Hello and welcome to Healthcare Magic. Thanks for your query.

Masturbation is considered as a part of normal human sexual behaviour and is very common among young males. It does not have any bad effects on health and does not lead to any medical problems.

Some people have many wrong ideas about masturbation - that it causes ill effects on health like nervous weakness, reduced energy, etc or sexual problems like impotence in the future. All this is not true and these are just myths and misconceptions.

However, masturbation can become a problem when it becomes excessive and addictive. It can result in excessive guilt and anxiety, and therefore affect the psychological well being of the individual. Moreover, if you dont learn to have control over it, it can cause problems when you get married. So, I would give you the following suggestions to overcome this habit:

- Firstly, try to keep your mind active and occupied at all times. When the mind is idle, it will tend to wander away to sexual thoughts. So, keep a busy scedule so that you don't let your mind have any idle time. You can find a new hobby or learn something new (like a new sport or a musical instrument) or you can take up a new assignment at work.

- Regular physical exercise is very important. You can join a gym or have your own exercise schedule. This will not only keep your body healthy but serve as a good outlet to let out to vent out your energy.

- Make specific plans and goals for your future. You have to make short-term and long-term goals for your life and start working to achieve them. This will keep your mind foccussed and prevent your thoughts from getting scattered.

- Improve your social life. XXXXXXX friends and relatives, go for outings or group activities and keep yourself busy. If you keep staying alone in your room, you are more prone to engage in masturbation frequently.

- You can try yoga and meditation. This can help you develop a discipline of your mind and body and help you get a mastery over your thoughts and behaviours.

- Remove anything which triggers you into a mood to masturbate. For example, clear your room of all pornographic material; if you access internet pornography, you can disconnect your internet connection, etc.

- Stop thinking and feeling guilty about this all the time. The more you think about it, the more difficult it becomes to resist. So, get rid of the guilt in your mind and keep your mind relaxed.

In addition to these suggestions, if necessary, you can have a personal consultion with a sexologist / psychiatrist for further personal counselling to help you deal with your problem. There are effective psychological therapies like behaviour therapy, aversion therapy, hypnotherapy, etc. which can help you get control over any unwanted behaviours or habits.

Wish you all the best.

Regards,
Dr. Jonas Sundarakumar
Consultant Psychiatrist & Sexologist

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