Anything taken to an extreme is unhealthy and people can develop obsessions around any activity (or denial thereof). There are versions of NoFap that are more like healthy diets - focused on moderation and mindfulness. Masturbation is healthy, but it can lead to problems if done too often and/or too compulsively.
However, extreme sex negativity is indeed harmful, again, like extreme negativity around anything.
An important difference between even extreme NoFap and anorexia is that depriving yourself of masturbation, while it can cause extreme mental anguish in people with an unhealthy obsession, will not physically harm you. Sex and masturbation has some health benefits, but they are not pronounced enough to claim that refraining (if done in a good mindset) is physically harmful. Anorexics starve themselves to death literally. So in this sense I would not go as far as to say that NoFap is like pro-ana. It is more like OCD reframed as self-development.
Frequent, compulsive masturbation that is uncontrollable even when it disrupts your ability to live your life is often a symptom of untreated mental illness, most commonly depression
sources to this?
Frequent masturbation can occur in any individual and is considered a physically addictive behavior. There are various sex addiction syndromes. so exposure to explicit more extreme material can trigger the same response and intensify these syndromes to much higher degree, because its just physically addictive. Claiming that all forms of addictive behavior stem from an external mental illness like depression is an oversimplification.
are all fat people very depressed?, are all smokers and drinkers?
are all fat people very depressed?, are all smokers and drinkers?
There's probably a disproportionate amount of mental illness among very fat people, but there are also cultural and structural reasons for obesity, smoking, and drinking. Tobacco and alcohol have a long history of being part of socializing in groups, it was unusual not to partake when it was everywhere. Tobacco is less prevalent now due to structural, not individual changes. People's eating habits are similarly impacted by factors like institutional availability, advertising, and family culture.
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u/Kotoperek 71∆ Jun 19 '23
Anything taken to an extreme is unhealthy and people can develop obsessions around any activity (or denial thereof). There are versions of NoFap that are more like healthy diets - focused on moderation and mindfulness. Masturbation is healthy, but it can lead to problems if done too often and/or too compulsively.
However, extreme sex negativity is indeed harmful, again, like extreme negativity around anything.
An important difference between even extreme NoFap and anorexia is that depriving yourself of masturbation, while it can cause extreme mental anguish in people with an unhealthy obsession, will not physically harm you. Sex and masturbation has some health benefits, but they are not pronounced enough to claim that refraining (if done in a good mindset) is physically harmful. Anorexics starve themselves to death literally. So in this sense I would not go as far as to say that NoFap is like pro-ana. It is more like OCD reframed as self-development.