…I wouldn’t know if I would call myself an addict, but from my crazy behavior this last weekend, I dont know what I’d call myself anymore. It was just strange- even for me!
So I’m wondering what to do…
The only way to put a stop to the gravely sinful act of masturbation is to stop cold turkey. A helpful way of doing this is to literally scare the hell out of yourself by looking at the damaging effects of masturbation - spiritual and physical.
From the spiritual standpoint, you need to understand that pornography and masturbation are one of the easiest pathways to demonic possession. Sex addicts are most definitely demonically obsessed and if they become hardened sex addicts they are at risk of demonic possession. When you look at pornography and masturbate you are effectively practicing what Aleister Crowley called “sex magic.” This is dangerous stuff. One of the worst side effects of sins of the flesh is the resulting denial of immortality that accompanies them. Is it any wonder then that our hedonistic culture is also one of the most atheistic. The two sins go hand-in-hand.
From the physical standpoint,studies have shown that porn addiction is more dangerous and addictive than drugs like heroin, cocaine, meth, etc. Here is great article by neurosurgeon Donald L. Hilton, Jr that will help you to understand how Porn Addiction will literally destroy your brain: “Slave Master: How Pornography Drugs & Changes Your Brain” found here (
drjudithreisman.com/archi…master_ho.html).
Contrary to what the popular, secular media and health professionals will tell you, masturbation is dangerous to your health. For one thing, it lowers your stamina and lowers your drive to accomplish things. Excessive masturbation (every day, or reguarly) puts a high amount of stress on your prostate. It’s also not good for your brain due to the feel-good chemicals (norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine, & serotonin among others) constantly being released. It’s basically like a drug that your brain gets hooked on and part of the reason why masturbation is so hard to stop. Again, see the above article by Dr. Hilton. If you ever tried to stop then you no doubt are familiar with the strong urge to masturbate again after a few days to a week. After this amount of time the effects of the feel-good chemicals wear off and you start going thru withdrawal symptoms. Frequent masturbation also weakens your immune system thus making you more succeptible to diseases, especially to colds and flus during the winter season. Frequent masturbation also weakens your tendons and ligaments, making it easier to strain a muscle or sprain a joint. Furthermore, you will start to get lower back pain if you continue to masturbate regularly. However you will most likely not experience this particular symptom until after you are past your teen years. Others will start to experience thinning hair on their heads as well. This is due to too much of your testosterone being converted into dihydrotestosterone (DHT) which overloads your body. You also lose several miligrams of zinc every time you ejaculate. Zinc plays an important role in cell division and growth. It is essential for protein and DNA synthesis and helps in liver function and proper insulin activity and is essential for proper functioning of the sexual organs. Zinc is found in abundance in semen and the prostrate gland. Sexually active men require more zinc than women for the health of the reproductive organs and fertility Zinc is a component of many enzymes that help in the metabolism of lipids, carbohydrates and proteins and helps in wound healing.
So as you can see, masturbation is extremely bad, not only for your soul but also for your health. Masturbation is NOT the same as having sex because when a man has sexual intercourse with a woman, certain trace minerals and prostaglandins are absorbed from the female vaginal secretions which balance the zinc-loss effect and also there is a sort of natural suction during normal sex that helps drain all the semen during an ejaculation. Contrast this with masturbation, where a small portion of semen does not drain and ends up remaining in your system, which is not good.
Don’t expect to get the truth from the popular, secular media or medicine. The Porn Industry is one of the biggest businesses in our country and in the world. They have a vested interest in the consumers of their products staying ignorant of the damage that their products cause.
Find a good Catholic therapist if you feel that you are a sex addict. But first of all, get to confession and keep in mind that the only way you will defeat a sex addiction is going to be by first turning to and utilizing the Sacraments - on a daily basis if possible.
Next time you “feel the urge,” instead of searching Google images for porn, get on to Google images and do a search for pictures of people who have committed suicide. This is what happens to those with a sex-addiction (which is really just another form of drug addiction): they end up dead or in a mental institution. It will give your psyche the needed jolt to reconsider looking at porn or masturbating. You could also consider the pains of hell, as this is the much more important consideration than mere physical death and injury. And also remember, when we engage in intrinsically evil acts, even when they are done in private, we are increasing and emboldening the total evil in the world. Innocent people that we may never meet will be harmed through our private sins. Society always gets damaged in some way by personal private sin. Just another thing to keep in mind when tempted to these sins of the flesh.
