How Masturbation Is the Best Way To Clear Your Head
Clinicians and psychologists recommend masturbation as a therapy
Do you feel guilty when you are trying to masturbate instead of getting things done? I do. Can you think for a second that you might actually be doing it so you can get stuff done?
Dr. Christopher Asandra of NuMale Medical Center and physiologist Dr. Scott Weiss reveal what happens in your brain and body when you procrasturbate.
Procrasturbation: the act of masturbating while procrastinating.
Don’t feel guilty
You are only getting ready for an intense burst of activity.
Researchers Dr. Barry Komisaruk and Dr. Nan Wise of Rutgers University explain how your orgasm sends oxygen, blood, nutrients, and other neurochemicals to the brain.
“Mental exercises increase brain activity but only in relatively localized regions,” Komisaruk explained in The Times article. “Orgasm activates the whole.”
I often remove my pants in my room. Now science is telling me that my silly self-pleasuring helps me focus. Great.
Clinicians and psychologists recommend it.
It’s just what the doctor ordered, as they say. It is therapeutically beneficial.
Dr. Christopher Jones says, “ The truth is, we are sexual beings, physically, neurologically, we are created as sexual beings. I don’t think we need to try to do things to disconnect from that. In fact, we need to do things to embrace it, because being disconnected from our sexual selves is very damaging to a person’s self-esteem, self-worth, and self-acceptance.”
Now when I touch myself, instead of doing work, I can say in my mind, “I am healing myself.”
What happens in your brain and body
“All these chemicals and hormones are getting secreted all over your brain,” says Dr. Weiss, “coming from the cerebellum, amygdala, pituitary gland. Your neurons are on hyperdrive.”
After an orgasm, blood from the genitals surges back to the brain. The tsunami of endorphins — and oxytocin — laced blood increases your ability to concentrate.
When you are trying to masturbate, you create a flood of these hormones in your body:
- Dopamine. It is a happiness hormone of your brain’s reward system.
- Endorphins. These are your body’s natural pain relievers. They also reduce stress and boost your mood.
- Oxytocin. It is your love hormone. It helps you bond socially.
- Testosterone. It is released during sex to improve stamina and arousal. Sexual fantasies also increase testosterone according to a 2011 study.
- Prolactin. It regulates your mood and immune system.
I try to improve my mood by touching myself. Masturbation does exactly that, and you feel physically more healthy.
“While there is a massive increase of neurochemicals and hormones to the brain, everything is a replenishment. Everything is going back to homeostasis,” Dr. Weiss says. “People are thinking, ‘Hey, that surge might be positive.’ But that might be a reach.”
In other words, during the orgasm, the blood flow to your brain decreases. You are practically switching your mind off — or at least less active. When the blood returns to the brain, your mind turns on, and you feel the refreshing rebooting effect.
Does it really help you to concentrate
When I am engaged in any intense mental work for hours, I want to masturbate after that.
“Oxytocin can decrease anxiety and help you relax more,” Dr. Asandra remarks. “If the brain’s in a more relaxed state physiologically, you’ll be able to concentrate better and focus on whatever task is at hand.”
Again, your pleasure is your reward. But this pleasure prepares you for your next task as well.
It boosts your self-esteem.
Pleasuring yourself is a way of exercising self-love. You get to know your body and enjoy time on your own.
Because you’re enjoying your own body — without anybody else telling you to do anything — masturbation boosts your self-esteem.
I respect myself for enjoying myself when I am alone.
How often should I masturbate
If it improves concentration, how many times can you pleasure yourself?
Dr. Asandra recommends one or two self-pleasuring sessions a day. Don’t overdo it — you risk depleting neurohormones and the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.
“You can burn out neurohormones if you do it too much. That causes stress levels to increase in the brain,” Dr. Asandra advises. “Then your adrenal glands release adrenaline, and that causes more stress.”
But don’t worry too much. It takes many years of three or four times a day of masturbation to cause damage.
Final Thoughts
Now that you are ready to enjoy yourself, a word of caution. Dr. Weiss warns, “Don’t get too relaxed.”
If you are facing a deadline, you can masturbate to relax. But if there is no deadline, you risk becoming too relaxed.
“Once you’re relaxed, you make better decisions, but if you’re too relaxed, you won’t want to act,” says Dr. Weiss.
The best way to relax is to exercise physically. It boosts your energy levels. When your body is in motion, you’d love to stay in motion. But when the stress overwhelms you, you know now the best way to clear your head.
