The most common factor reducing masturbation frequency was the death of someone close, usually a grandparent. Also common was being in a situation that severely reduced privacy, such as being in the service or at camp.
Also interesting is the fact that some people react to stress by masturbating more, while others masturbate less. This would be a good topic for a future Question of the Week.]
Going to college! Nothing cramps the masturbation schedule like having a super-studious roommate who NEVER EVER LEAVES THE ROOM. My first-semester GPA suffered because I occasionally had to skip classes just to get a decent session in! Of course, at college, the urge isn't necessarily there as often, because it's easier to find other outlets for your needs. Second semester was easier, since we had almost opposite schedules, and I pulled the GPA up to a 3.6.
- age 19, Massachusetts
Definitely school camps for me. For some reason I just don't seem to think about masturbating when I'm out there at a school camp. Usually because they keep us really busy, and by the time I get any time to myself I usually want to sleep. Not that I really mind, though — it makes the first session even better once I get home.
- age 16, Australia
Going to Bosnia. There were absolutely no females around (I was in a combat unit), so there was just nothing to really get excited about. We would occasionally fly by a passing Serbian girl, but most seem to have all attractive features destroyed like the buildings around them. I remember one day masturbating just to make sure the old system still worked.
- age 22, Michigan
Since I've been intimate with my boyfriend (about a year) I have masturbated significantly more. He makes me so horny, and because of our mutual beliefs, we cannot and will not have sex. Masturbation is the only thing I can turn to without doing something I regret. He feels the same way.
- age 17, North Carolina (female)
After my girlfriend and I broke up after 2 years, I couldn't bring myself to masturbate. I don't know why, either. It just made me think about her too much, I guess.
- age 15, New Jersey
There once was a time, when I was 15, that I turned to born-again Christianity, trying to find some answers in my life. The church I went to was your usual hate-flinging, Jerry Falwell-following political "house of worship," and of course, they taught me that it was "very sinful" to think certain thoughts. I had no attraction to females whatsoever, and hearing that — along with their constant flames against homosexuality — promoted the growth of a serious guilt complex within me. I abstained from masturbation for a few months, as I was trying not to even think of anything remotely related to the pleasures of the flesh. But the more I went to that church, the more I realized exactly how hateful and shallow these people really were. So I gave up on political so-called Christianity at that point. I went back to my old habits not long after that as well.
- age 20, Washington
When my dog died I didn't masturbate for a week because I was so saddened at her death.
- age 16 , Pennsylvania
It's the only form of release I have now. My husband of 5 years has a major habit of masturbating about twice a day and then has no energy left to make love to me, so I have to do something.
- age 25, Nevada (female)
I was at the relatives' for my uncle's wedding — staying at my aunt's house, who has 3 young children who run wild, I really did not want to risk masturbating! After a week I couldn't stand it anymore — in bed at night, a few strokes was all it took to make mountains of semen flow! I know a lot of people go long periods without masturbation, but a week was the longest I had ever gone since I first started.
- age 15, Alabama
At age 18 I spent a year as a church missionary in South America. The lodgings were very crowded, the latrines were primitive and smelly, and we all bathed together in a river. I suppose I could have masturbated — I'm sure all the other guys did — but instead I just concentrated on work and keeping busy. I probably only masturbated once a month while I was there. Other than that, I have always done it twice a day since age 13.
- age 32, California
A while ago I became extremely depressed over life in general — the typical story of a teenager with incredible mood swings and irritation over everything from girls to pubic hair. During that time my masturbation frequency dropped noticeably. Whether it was due to personality type or lack of motivation due to the depression, I really don't know.
- age 15, Ohio
I didn't masturbate for a week after my grandmother died. I was 14 and at the time was convinced masturbating was an evil deed that only a few terrible people (myself included) resorted to. I assumed my grandmother was looking down on me, and I didn't want her to know I did this terrible thing. At the end of the week I was still very sad at the loss of my grandmother, but I couldn't resist my urges any longer. I regret that in those days it wasn't common knowledge that almost everybody masturbated, and that it was a normal thing to do.
- age 50, Arizona
About a year ago I was almost raped by someone close to one of my family members. It scared me and put me off any sort of sexual activity. (I was and still am a virgin.) I'm still trying to forget about it, but I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things.
- age 18, Australia (female)
When I was almost 19, I went through a "second puberty." From that time until I was past 20, my acne started up again, my body hair (especially pubic hair) grew much thicker, my penis grew considerably, and I became much more sexually active. I went from masturbating once or twice a week to a least twice a day. I was, of course, delighted with my newly substantial virility, but it was highly inconvenient. For the first time in my life my erection made a visible bulge in my pants, and I seemed to have an erection all the time. Finding the privacy at college to masturbate twice or more a day, which I physically NEEDED to do, was also a pain. Since then I've calmed down quite a bit — but I still have at least one orgasm a day, a lot more than when I was a teen.
- age 27, Texas
I always masturbate more when there's nothing better to do, or if there is someone else around to do it with. Like during the summer I have a lot more free time and am around my friends a lot more, and often there will be nothing better to do, so we masturbate. Also during the summer there's more privacy because I'm the only one home while my parents are at work. During the school year it's different because I'm all wrapped up in school and sports. So we don't masturbate as much.
- age 13, Illinois
Once I had colon surgery and didn't masturbate for about a month because of the pain.
- age 36, Florida
Usually when I have a week or two of tests, like midterms or finals, I must masturbate constantly to relieve pressure — but I don't have much time, so it is many quick sessions!
- age 16, Connecticut
After quitting smoking cigarettes, I have masturbated much more frequently.
- age 25, Texas
The examination periods at school. I don't know for sure, but I think stress causes masturbation. Especially in the ages above 16, when examinations are conducted in a panhellenic level (that means the subjects are common for all pupils in Greece), stress is higher.
- age 17, Greece
I find I masturbate more often when I am feeling low. For me it's a kind of substitute for happiness. If I'm depressed I masturbate a lot. When I feel good I usually don't think about it as much, so I do it less often.
- age 20, Canada
In the army — 4 long years. They said masturbating was a court-marshal offense, and I was too scared to do it. In 12 weeks during basic training I had 1 or 2 wet dreams. After basic, when I got to my regular outfit, I could get relief off base.
- age 65, New York
I had a really cool biology teacher who showed absolutely no embarrassment towards sex ed. He would even refer to his own sex life (clean points, no juicy details). Anyway, it was during this time when we learned the full mechanics of sex, how to do it, what's involved, how everything works, emotional effects, etc. This knowledge sort of turned me off masturbation for a while. For some reason, "going at it" and thinking what's going on inside my body in correlation to my actions really busted me out of the mood. I got over it, though. I, myself, am not a "need-to-do-it-everyday" person (usually about once a week), so I wasn't really physically affected by it like some guys can get. I just hope that when I'm married and have sex for the first time, I don't stop to think what's going on inside the both of us!
- age 16, Florida
My girlfriend got sick and had to go to a hospital in another city for surgery. Her mother and I drove up and spent two nights in separate rooms of a nearby motel. I can't really explain why, except to refer to the fear I was experiencing, but I masturbated furiously the entire two nights in the loneliness of my room. My erections were so demanding and it seemed I couldn't get enough. My orgasms were also as intense at the beginning as they were at the end.
- age 28, New York
The most distinctive event would have to be getting the Internet. All the people I talk to, and reading JackinWorld and it making me feel better, has caused me to feel free to masturbate more often.
- age 16, North Dakota
When I was younger, I thought having sex with a girl would make me masturbate less — but this turned out to be false. In reality, it seems to just give me a more vivid imagination. The fact that I remember experiences also makes my drive stronger altogether. Boredom or stress also tends to make me masturbate more. The only thing I can think of that made me do it less was some medications such as Effexor, an anti-depressant pill. I'm glad I'm not depressed anymore.
- age 24, Pennsylvania
"It's hard to enjoy masturbation when even
thinking about sex makes you sick."
After being cheated on and dumped by my now ex-girlfriend a few months ago, I pretty much gave up masturbation entirely. When I tried it a couple times anyway, even though I didn't particularly feel the desire, it was a downright unpleasant experience. Erotic feelings now disgust me, and it's rather hard to enjoy masturbation when even thinking about sex makes you sick.
- age 19, Philadelphia
My friend moved to another state to go to college. She was my best friend I've ever had. She taught me a lot of things about girls that I had no idea about. She showed me her breasts and also her lil' area down below. She's the one who taught me about masturbating, also. She showed me how she did it, and how I should do it. Well, I was devastated when she left. When she didn't call me for more then 2 months, I got really depressed and started masturbating like crazy. I averaged 5 sessions a day for more then 6 weeks. It's the most I've ever done. But she called back soon after, and I was happy again.
- age 17, California
My boyfriend purchased a few erotic movies about a week before his grandmother passed away. He and his family left for the week to attend the funeral. This first night he was gone he called and was sort of talking dirty to me, telling me how bad he wanted to be with me and touch my body, etc. I naturally became very aroused and wanted to touch myself. Before he left he gave me the key to his house to take care of the dogs, so I went over and got the movies as well. In the time of one movie (55 minutes) I had masturbated 6 times, reaching the big O every time. This is how it was the entire week — in all I think I masturbated 25 to 30 times.
- age 19, Colorado (female)
After recent hernia surgery my abs were so sore I couldn't masturbate for 7 days. I was getting more horny by the day, when I finally had to masturbate or have an erection all night long. It felt so good when I ejaculated — I could finally relax and get some rest.
- age 26, California
After the birth of my first child. Before my wife would go out shopping, sleep late, etc. on weekends, which left me ample opportunity to stroke the bone. After the baby arrived, we were both busy. I never seemed to get a minute to myself, so I took to late-night masturbation on the back porch.
- age 31, Kentucky
When my parents found out I was gay it put a major dent in my sex drive, because I couldn't think about doing anything without thinking about how upset my sexuality made my parents.
- age 17, Texas
I have recently taken a contract job in Saudi Arabia without my wife of 5 years. I find that in an environment such as this I must masturbate everyday (sometimes twice or more) to keep my sanity. I'm used to "getting some" every day without fail, so when I moved here I found myself lacking something very important to me. I've been researching new ways to please my wife and have found an important statement on a Web site that really hit home with me. I don't remember where it was (I've seen so many sex-ed sites!), but it said something to the effect that "you are your own best lover." I have taken it to heart and have learned some very amazing things about my body and my sexual responses. Needless to say I've masturbated way more here than I have ever in my short lifetime! I'm very glad that there are Web sites like JackinWorld that have a very positive attitude toward masturbation.
- age 27, Saudi Arabia
Being home out in the country with no car no money and no one to pleasure you.
- age 16, Ohio
Twice I was faced with long periods when I would masturbate every day. The first was when I was in the service. The hunt for a sexual partner wasn't very successful. Hey, I was 18 — what did I know about picking up women in a strange city? I spent 2 years "taking care of business" every night along with the other poor guys who struck out. The second was after I divorced my first wife. Again faced with the challenges of finding a partner, I was left to my own devices. This time, however, while reading a magazine I ran across an ad for a AccuJac Penile Stimulator. I just wore that thing plum out! I was still quite young (well, I still am) and VERY horny. I needed to get off at least once a day. With no regular partner, that left my hands and the trusty AccuJac.
- age 46, Nevada
I had my wisdom teeth taken out a couple months ago, which involved minor surgery. I hadn't masturbated in a few days, which should have given me an erection at the drop of a hat. But after the surgery, I had to go to the bathroom, and when I took my gown off I noticed that my genitals were the smallest I had ever seen them. I'm not sure if it was the natural shock that I was experiencing, or the pain killers, but I was freaked out. The next few days showed an improvement in size, but I didn't have the slightest urge to gratify myself. On the fourth day I finally attained an erection, but the rocking motions were extremely painful to my still-swollen jaw. It was almost 10 days from my last session before I had an orgasm, which was the longest I've ever been unable to masturbate.
- age 16, British Columbia, Canada
The start of a new job does it for me — brand new group of people, especially when the job employs a lot of young women. This is one of the few perks of a fast-food job.
- age 31, Washington
I used to masturbate a couple times a week, and I really enjoyed it. But since I went to a retreat for my Confirmation, which was about 5 months ago, I haven't masturbated. I don't want to hurt my relationship with God. I have a boyfriend and he gives me enough pleasure in my life that I can wait until I get married.
- age 16, Iowa (female)
In the army there was not a place or corner for personal things as masturbation. At first I thought they gave us saltpeter or some other drug to take away the sex drive. It wasn't bad at first — but after basic training and being stationed overseas, it became a problem. The town women who were available were very diseased. I found the answer while on guard duty. It was at night and quiet without a person around. I took my liberties during such times and felt wonderful.
- age 32, Michigan
Perhaps it's because of the lack of controlling influence in my household or something; all I know is when either of or both my parents go on vacation, my libido increases remarkably. I usually masturbate between 6 and 8 times a week, but when my dad went away for a week a month ago, my number of sessions increased to 18 times in that one week. I also found myself getting more adventurous, too — trying different methods and new locations, such as outdoors at night, something I normally wouldn't fathom trying.
- age 17, Massachusetts
Quitting drugs (heroin) made me a sex-crazed maniac. However, because I am a premedical college student, I do not have the time or patience for a girlfriend, so I rely on masturbation.
- age 21, New Jersey
When I went to South Africa for a month, I completely stopped. I was still in my "pillow-humping" stage, and I didn't want my very sexually uptight grandparents to wonder what I was doing. The night I got back I humped those pillows like there was no tomorrow...and didn't walk quite right for a couple of days after that.
- age 16, Nevada