Masturbation: Facts, benefits & does it reduce stress?

What is masturbation?

Masturbation is an act of using hands, fingers, or toys to stimulate your own genitals or other erogenous zones around your body for pleasure. It often results in an orgasm, but doesn’t have to.

Female masturbation

Female masturbation can involve touching the vagina, clitoris, or any other part of the body for sexual pleasure. While research shows that male masturbation is more common, it’s a myth that women don’t masturbate. Research shows that women do masturbate, and the frequency increases throughout their young adult life until they reach their early thirties [1]. Given the taboo nature of this topic, it’s possible that many women simply don’t feel comfortable talking about masturbation. Alternatively, some may not be doing it as often as they’d like to due to a societal perception that women don’t masturbate as much as men. 

Female orgasms are still not as well understood as male orgasms. Research shows that for up to 72% of women, direct clitoral stimulation is essential to achieve or improve orgasm [2]. Clitoral stimulation can be done alone, with a partner, or using a sex toy. 

Male masturbation

Male masturbation involves stimulating the penis, anus, or another area of the body. As long as it’s done for sexual pleasure, it counts as masturbation. Typically, male masturbation starts to happen frequently around puberty (13 to 15 years old), and research shows that around 43% of 14-year-old males in the United States report having masturbated in the last month [3, 4].

Benefits of masturbation

While masturbation is a private thing, it’s important to note that masturbation is healthy and normal, and there's no need to feel shame around this. Solo-pleasure not only feels good, but it also offers a variety of benefits, such as:

Positive effects on the brain 

When we orgasm, our brain releases a number of hormones and neurotransmitters (a chemical substance that acts as a messenger by transmitting signals from neurons to cells) that have various benefits, such as [5, 6]:

• Dopamine: The feel-good or reward neurotransmitter that may make us feel "high" and entices us to seek out similar behavior again in the future [7].
• Serotonin: A neurotransmitter that's responsible for good mood [8].
• Oxytocin: The love hormone that increases the bonding between partners (or mother and child) [9] and may also help increase pain tolerance in women [10].
• Endorphins: These are known as the "feel-good" chemicals that the brain releases during an orgasm, which can potentially also help reduce pain [11].
• Endocannabinoids: Masturbation to orgasm can increase the level of these neurotransmitters [12]. While research on these compounds is still limited, what we do know is that they have the potential to help reduce anxiety, support cognitive function, and regulate emotions [13].

Because masturbation and having an orgasm may make us feel temporarily amazing, a couple of different studies show that it’s prevalent among individuals who feel depressed. Researchers suggest masturbation may act as a reliable self-soothing strategy to help oneself feel better and improve mood [14, 15]. However, it’s important to note that the relief is often only temporary, and it is possible that short-term relief could worsen the condition in the long term if self-pleasure becomes a replacement for other treatment options, or replaces human connection..

Improved sleep

Believe it or not, an orgasm before bed can be an effective sleeping aid. Research shows that orgasms, whether achieved with a partner or through self-pleasure, before bedtime, may improve perceived sleep quality and sleep onset [16].

Think more clearly

While it's not a benefit related directly to masturbation, people who engage in sexual activity of any kind may have better cognition. Researchers looked at the relationship between sexual activity and cognition in 6,800 adults between the ages of 50 and 89 [17]. What they found was that those adults who had higher sexual activity frequency performed better on recall tasks in the experiment. Of course, more research is needed in this field.

Enhances pleasure while dealing with sexual dysfunction

For people who may suffer from sexual dysfunction, masturbation could potentially help enhance their sex lives. Using vibrators while masturbating is shown to have a positive impact on men and women who experience sexual dysfunction, such as erectile dysfunction or anorgasmia (when a person has difficulty achieving orgasm) [18].

Potentially decreases cancer risk

There is a growing body of research suggesting that regular ejaculation can decrease the risk of prostate cancer in males [19]. 

It can help you get to know your body better

Masturbation is a reliable way to get to know your body and find what sort of touch and stimulation feels the best for you. This knowledge about our bodies can greatly improve our sex lives. Research on a Portuguese population shows that women who masturbated during adolescence report less arousal difficulty and higher orgasm frequency during partnered sex compared to women who didn’t masturbate as adolescents [20].

Do most people masturbate?

While masturbation is still often talked about in hushed tones, it's much more common than you may think. Findings from a 2009 National Survey of Sexual Health Behavior (NSSHB) in the United States show that men and women masturbate, and do it quite often. Researchers surveyed 5,865 individuals (2,936 men and 2,929 women) aged 14 to 94. They found that masturbation was common in many age groups. 24% to 52% (depending on age) of women below the age of 60 reported having masturbated during the past month. Among men, past-month masturbation was most common between the ages of 25 and 29 (69%), and remained above 55% through age 59. It declined to 42% among men in their 60s and 28% among those 70 or older.[21].

While some people may masturbate every day, other people may do it less frequently, say once a week or once a month. There is no right or wrong amount to masturbate. Some people may not have the desire to masturbate at all, or may do it rarely, and that’s OK too.

Is masturbation healthy?

Yes, masturbation is perfectly healthy, and it’s a normal part of most people’s lives. It’s nothing to be ashamed of or to worry about, and while it’s not often talked about, most of us do it. 

Historically, masturbation has been a highly stigmatized topic. While it’s personal, and we understand that you probably don’t want to shout about your sex life from the rooftops, silence on these types of topics can perpetuate feelings of shame and feed into wider knowledge gaps about reproductive health. 

Masturbation isn’t just reserved for humans — it’s common throughout the animal kingdom, and research into masturbation in male primates shows that it can have added benefits, such as reducing the chances of contracting a sexually transmitted infection and improving fertility [22].

Myths about masturbation

There are loads of myths and misconceptions around masturbation. Let's bust some of the most popular ones:

• Masturbation can make you go blind: This is a really old myth that has no scientific backup. To date, no direct association has been demonstrated between self-pleasure and deterioration of eye health. 
• Masturbation causes erectile dysfunction (ED): Research has shown that healthy masturbation patterns do not negatively impact sexual health and cause ED [23]. Instead, ED is more clearly linked to other factors such as stress, age, certain medications, or drug use.
• Masturbation leads to infertility: It’s a myth that masturbating today can stop you from getting pregnant in the future. However, when you do want to conceive, keep in mind that the more males ejaculate, the less sperm there will be in the semen temporarily. This is because the body hasn’t had enough time to replenish the sperm fully between ejaculations.
• People in relationships don’t masturbate: Masturbation is commonplace in many relationships. It can be done together with a partner, or if one partner has a higher sex drive than the other, they may choose to masturbate more frequently alone. 
• There are no health benefits from masturbating: It’s an age-old myth that masturbation is bad for your health and therefore has no benefits. In fact, research shows that masturbation has a number of health benefits, such as people believing that after masturbation, they sleep better [24], while the dopamine and oxytocin that are released with orgasm can improve mood [25, 26].

Can you masturbate too much?

The short answer is no, frequent masturbation isn’t bad for your health. However, if you find your desire to masturbate is starting to interfere with your everyday life, for example, if it gets in the way of your relationship or stops you from seeing friends, family, or partner, then it may be a sign you’re masturbating too much. 

There is little research done into masturbation addiction, as this is an emerging psychiatric disorder [27]. However, if you feel that you have a very strong compulsion to masturbate, and this is stopping you from enjoying your everyday life, it may be an issue, especially if it’s accompanied by consuming a lot of porn. Overconsumption of porn has severe negative mental health effects, especially for men, and could potentially cause ED [28]. If you suspect masturbation and watching porn are issues for you, it’s a good idea to talk with a healthcare professional. 

Side effects of masturbation

Aside from these harmful myths, you may be wondering, are there any real side effects of masturbation? Of course, there are the positive benefits we’ve covered above, such as improved sleep and boosted mood, and there are a small number of things you should be aware of, too, such as:

• Chafing and discomfort: As with any sexual activity, if you masturbate a lot, your genitals might get chafed and sore — using lube can help with this, or consider taking a short break from masturbating.
• Decreased sexual sensitivity: In the short term, you may experience a reduction in pleasure due to the friction of touching sensitive areas for a prolonged period of time. Taking a break or trying something new can help get this sensitivity back.

Masturbation and sex drive

How much someone masturbates can have a lot to do with their sex drive. Again, this is personal to each individual, and our libidos vary significantly. Typically, the male sex drive tends to peak in the morning or late evening [29], whereas the female sex drive is more specifically linked to the phases of the menstrual cycle and will likely peak around ovulation [30]. Regardless of your gender, sex, or sexual orientation, your sex drive can vary, and there is no ‘normal’ libido.

Don’t get too hung up on how big or small your sex drive is because everyone is different, and sex drive can vary over time depending on factors such as age, diet, and stress levels. However, if you are at all worried about your reproductive health, consult with your healthcare professional for advice. 

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