Can Masturbation Addiction cause Sexual Dysfunction?

There is a widespread rumor that excessive masturbation or a masturbation addiction can lead to sexual dysfunctions such as ED. However, as backed by scientific data, masturbation should not affect an individual's ability to develop or sustain an erection. But, there could be an association - unrelated to cause and effect - between excessive masturbation and sexual dysfunction. 

Men who excessively masturbate become habituated to being stimulated in that specific way. This then makes it difficult for them to be stimulated during sex with a partner, or any other form of stimulation causing disrupted erectile function in those instances. Another fact is that sometimes individuals are unable to get an erection after excessively masturbating. This, however, has everything to do with the male refractory period — the recovery time a man goes through before he can get an erection again.

Masturbation Addiction or Compulsion: What You Should Know

- Masturbation should preferably be for pleasure-seeking and should not be driven purely by other reasons such as stress relief or wanting to get better sleep.
- Men are advised to avoid a pattern of rushing through masturbation - such as “Start and get done soon” where their only goal is to ejaculate. This can lead to early or rapid ejaculation when they are engaging in sexual intercourse with a pattern.
- Some men start and continue to masturbate by rubbing their genitals on a pillow or matter in a hard manner. This becomes a learned behavior that can lead to them struggling to climax when engaging in sexual activity with their partner. The pressure they experience here may not be enough for them to ejaculate
- Males are also encouraged to engage in fantasy and its variations while masturbating. If they continue to only associate one scenario or fantasy with pleasure and climax they may struggle later with their partner.

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