HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO QUIT MASTURBATING?

[Notes: Between one-quarter and one-third of those responding said, "No -- why would I?" or something to that effect. Still, I was astounded by the fact that nearly three-quarters of all JackinWorld readers -- the biggest group of masturbation fanatics on earth! -- had tried quitting at some point. And of those people, almost all gave up after a short time, usually less than a week. One or two claimed to have completely quit successfully -- but I have to ask, if they really did, what are they doing reading JackinWorld?

I mentioned this week's Question to a friend, and he confided that he had quit for an incredible five years while studying for the priesthood. How did he do it? "Only by the grace of God," he answers. Since then, the path of his life has changed, and now he's one of us again -- in fact, a not-too-infrequent reader of JackinWorld! -M.J.]

A few times in recent years, I have thought, "Well, that's kind of a teenage thing -- maybe I should quit." I tried a few times, but then I remembered, "Oh, yeah -- I like masturbating."
- age 24, North Dakota

It lasted for about 2 weeks. I tried to quit because I was doing it almost every day, and looking forward to it. I felt if I stopped that I would be more likely to try finding a girlfriend, thus ending my "gay" feelings about myself. As you probably guessed, I didn't make it. I am backing to masturbating almost every chance I get -- although not as much as I do in the winter. I'm still looking for a girlfriend.
- age 29, Michigan

I tried to quit once -- but I wanted one last shot at glory! A chance to go out with a bang! So, I stopped for a couple days, beginning to save up for my big day, you know ... conditioning myself and all that. So finally, I decided to go for it -- the 24-hour quest, or whatever I called it. I wanted to masturbate 24 times in 1 day, just to say I did it once every hour for a whole day. As it turns out, I just didn't have the "balls" to do it. I got up to 17 times, but I just couldn't continue. I was nearing the point of shooting blanks. I tried to force myself to 18, but in the process, I fell asleep. I woke up about 12 hours later, at about 3 in the afternoon or so, and you know what I did? I masturbated again. And since then, I have continued my normal habit, and never really considered quitting again.
- age 15, North Carolina

After a church camp where we were all "converted," the boys were gathered into one area and the girls into another. We boys were told that now we had Jesus in our hearts so we had better be careful what we did. I immediately thought of masturbating with Jesus in my heart. God! I'd have to stop! I was able to stop for two days. I figured that Jesus already knew about my masturbating anyway, if he knew about every hair on my head! I never tried to quit again.
- age 62, Texas

I have never tried to quit masturbating altogether, but I have quit for extended periods of time. Usually those periods were anywhere from a week up to a month. The longest I ever went was nearly two months the spring of my junior year in high school. I had a severely broken collar bone on my right arm. I tried masturbating with my left hand, but it was awkward, and that big, bulky cast on my other arm kind of made things difficult -- so I gave up. On the day my cast was taken off, I went into a bathroom stall at the hospital and masturbated. It was one of the best orgasms I have ever had. As soon as I touched my penis I began to "precum" like crazy, and it took me a very short time before I ejaculated into the toilet.
- age 19, Kentucky

I said to myself I would quit after I first had intercourse. I thought I would be getting sex, so why would I need to masturbate? Well, when I was 19 I finally had sex and I tried to quit. It lasted about 2 days! The funny thing is was that after having sex, masturbation got even better!
- age 23, Wisconsin

My situation will probably sound strange, but it's the truth. It's strange because I'm not at all religious. Here's what I did: My father was facing a relocation 3 years ago when I was 13. I really didn't want to go, and (as it still is) masturbation was a giant part of my life, having just discovered it. So I figured I'd make a deal with God. I'd restrain from masturbating for a month, and in return for my suffering, we wouldn't move. It didn't last long. Not long after I started, I began thinking of ways that to me weren't technically masturbating -- humping things like the couch or my bed, or having my pants down and rubbing my shirt up and down over my penis. I figured because I wasn't touching it, I wasn't really masturbating. Then after about 3 weeks I completely gave up. I went back to masturbating with my hand every chance I got. I can't help but look back and laugh. Since then I haven't even thought about quitting, because it's just too much fun and really addicting. By the way, we did move ... darn.
- age 16, Ohio

I tried because my penis was starting to bend a little, and because I was feeling a little guilty -- and then I found JackinWorld and realized I was being stupid. So I haven't quit, thank God!
- age 14, Washington

I know now that I have always been a perfectly normal teen -- but when I was 14, I tried to stop masturbating because I was worried that something was wrong with me. I was masturbating five or six times a day, and when I wasn't doing it, I was thinking about doing it. I figured I was maybe getting addicted or something. But when I stopped I was "off the wall." I turned into a really miserable SOB to be around. During those couple of weeks I did way more talking back to my mom, slamming doors, pounding on my little brother every chance I would get, and picking fights with my friends over nothing. Also I started biting my fingers around the nails until they bled, and I would tap a pencil in class or kick the person,s seat in front until somebody would yell at me to stop it. The final straw were the erections I got that stayed and stayed. We were allowed to wear shorts the last month of school, but I couldn't wear my sweatshorts like everyone else because they were too loose and revealing. I got back to my old charming self again once I decided to give in to nature again and go back to masturbating. I know now how stupid it is to try and stop it.
- age 16, Pennsylvania

I quit masturbating once ... it was the worst hour of my life! Seriously, though, I decided a while back that it took up too much time and that I would probably write better if I "channeled" my sexual energy into other things. That turned out to be a load of hooey. I just got more and more frustrated, until finally, a month later, I said, "Screw this," and had a nice afternoon under the covers. At the time I could reach orgasm only with a vibrator, so when I locked mine up, it was pretty easy to stop masturbating. By the way, I'd like to thank the guy who invented the Squiggle Wiggle Writer. Everyone who's "underage" can still buy one without embarrassment or I.D. checks. It's not very good for insertion, but lovely on external parts. (I'm a girl.)
- age 17, Oregon

Yes, because I would feel guilty -- but about an hour later I would tell myself this is the last time and THEN I will stop. It is pretty much a useless venture to try to quit.
- age 20, New Hampshire

I tried to quit about 2 months ago, cold turkey. I was addicted to it -- masturbating here, there, in public bathrooms, in the shower, after school, in the morning. I enjoy the intense feeling of pleasure I get out of it. So I challenged myself to stop masturbating so much. I found out in the long run that it was no good. No matter how hard I tried, no matter how hard I pushed myself to quit, I couldn't. Of course, the intensity of the pleasure has died down a lot, but I still love a good whack every now and then. A lot of the time, it's to relieve stress. Some of the time, it helps me calm down. Sometimes when I'm trying to go to sleep, but I can't, I masturbate to make myself tired. I just love it.
- age 15, Florida

I tried twice, unsuccessfully both times. The first time I just thought I masturbated too much (I don't know why!), and wanted to see how long I could go without it. I lasted 8 days before masturbating again. Recently, I got seriously involved with a girl and cut back from about 9 times a week to about 4 or 5.
- age 16, New York

I have tried several times to stop, once seriously. It was because of a dream that I had ... I was a witness in a case, and the prosecutor was trying to discredit me by pulling up my masturbation history. It scared me a bit, but it didn't last long either time. The 2nd time was only recently ... I was on a long road trip with my grandparents, so I couldn't "relieve myself" at all. After going 4 days without doing a thing, I finally had 30 minutes to myself in a hotel room, and I couldn't stand it. It is unlikely that I'll try again!
- age 14, Minnesota

I tried to quit when I was about 15. I didn't think any of my friends did it, and also I would feel guilty afterwards. I masturbated about twice a day, and cut down to about twice a week. One night, when I spent the night at a friend's house, he asked me if I masturbated. I said yes, hoping he was not trying to trick me and make fun of me. He admitted he did it, too. Then we spent the entire night talking about it. It was a great experience, like a weight lifted off my shoulders. We talked about how often we did it, and what grips and lubes we used. We knew we both had erections going, so we masturbated in view off each other. I never felt guilty from masturbating after that night, and I never tried quitting again.
- age 18, Connecticut

My dad walked in on me just as I was ejaculating; he backed out and didn't say anything. I decided that I had to quit, so I vowed to stop. That weekend, he and I went for a ride, and he talked to me about masturbating and how it was normal and that most men did it on a regular basis. I asked if he did it, and he smiled and said ever since he was 12. I asked if he and mom both knew about me, and he said of course. I'll never quit again. I also feel lucky that my parents are so cool.
- age 14, Oklahoma

Once about a year ago, I thought I'd quit because it was just getting too routine and too frequent. It ended one day at a sleepover with my friend at his house; his parents weren't home, and I was staying there because his parents didn't want him to stay home alone. That night, we started talking like we always do, but this time the topics were a little more erotic than usual. I could tell he was trying to tell me something when he kept asking me questions like, "Have you ever had a sexual fantasy involving another guy?" Then finally I don't think he could take it anymore, and he asked me if I wanted to masturbate with him. I instantly said yes, which I think surprised him a little, but nonetheless our masturbating session soon turned into a mutual-masturbation session, and that's what finally ended my abstinence from masturbation.
- age 16, New York

I have never tried to quit masturbation altogether, but I have tried to cut back. This I have tried many, many times, because I think it makes my orgasms more intense. But just about every time, it ends in the same result -- I end up masturbating that very night. It seems quitting masturbating is like quitting smoking (or cutting back): it's a very, very, very hard thing to do.
- age 14, Missouri

I decided last year I was spending way too much time masturbating, so I quit cold turkey. Generally, every school day I had plenty of time to masturbate before my folks got home from work (I get home at 3:30, they get home between 5:30 to 6). So I would masturbate two or three times, prolonging each one out as long as I could for maximum pleasure. But I figured my grades would go up if I devoted that time to my homework every day instead. I went for nine days without doing it (a record for me), but I found I couldn't concentrate on homework anyhow. I started off doing some difficult assignment that I didn't understand, like geometry or reading "Tale of Two Cities," and after 10 minutes I'd be rubbing my testicles and thinking about how much I would like to be masturbating. As you can imagine, it didn't take long to get back to my regular routine.
- age 16, Ohio

No. I have never believed any of the "old wives tales" about blindness, etc., and I have no religious reasons to stop. I was once told by my father that "If you play with that thing, it will be an embarrassment to you." He was obviously referring to my penis. I wondered what he meant, but assumed (incorrectly, of course) that my penis would get bigger the more I masturbated. I was quite happy to have a bigger penis, so I just carried on. I did once abstain for a week when I didn't have the privacy to do it; that was my longest period of abstention and was when I was 18.
- age 28, United Kingdom

Once, when I was 15, I tried to quit as sort of an exercise in self-control. It lasted a week (a long week), but in the end I decided that trying to stop was crazy because there's nothing wrong with it, and that it's near impossible to quit!
- age 16, Delaware

Oh yeah, I tried to stop. The first weeks it went fine. I didn't have the need to masturbate, or when I wanted to, I would just go sit where my parents were. Finally it resulted in more and even more intense masturbation. So it had the opposite effect. Looking back on it I realize how stupid it is to want to stop something so ... fantastic.
- age 21, Belgium

I would never even THINK about quitting! I mean, what else could I do in my free time, read? Sorry, masturbation is a little better than reading. (Unless it's reading things in JackinWorld!)
- age 15, New Jersey

I once tried to quit so I might have a wet dream. Two days later I masturbated like crazy in the shower because I couldn't take it.
- age 16, Virginia

I tried when I first met the girl who is now my wife. I felt guilty about it my whole life anyway and thought since I was with the girl I really "loved," I should be able to stop. I went about 2 weeks or so until I just about exploded. Finally I gave in, and I shot about 3 or 4 feet on the first squirt. Later that evening, I talked to the youth minister at our church about it because I felt so guilty for giving in again. He explained how normal it was, and that to varying degrees, almost everyone, including girls, had masturbated at some time in their life. Since that time (I was about 17) I have come to the point where I don't have any guilt about it. As a matter of fact, I know it has enhanced my ability as a lover with my wife. I have practiced not ejaculating so much during my life that I can usually last until my wife has had several orgasms. I still masturbate at least twice a week, and my wife and I have learned to really enjoy watching each other masturbate, too.
- age 35, Kansas

When I graduated from Jr. High to High School, I figured it was time to stop masturbating and „grow up¾. I should have known I could never quit, because I had been setting goals for myself for a couple years ... when I turn 13 I'll quit ... when I get a girlfriend I'll quit ... etc., etc.. I would always make these promises to myself about 30 seconds after I ejaculated -- you know, when it's easy to swear to anything! Well, I did manage to go the first two months of my freshmen year without masturbating. After two weeks of pure hell, it seemed to get easier and easier. Then one night near the end of October I had a gushing wet dream -- I had never had one before. I mean, when I got up in the morning the whole front of my PJs was one giant damp stain. I had never ejaculated so much before in my life. I wished I had been awake to enjoy that orgasm, because it must have been great! So from that point on I decided not to cheat myself again and just go ahead and masturbate. I've been awake for all my orgasms since.
- age 15, Oregon

I've tried to quit, but because of JackinWorld I know it's okay. I made it like 5 weeks -- but then the Victoria's Secret catalog came, so I came, too!
- age 16, Illinois

Shortly after I learned to masturbate (at nearly 14), I was "saved" -- became a "Born Again Christian" in one of those evangelical houses of fantasy. As a result, I figured that I should stop masturbating, so I did. But two days later, I reasoned that it would probably be all right to masturbate if I didn't do it on Sunday. That self-imposed boycott lasted for one week! The second Sunday of the resolution, my determination failed, and I haven't missed a day since! Let me add that I have never felt any guilt over the decisions, nor have I suffered any damage or punishment -- divine or otherwise.
- age 59, California

Everyone was talking about the famous Seinfeld masturbation episode which had just been on TV, so 5 guys on my soccer team and I decided to see who could go the longest without masturbating, and we put money on it. Like on Seinfeld, we did it on the honor system -- if you masturbated, you had to tell. I lasted 8 days and was the 3rd one to cave in. The boy who was the "master of his domain" supposedly went 28. Nobody really believed him, but we paid up anyhow.
- age 17, North Carolina

I have tried to quit masturbating. It was the stupidest thing I ever tried to do -- it did not work. The only good thing that came out of trying to quit was that I got to have a monster orgasm. It was my best one ever.
- age 16, Mississippi

I tried for a week, and did pretty well -- but I got by the fifth day I was getting an erection by just looking at something. On Friday night, I watched a friend of mine strip down to take a shower -- he was staying with me overnight -- and that made me so horny I had to masturbate right there.
- age 18, Pennsylvania

I started masturbating regularly when I was 13. My football coach recommended it as a good way to relax before a game, although this really conflicted with my baseball coach, who said that masturbation would sap my strength before a game. I tried both and decided to go with what my football coach said. Regardless, I always felt guilty about it, because I'm from a very religious background and was sure God would send me to hell for it. Anyway, around my 15th birthday, I was introduced to the world of sex. I was amazed at how much better it felt than masturbation. I sincerely planned to enjoy sexual intercourse as my sex life and forget about the guilt of masturbation. (Don't ask me to explain my logic.) Anyway, I lasted about two weeks. Since then, I both masturbate and have sex religiously. I knew I just would NOT be able to stop masturbating until I had a regular sex life. Well, as soon as I had a regular sex life, I discovered I still wasn't able to stop masturbating. Masturbation isn't sex, and sex isn't masturbation. It's like apples and oranges. I'd hate to think I had to give up either one.
- age 19, Vermont

Yes. When I was 18 I went to a Christian camp for 10 weeks. The counselors requested that we not masturbate while at the camp. I held it for a whole 10 weeks! There was a ton of guilt associated with masturbating, and once I got back from the camp, I tried so hard to stop. I just couldn't, so I started looking into masturbation a bit more. I found out that it is a natural thing and that most guys do it. In the eyes of my religious beliefs, there was no place for masturbation -- so I had to make the decision to not follow the religious beliefs until I could find some that meshed with my human desire to masturbate. After several years of trying to stop, I can just say it's incredibly difficult. It helps to try quitting with several other people whom you feel comfortable sharing with and who can hold you accountable if you slip up. But my advice is don't quit. It's really okay!
- age 22, Washington

I stopped masturbating when I got married, and I was having sex almost every day. I was 28 years old. But after 20 years, sex with my wife slowed down, and I was not satisfied -- so I started masturbating again. I don't think I could ever stop now, as sex has almost disappeared at my wife's insistence. If it weren't for masturbating, I would be a nervous wreck. It calms me down, gives me a good feeling (as it always does), and makes my outlook on life great. I have a neat attitude every day, and I usually masturbate about 4 times a week.
- age 65, Utah

I used to hear all sorts of rumors about how masturbation caused blindness, made acne worse, caused INSANITY (?!), etc. -- so I tried to stop a couple of times. Now that I know better, I wish I hadn't wasted the time trying to stop. Oh, and also after 7 days without masturbation, I was heading closer to insanity than when I was masturbating!
- age 17, Maryland


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