Sensual & Health Being

Question

This is an embarrassing question to ask. I am a woman who just started masturbating around three months ago. I never was interested in masturbating as a teenager and here at the age of 25, I am really enjoying pleasuring myself. I have found myself masturbating once a day and sometimes even twice a day. Now I'm beginning to wonder if I'm addicted or if something is wrong with me because I enjoy doing it so much. Should I get help?

Answer

While people typically begin masturbating as children or teenagers, many women report being "late bloomers" when it comes to pleasuring themselves. That's not surprising when you think about all of the negative messages that people have received about masturbation. Sometimes we receive these messages from our religion and other times we receive them from our family.

While we are often taught extensively about the dangers and consequences of having sex, we are rarely educated about the importance of sexual pleasure. Touching ourselves feels good, but for some reason, the act of masturbation has received a bad rap.

Masturbating once or twice a day does not signal to me that you are addicted to or out of control of this activity. Different people have different sex drives and thus may act on those urges accordingly. If you told me that you were masturbating all day long and that you were unable to fulfill daily responsibilities (e.g., going to school, work, caring for your family), then I would suggest that you talk with a counselor or therapist. If your masturbation frequency is not interfering with your daily life, I would not worry about it.

Enjoy pleasuring yourself and know that most people do the same thing!