Excerpts from John Harvey Kellogg, 1852-1943.. Plain facts for old and young : embracing the natural history and hygiene of organic life. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library

Plain facts for old and young : embracing the natural history and hygiene of organic life.

From Chpt 9 SOLITARY VICE

If illicit commerce of the sexes is a heinous sin, self-pollution, or masturbation, is a crime doubly abominable. As a sin against nature, it has no parallel except in sodomy (see Gen. 19:5; Judges 19:22). It is the most dangerous of all sexual abuses because the most extensively practiced. The vice consists in an excitement of the genital organs produced otherwise than in the natural way. It is known by the terms, self-pollution, self-abuse, masturbation, onanism, manustupration, voluntary pollution, and solitary or secret vice. The vice is the more extensive because there are almost no bounds to its indulgence. Its frequent repetition fastens it upon the victim with a fascination almost irresistible! It may be begun in earliest infancy, and may continue through life. 

Even though no warning may have been given, the transgressor seems to know, instinctively, that he is committing a great wrong, for he carefully hides his practice from observation. In solitude he pollutes himself, and with his own hand blights all his prospects for both this world and the next. Even after being solemnly warned, he will often continue this worse than beastly practice, deliberately forfeiting his right to health and happiness for a moment’s mad sensuality.

From The Masturbation Connection by Gegory Hunt, MD, a page about Ellen White’s views on masturbation

… Ellen White published An Appeal to Mothers: The Great Cause of the Physical, Mental, and Moral Ruin of Children of Our Time. This was Mrs. White’s first book on health reform. Its intent was to warn the world about the dangers of - MASTURBATION!

Mrs. White, it seems, was dissatisfied with the result of this production and six years later she produced an amplified version entitled “A Solemn Appeal.” This book was edited by her husband and included articles from other writers to back up Mrs. White’s counsel.

This booklet is today unavailable, and any who read it can see why. Let us examine some of its passages.

“I feel alarmed for those children and you who by solitary vice are ruining themselves…you listen to numerous complaints of headache, catarrh, dizziness, nervousness, pain in the shoulders and side, loss of appetite, pain in the back and limbs…and have you not noticed that there was a deficiency in the mental health of your children?” “Secret indulgence [masturbation] is, in many cases, the only real cause of the numerous complaints of the young.” (p. 11, 13)”The state of the world is alarming. Everywhere we look we see imbecility, dwarfed forms, crippled limbs, misshapen heads and deformity of every description… Corrupt habits are wasting their energy, and bringing upon them loathsome and complicated diseases… Children who practice self-indulgence [masturbation]…must pay the penalty.” (p. 14)

More at Self-abuse [masturbation] continued

Warning for Satire-Impaired Readers

Chronic masturbation is one of the major social and personal challenges facing males today. The pornographic temptations of the Internet are irresistible for males with weak moral characters, and once in the grip of masturbatory addiction, it is virtually impossible for the male to free himself from the habit. If left unchecked, genital self-abuse can and often does take over his life, seriously impacting self esteem, career achievement, social ties, and family well being.

Although masturbatory addiction in the habituated male is irreversible and incurable, the damage wrought can be limited if the addict, with the help of his partner, works to control his more compulsive and vicious excesses.

For those males sincerely struggling to control the habit of masturbation, we offer the following resources.

• Current links on Stopping Masturbation
• Masturbation addiction counseling
• Study for Breaking Masturbation Addiction
• Overcoming the Masturbation Habit
• Steps in Overcoming Masturbation
• What a Young Boy Ought to Know
• Masturbation And The Bible
• Self Pollution
• My Constant Companion
• An Ugly, Deceiving Sin
• Over Masturbation Resource Center
• Sexual Addiction in AllPsych Journal
• Masturbation and Mortal Sin
• The Addiction Cycle
• Masturbation Addiction

THE PEOPLE’S COMMON SENSE MEDICAL ADVISER (1895) is one of the interesting historical works on the dangers of masturbation. I recommend it to students of society’s views on the subject. This extract is from the Project Gutenberg library. You can get a good flavor for its perspective from this quote:

Untold miseries arise from the pollution of the body. Self-pollution, or onanism, is one of the most prolific sources of evil, since it leads both to the degradation of body and mind. It is practiced more or less by members of both sexes, and the habit once established, is overcome with the greatest difficulty. It is the source of numerous diseases which derange the functional activity of the organs involved, and eventually impair the constitution. This vicious habit is often practiced by those who are ignorant of its dangerous results. Statistics show that insanity is frequently caused by masturbation.

Fig. 2. A Testicle wasted by Masturbation. Masturbation not only occasions loss of semen, but frequently the testicles and other generative organs waste and become reduced in size as a result of the abuse. …Fig. 2 represents one much reduced, as a result of self-abuse. [pg 773]

Note: before proceeding, please be sure you have read the Warning for Satire-Impaired

More…

from Susie Bright’s Journal : Sex Addiction: The Big Con 

Susie and Leonore discuss the differences between sexual addiction, compulsion, and obsession— and why the hype about “Sex Addicts” is off the wall, and more than a little dangerous.

Listen to the interview at Susie Bright Interviews Sexologist Leonore Tiefer

From The Institute for Sexual Wellness - Behavioral Treatment 

Behavioral Treatment

The goal of behavioral therapy is to reduce deviant sexual arousal and increase nondeviant sexual arousal. All behavioral methods are based on the idea of conditioning–associating pleasant feelings with desired behavior, and associating unpleasant feelings with undesired behavior.

Aversion Therapy

Aversion therapy is the process of linking a previously sexually gratifying stimulus or behavior with an averse or unpleasant sensation such as pain, nausea, or fear. The individual is asked to fantasize about their deviant sexual interest while being presented with aversive stimuli. …

Masturbatory Reconditioning

Masturbatory reconditioning is a technique based on the principle of classical conditioning. In masturbatory reconditioning the individual uses his anomalous fantasies to achieve arousal, and then he switches to a normal fantasy just before orgasm.

Holy clockwork orange, Batman!

Warning for the Satire-Impaired

Warning for the Satire-Impaired

From Healthy Masturbation 

There is a controversy about the role of masturbation in sexual recovery circles. The folks at Sexaholics Anonymous (SA) and Sexual Recovery Anonymous (SRA) take the position that if you identify yourself as a sex addict, then you are fooling yourself if you think that you can masturbate successfully.

What they mean by “successfully” is when you masturbate as a self-nurturing activity, without compromising your intimate relationships, and unaccompanied by degrading sexual fantasies.

SA/SRA members take the stand that sex addicts need to abstain from masturbation altogether and instead seek for sexual expression within marriage or a committed relationship.

Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA), Sexual Compulsives Anonymous (SCA), and Sex and Love Anonymous (SLAA) all take the position that abstention from masturbation is a personal decision.

However, most of these latter group members would also agree that abstaining from masturbation is a good idea in early recovery (in order to break self-destructive patterns).

Abstinence is different for each sex addict - depending on what behaviors are compulsive and lead to demoralization.

For some sex and love addicts masturbation is a truly harmless, risk-free release of built-up sexual tension. For others it is the start of a rapid slide down into shame, depression, and acting out in other, more dangerous ways. Clearly the latter group must put masturbation on their Bottom Lines (Inner Circle).

Can you masturbate just a little?

Are you wondering how to stop masturbating? Well you are not alone. There are millions of frustrated men in the world trying to figure out how to stop masturbating. There is a plethora of confusing guidance and information out there. I will lay out advice from myself and others I have collected over time to make this is simple as possible. But before I jump into that I want you to know that you can and absolutely will overcome this addiction with the right attitude. Perseverance is the name of the game and victory will be yours if you possess the ability to get up and dust yourself off every time you fall. Many people have overcome this addiction and so can you. Its a personal decision you must make because no one can do this for you. So let’s get into the steps.

more at How to Stop Masturbation Addiction | Porn, Masturbation & Sexual Addicton Help

How to Stop a Masturbation Addiction

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
This article’s accuracy is in doubt. See the discussion page. Please fact check, edit, cite references and remove this notice when the article has been improved. You may also comment on the discussion page. Notice added on 2007-12-02. Masturbation is sometimes called “self love” or “solo-sex”. It is a normal and healthy activity, and indeed is the way most adolescents discover what makes them feel good before they embark on an adult sexual relationship. In some cases however, it can become an obsession. And that is not healthy. Medically masturbation is not a physical disease. Problems arise when it starts interfering in our lives as a stress, guilt or a thorn in our relationships. Even if little masturbation does that then it is termed “harmful”.

Steps

1. Decide whether your masturbation is a cause for concern. Masturbation has become an obsession when it interferes with your daily routine and your relationships. If you find yourself masturbating instead of spending time on more important things on a daily basis (and you are no longer a teenage boy, or girl!), then it might be time to break the cycle of behavior you are in.
2. Isolate the cause. There is a reason or reasons you masturbate excessively, and you must find out why. If you concentrate on just stopping masturbation then you will just return to your addiction after a short period of success. So, why do you masturbate? It could be because you are bored, lonely, hurt, stressed, or it could be because of pains from the past. You’re going to have to get yourself in a relaxed state conducive to productive thought to really find out why you turn to masturbation. What are you trying to escape? Avoid focusing on symptoms. Saying you masturbate because it feels good is not the real reason you masturbate excessively. Dig deep into your feelings. If you find this part difficult you may need therapy to help you discover feelings you are not seeing clearly right now.
3. Deal with your feelings. Dealing with feelings correctly is a skill and may be a skill you have forgotten or need to learn. Feelings are the result of thoughts. How we interpret the world and ourselves in our minds determines how we feel. We decide how we feel about things. If you masturbate because you feel bored then it is because you decided to feel bored. Nobody made you feel bored. You did.
4. Change the thought patterns that are leading to excessive masturbation. You can no longer see masturbation as a solution to your boredom or loneliness. The more you learn to enjoy your everyday life the less you will want to turn to masturbation.
5. Narrow down the times of the day that seem to be the biggest problem for you. Isolating the times of the day that you struggle the most can help you to focus your efforts better to overcome masturbation addiction. If you know you struggle most when you lay down at night then you can create a plan specific to that time of day, for example do not lay down. Maybe you need to exercise and burn some testosterone before going to bed. Exercise will also help you to be more tired and fall asleep faster. If you struggle at different times of the day or several times throughout the day then try to narrow down the times and the environment you’re in when this becomes difficult.
6. Spend some time each day, perhaps in the morning, visualizing a new you. A more confident, sociable, outgoing you. It’s important that you start reprogramming your brain on a daily basis. It may seem awkward at first but if you persist, you will become more comfortable with your new self-image.
7. Change your habits. You cannot overcome a masturbation addiction so long as you are spending a lot of time alone in your bedroom viewing pornography. Get out and meet people. Form healthy relationships and perhaps find another outlet for your sexual energy.
8. Have an emergency way out - When the wave of temptation comes you need to have a pre-planned emergency way out. Many people have found that snapping a rubber band on their wrist helps break the automatic thought chain that leads to masturbation. Of course you don’t want to hurt yourself, just have something similar to get you mind off masturbating.

Tips

• Do not merely CEASE masturbating; that is not the problem. Instead think of why you feel that you have an addiction or why you think it is bad to masturbate too much. Many who find themselves upset at the concept have been told it was a terrible practice and have accepted this.
• If you have the tendency to masturbate at night, in bed, do some situps or other exersice before you get into bed so you burn some of your extra energy
• Never give up hope you can and will overcome the addiction even if you need help

Warnings

• Do not think of masturbation as evil, wicked or damaging to your health. It is not. You will not go blind or be unable to have a healthy sex life
• Do not aim NEVER to masturbate again - aim to have it as part of your life, but a small part which, while it is comforting, does not interfere with relationships with others.

Sources and Citations

• http://www.newlifehabits.com

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Stop a Masturbation Addiction. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

 Fact of the Day: Please Dr. Kellogg, I can’t stop touching myself!!

Sunday, May 07, 2006

OK, this is really bizarre. Kellogg’s Corn Flakes were originally marketed to help prevent chronic masturbation. In 1894, Dr. John Kellogg, a seventh-day Adventist, created the corn flakes recipe as a means to keep children from “self-polluting” themselves. Remember this if your friends ever start a “contest”.
It’s a fact.

Fact of the Day: Please Dr. Kellogg, I can’t stop touching myself!!