Need help with purity for a teen

[mgpm]

I have a teen in my family that needs help avoiding masturbation. He’s a good kid, and very devout…it really is tearing him up that he can’t seem to stop doing this. Any resources or ideas which might help are appreciated. Thank you.

 

[tskrobacz]

I have a teen in my family that needs help avoiding masturbation. He’s a good kid, and very devout…it really is tearing him up that he can’t seem to stop doing this. Any resources or ideas which might help are appreciated. Thank you.

You might try Alateen…masturbation is an addiction to pleasure. As with all false God’s, the addict becomes convinced that more equals happiness. You might remind him that the false Gods are Wealth, Power, Honor and Pleasure…and his behaviour is a violation of the First Commandment. You might also encourage him that his sexual desires are a struggle for many young men and he will eventually see the futility of this behaviour. It may take a spiritual wound, spiritual director, or dark night of the soul to awaken him to the destructiveness of his behaviour.

 

[Cake_or_Death]

I can’t say I know what it involves but there is an app/online movement known as “NoFap” which offers a choice of either or both religious and secular support for those seeking to quit masturbating or using pornography.

nofap.com/ Its been bordering on something of a subculture on “chan” based social media for the past few months, I understand Reddit even has a forum dedicated to it.

 

[MonikaBarbara]

I personally have never had this particular problem, but just thinking about it, is it possible for him to get out of the situation where he is most often tempted? Like maybe if he has a temptation while trying to fall asleep, maybe he should develop a habit of getting up and praying or reading or doing something until he overcomes it. If it is during the daytime, maybe he could try going for a walk or go someplace public so that social norms would prevent him. If it is in the shower, then maybe he should try to compete with himself to try and see how fast of a shower he can take, and therefore have less time to be in there with those thoughts.

 

[tawny]

You may want to check out if your parish has a “Goretti Group”.