person to success in the work place. It is very common for successful people to have addiction problems.

Well, it might be harder to turn from nicotine, but the easy solution to nicotine is that you have to buy it. You don’t have to buy anything to masturbate. Your temptation goes with you wherever you go. This causes panic modes when you are very tempted. No matter where you are, you’ll try to find places where nobody can see you so you may masturbate. If you can’t, you’ll find ways to do it without people noticing. I’ve even read cases of masturbation addicts masturbating in churches, with the tabernacle in clear site. These people are not horrible people, of course, and I can clearly see where they are coming from. When you have sexual urges you will stop at nothing to fulfill them. Luckily I was never desperate enough to do this, as I had always promised myself I would never do such a thing.

 

[michelleds]

This shouldn’t be a problem. After a month or two your body will learn to fall asleep without it. .

it’s been 12 months that i’ve been working at this.

I can tell you that masturbating never helped me sleep. It gave me an adrenaline rush, causing me to stay up throughout the night, sometimes doing it again and again to help keep my up. I don’t see how this could help anyone sleep in the first place. In fact, if I had fallen asleep quicker, I wouldn’t have done it as much. The night was when I was most active.

different experiences, I guess. maybe that’s a male/female difference.

You probably don’t know this from experience, but masturbating causes impure thoughts to happen. . . . The problem I ran into was I could no longer control where my mind went after a while. No matter where I was, or what I was doing, if I was somehow reminded of sex, my mind would keep flashing pictures or kept playing a scene, and I wouldn’t be able to stop it. I’m still having trouble with this, in fact. .

Unfortunately, I do actually know about the unsolicited, inappropriate, and out-of-nowhere impure thoughts. For me, I don’t have to be “reminded” of anything, or at least not in any clear or recognizable way, these images can occur with no conscious notice or warning, in the most awful places. I pray, fervently, when this happens, pleading with St. Gemma and St. Padre Pio to help me. It’s not as bad as it was before I went to my first Confession. Things have progressively gotten better. I believe that frequent Sacraments is necessary for success, for me.

To bring in another topic, I actually have significantly more trouble/battles with this impurity than with my SSA.

 

[michelleds]

from The Pastoral Problems of Masturbation by Fr. Harvey:

There is another form of compulsion in which one becomes immersed in the object of his desire, feeling
that he must give in to the impulse to get some physical relief, or he will suffer great pain. Here the
person is aware that he can resist, and that there is another option. There is a little freedom, but hardly
sufficient to constitute serious guilt. This is even more true when persons struggle against this impulse
when they are trying to sleep at night, or are surprised by temptation in the middle of the night or upon
awakening. Farraher comments at length on these situations in which the individual who has resisted the
temptation to masturbate during waking hours is sometimes overwhelmed with sexual fantasies as he
tries to go to sleep, or upon awakening in the morning. As long as the person makes a real effort to turn
his mind away, he commits no sin even if orgasm occurs. If he is uncertain whether he really tried hard
enough to get rid of fantasy, he may settle the doubt in favor of his innocence. According to traditional
norms of moral theology one may presume that his intention during waking hours was also present in the
moment of nocturnal temptation. Confessors and spiritual guides should reassure guilt-ridden persons who
feel that since they were awake at the time of orgasm they are guilty of sin that they have not sinned
inasmuch as the masturbation is presumed to be involuntary. “To tell him that he can avoid even these
involuntary experiences if he tries hard enough and uses supernatural means can cause severe anxiety
and even despair since he may not be able to avoid what is really involuntary.”

 

[OraLabora]

Yet another masturbation thread…

All I will say is this: for those who are married, one of the best gifts you can give to your spouse and to your marriage is to stop masturbating.

I promise you your sex life with your spouse will improve tremendously and your marriage will grow stronger

Respecting each other starts with self-respect.

For those unmarried, learning to overcome it now will help for when you are married. See above

 

[Aaron1988]

I only found/joined this site yesterday so I am very new to catholic beliefs but I am giving up masterbation but as it was only yesterday I made the concious decision I am as yet to have any problems although since making the decision there has been temptation but I just kept thinking to myself don’t do it think of your (future) wife you should save yourself for her (I have also given up sex although that’s not going to be hard (until I start dating someone) as I hate one night stands and I’m single and haven’t had sex in almost a year) but I think the temptation for masterbation will get worse and the temptation for having sex again will get worse when I am in a relationship -Aaron

 

[DaveBj]

Yet another masturbation thread…

All I will say is this: for those who are married, one of the best gifts you can give to your spouse and to your marriage is to stop masturbating.

I promise you your sex life with your spouse will improve tremendously and your marriage will grow stronger

Respecting each other starts with self-respect.

For those unmarried, learning to overcome it now will help for when you are married. See above

By no means is it my intention to condone masturbation, but this statement, in the immortal words of Sportin’ Life (Porgy and Bess) ain’t necessarily so.

 

[OraLabora]

By no means is it my intention to condone masturbation, but this statement, in the immortal words of Sportin’ Life (Porgy and Bess) ain’t necessarily so.

It will be if you shift the focus of attention away from yourself to your spouse. It can be a vicious circle. Your spouse shows less interest in you, so you turn to other pursuits (not necessarily sexual). Then that causes your spouse to lose even more interest, and then you spend less and less time with him/her, etc. It’s like a plane in a spin, only one way but down.

Someone needs to kick in a little opposite rudder to break the spin. You can’t control what your spouse does, but you can certainly control your own actions, and that means taking more time for your spouse and doing things with him/her.

Maybe your spouse won’t notice. I’m willing to bet though, that it will more often than not be a spark that rejuvenates the marriage. And laying off the self-gratification will help intensify things when s/he does notice.

Been there, done that! Too bad I can’t have my 53 years of wisdom in a 25 y.o. body!!!

 

[DaveBj]

It will be if you shift the focus of attention away from yourself to your spouse. It can be a vicious circle. Your spouse shows less interest in you, so you turn to other pursuits (not necessarily sexual). Then that causes your spouse to lose even more interest, and then you spend less and less time with him/her, etc. It’s like a plane in a spin, only one way but down.

Someone needs to kick in a little opposite rudder to break the spin. You can’t control what your spouse does, but you can certainly control your own actions, and that means taking more time for your spouse and doing things with him/her.

Maybe your spouse won’t notice. I’m willing to bet though, that it will more often than not be a spark that rejuvenates the marriage. And laying off the self-gratification will help intensify things when s/he does notice.

Been there, done that! Too bad I can’t have my 53 years of wisdom in a 25 y.o. body!!!

With all due respect to your 53 years of wisdom (12 fewer years than mine), you’re speaking in generalities. You are also forgetting that there is a second individual involved, who may have her own issues going on, issues that are totally unconnected to whatever issues may be going on with the husband.

Getting back to the OP’s point of using masturbation to release endorphins and to feel better, I would say this: God designed sex 1) to make children, and 2) to bring the parents of those children closer together, so that the children would have a stable basis for being brought up. Any use of sexual activity to make oneself feel “high” is a perversion of what God made.

 

[Paul_theApostle]

Any use of sexual activity to make oneself feel “high” is a perversion of what God made.

I wasnt saying the person does masturbation to get a ‘high’ ,but getting a high as a result of chemicals being released when choosing to masturbte for pleasure and lust.

I think i heard once that watching porn also may release feel good chemicals in the brain

so I was asking if one stops all this behaviour after doing it for years,would there be a chemical imbalance in the brain? or even during the time of doing these acts?

 

[DaveBj]

I wasnt saying the person does masturbation to get a ‘high’ ,but getting a high as a result of chemicals being released when choosing to masturbte for pleasure and lust.

I think i heard once that watching porn also may release feel good chemicals in the brain

so I was asking if one stops all this behaviour after doing it for years,would there be a chemical imbalance in the brain? or even during the time of doing these acts?

I can’t speak to chemical imbalances, except to say that I believe such an imbalance can straighten itself out over time. I can say from experience that habits (like putting one’s shoes on a certain way) or addictions (like drinking, smoking, drugs, or masturbation) can be very difficult to overcome, whatever chemicals may be circulating in the brain.