When does masturbation become a problem?

Masturbation is a common, acceptable, healthy practice - but it can be a problem if it becomes a non-adaptive, obsessive behavior that interferes with daily life. Watch urologist Andrew Kramer, MD, discuss how masturbation can become an issue.

Transcript

00:00

If a man has a relationship and it's interfering with it, if it's interfering with his job, if it's not adaptive anymore, certainly masturbation

00:06

is something that can become repetitive and obsessive. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:16

It's unknown if there's too much or too little masturbation. Many surveys have shown that nearly 100% of certain populations of men masturbate.

00:24

It would be very hard to say that masturbation is unacceptable, because it is so common. And it is acceptable for almost every walk of life

00:34

throughout the generations. However, there's a point-- in psychiatry, they always say, well, when it's not adaptive

00:40

or it's hurting a man in some other way, he doesn't have time to do other things, it's not constructive, he can't do his work, it's interfering

00:49

with his normal relationships, at that point, it's not adaptive anymore. It can certainly be a healthy outlet.

00:56

It's certainly a normal outlet when people are not sexually active with a partner. But if a man has a relationship and it's interfering with it,

01:03

if it's interfering with his job, if it's not adaptive anymore, certainly, masturbation is something that can become repetitive and obsessive

01:11

for some men. And when it does that, it certainly could become harmful. It's a hot topic now because pornography

01:19

has certainly become wide stream and accessible. And masturbation in a different way than it used to be-- very frequent, many hours a day with stimuli

01:28

that is beyond what men used to have-- this is a different thing altogether. And maybe masturbation in this group

01:35

of people who are using porn, it's just a different phenomenon. In that case, maybe it's more harmful than we thought.

01:42

But regular masturbation in the absence of those other features really should not be harmful. [AUDIO LOGO]