Over Masturbation - How To Overcome The Habit?

The brain releases the happy hormone called dopamine every time you do something pleasurable. When you follow a set pattern which brings you pleasure, such as watching too much intimate acts like pornography and then stimulating yourself to orgasm, the brain creates neural pleasure pathways within it to facilitate that as a reward system. The more your keep following the pattern, the deeper the pathways become and then you end up needing more and more of it to feel an equal amount of high. The easy availability of pornography thus, helps you to get into this masturbation addiction cycle as the action required to get instant gratification becomes so easy.

How to overcome this problem

Overcoming an addiction to masturbation requires determination and changes in certain habits to break the cycle. Also you need to stick to the minute changes that you make on a day to day basis which will translate to a huge difference once accumulated over a period of a few months. Some of the few steps that you can take to make a change are mentioned below

1. Stop watching porn: The easy availability of explicit images and videos stimulates the brain to indulge in quick gratification through a masturbation session. One of the first things you need to do to get over masturbation is to stop watching porn. Even if you have to masturbate, use your own imagination as this will fight the desensitization that pornography does to your brain.
2. Divert your energies: Try getting into new hobbies or interests that you like and devote time to them. This way, a set pattern can be broken when your free time is taken up by regular after school or work hours. Thinking about the nuances of your new hobby or extra-curricular activities will also take your mind of the constant need for gratification through masturbation. Also, if you have set patterns or timings of the day when you masturbate, get involved in the activities at those times to distract yourself till the craving goes away.
3. Exercise, play sports or get into some kind of physical activity or training: Masturbation can often set in as a habit due to boredom and loneliness. Involving yourself in physical activities will not only be good for your health but will tire you and focus your unspent sexual energy away from masturbation into the physical work out. Running, going to the gym, practicing yoga, taking up a sport are all great ways to release steam.
4. Tackle the issues of loneliness: Masturbation often comes as a reaction to loneliness and rejection. However, the only way to get over it is going out there and meeting new people with whom you can have meaningful social interaction and relationships. This way you may find a real human sexual partner as well and get to do the real thing without having to fantasize about it.
5. Eat healthy: It is very important that you eat healthy as addiction to junk food or similar addictions may actually end up causing other addiction issues such as over masturbation. Include more of fruits and vegetables in your diet and cut out processed sugar, meat and unhealthy carbs.
6. Keep a reward system for reaching goals: If you set yourself a goal of not indulging in masturbation at all for a week (or any stipulated amount of time), then rewards yourself with good food or other non-sexual things when you complete it. However, don’t reward yourself with masturbation as it may kick the old habit into gear again. Instead, food or movie nights or a day trip or similar unrelated things should be the right way. Slowly and steadily increase the gap between masturbation session in this manner where you can control the urge and not the other way around. 

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