Masturbation withdrawal symptoms may be experienced by someone who habitually masturbates and then tries to stop. We find significant overlap here with common porn withdrawal symptoms.
This article will help you understand potential symptoms, how common they are, and what to do about them.
What is masturbation addiction?
While the term “masturbation addiction” is not widely accepted, the World Health Organization does recognize Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder:
“Compulsive sexual behaviour disorder is characterised by a persistent pattern of failure to control intense, repetitive sexual impulses or urges resulting in repetitive sexual behaviour.”
This describes what people mean by masturbation addiction. And while there’s no clinically established “masturbation withdrawal syndrome,” many people experience withdrawal-like symptoms when trying to stop:
“Withdrawal symptoms (also termed withdrawal syndrome) constitute a set of adverse feelings or physiological responses that occur when abstaining from or limiting engagement in substance use or addictive behaviors following longer-term, regular or habitual engagement.” [1]
This makes it very challenging to stop masturbating, as many can attest. Read on for the most common symptoms, along with some practical steps for overcoming compulsive behaviors.
9 Common Withdrawal Symptoms:
By comparing multiple studies, we find nine of the most common masturbation withdrawal symptoms.
1. Increased sexual urges and cravings
This includes frequent sexual thoughts, heightened sexual arousal, and difficulty controlling sexual desires. [1, 2, 4]
This symptom explains much of why it’s so difficult to stop compulsively masturbating. The first thing many people experience is a preoccupation with sexual thoughts and an intensification of the desire to masturbate.
2. Irritability and frustration
Many people trying to overcome a habit like masturbation feel increased irritability, anger, frustration, and emotional sensitivity. [1, 2, 3]
This is one of the reasons it’s helpful to have an understanding ally help you as you work toward change. It doesn’t mean they give a free pass for being rude or unkind, but they will understand these symptoms as part of the process.
3. Mood swings
Related to the previous symptom, stopping masturbation can result in frequent mood changes. [1, 3]
4. Anxiety and stress
Others reported nervousness, increased stress, anxiety, and restlessness. [1, 2, 3] This occurs because masturbation is often used for self-soothing in times of stress or anxiety.
5. Difficulty concentrating
Trouble focusing, brain fog, and difficulty completing tasks or making decisions. [1, 2, 3]
6. Depression and low motivation
Depressed mood, loneliness, apathy, and decreased motivation. [1, 2, 3]
Sleep disturbances
Insomnia, difficulty sleeping, and daytime drowsiness or fatigue. [1, 2, 3]
Physical discomfort
Headaches, muscle pain, nausea, and other bodily discomfort. [1, 2, 3]
Feelings of guilt or embarrassment
Negative feelings about sexual behavior, including guilt and embarrassment. [1]
How to Stop Masturbating and Deal with Withdrawal
We talk about this more in 3 Steps to Kick the Habit of Masturbation. But there are a few crucial steps you can take to start achieving victory.
1. Identify your triggers.
We’ve written extensively about triggers in other places. But learning to identify and understand your triggers will give you a huge advantage to avoiding a relapse.
2. Deal with the sexual tension.
As noted in the symptoms above, there’s no way around the inevitable sexual tension you will experience if you’re trying to break a masturbation habit. However, there are ways you can deal with this, including:
3. Address the deeper longings.
Compulsive behaviors, like porn and masturbation, are usually rooted in deeper wounds of the heart, frustrations, hopes and dreams. Many people deal with the initial sexual tension only to find that the deeper issues remain unresolved.
This is where both accountability and counseling can be tremendously helpful.
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