Positives are that it helps me destress. I feel I can explore my sexuality. I really enjoy porn and it turns me on a lot and I feel relaxed and in control with porn.Negatives are that it was the main thing that taught me about sex which gives unrealistic expectations for sex. It has been the main way I’ve got off over the years, so now my brain is wired that way which makes sex sometimes feel weird and boring. I think it’s definitely contributed to my erectile dysfunction issues and the delayed ejaculation issues I’ve had in the past. I don’t know why, but I do feel a slight sense of shame for using it. I think it’s just my main way of being sexual. I’ve watched porn many more times than I have had sex and I grew up watching porn, so I think a negative is that it’s wired my brain in a very specific way.
Negative, differs from real situation
Positive effects, pleasure and helps reinforce feelings towards your partner, stress relief.Negative: become reliant on physical stimulation to get an erection vs paying more attention to light touch of other body areas/visualising sex with a partner to stimulate an erection.
Positive effects: a feeling of release, relaxtion, exploration of fantasies, what I like and what I didn’t, learning to be present and enjoy the moment, rather than just trying to cum. Negative effects: sometimes a feeling of shame and emptiness. I used to only be able to masturbate to porn and I would do it compulsively to manage unrelated stresses and anxieties. It became a bad habit that took years to get rid of.
Positive: stress relief. Negative: light depression when I overdo it.
Positive - stress relief- exciting- feels like sexNegative- prefer it over sex - easier- feels like a waste - no emotional / physical attachment to another person
I suppose like they talk about in the video, masterbating has been a form of stress relief for me. I used to use porn quite heavily in the past, and so there have been times where I couldn’t or didn’t want to masterbate without porn. But I also have done so fine in the past, usually when I’m not using porn for a while. I agree with the part about porn not being good or bad - I think I personally found it too early and became reliant on it, and so now I have decided not to use it anymore because I feel that it reduces my drive to have sex with a partner, but I can see how other people could use it in a balanced and entertaining way. I’m not so sure I’d agree with the part about it not being addictive - I think I have been addicted to porn to different degrees since I started using it. The guy with red hair talked about porn being “nostalgic” for him, and I know exactly what he means. I feel the same way about chocolate - there is something safe about doing something you did when you were younger. But what I did take from this module is the idea that the type of porn you watch is just one of the things that turn you on, and that is actually a new idea for me in some ways that I could talk to a partner about what I like. I had never heard the “deathgrip” thing before - and so I’m looking forward to trying the mindful masterbation exercise.
I feel like I condition myself to get off on one scenario, I condition my body to climax around the things that I’m doing to myself (that I have control of) as oppossed to things that would be happening to me and my body during sex naturally. Positively of course there is short term pleasure and stress relief but I do believe for me personally that masturbation has effected me negatively in the long run due to recent experiences with partners.
Stress relief. But compulsively done to the point it dragged me down.
Positive effects of masturbation include stress relief and relaxation. Negative effects include guilt, shame over inability to get as hard as I want.
Feels good but prevents you from fixing problem or socializing
In the positive it feels good. It’s a release and time alone. The negative lately is that I can masterbate but I can’t get an erection with my girl so it’s become less fun because I want to be able to do that with her.
It relieved stress to masturbate but I feel like it distances myself from my partner
Positive: feels good, explore sexuality and what I like, stress reliefNegative: get into routines or habits that make it hard to get off without them
Being on a lot of psychiatric medication and having lots of stress in my life along with no libido has resulted in long term inactivity. My medication is reduced and testosterone levels have improved. I am much healthier and am now exploring solutions to erectile dysfunction.
It does make me feel relaxed and ready for sleep. I feel content and rejuvenated. I feel a degree of shame if I’ve ejaculated to porn, like ‘what did I just watch?’, which I don’t get at all if I don’t masturbate to porn. But if I’m masturbating without porn, I don’t have a very active or disciplined imagination. It’s difficult to imagine a fantasy or think of the senses and sights of past or potential future sexual encounters whilst I’m masturbating. And the quality of my erection will reflect that struggle with my imagination.
P- Living out fantasies and fully appreciating the female bodyN- Easily accesable for when I’m feeling urges, feel like im turned on in my mind and not in my body
Positive: allow me to explore other fantasiesNegative: death grip
I think the way I have masturbated over the years has trained my body to respond to a certain type of pleasure and as a result when it was time to have sex, my body didn’t respond in the same way.
Masturbation has absolutely allowed myself to understand my sexuality, fetishes, boundaries, fantasies, etc. However, I began masturbating using porn at a young age- about 9 or 10- and the ramifications this has had on my ability to be fulfilled by a partner or without any visual stimulation have been immense. Over the last few years I have noticed issues I have in finishing with a partner and I believe this is entirely to do with how specific and engrained my porn use has been since I was young.