Racnad

A few years ago, when someone was grouchy or not in a good mood, people would joke and say he/she "needs to get laid."

On the other hand, some religions teach that celebacy can be a path to spiritual purity or something like that.

Also, many people still teach teens and young adults that it is healthier to be celebate until you are married.

So in the experience of folks here, what are the mental & physical effects of celebacy, both positive and negitive?

And how about celebacy with no masturbation vs. celebacy with masturbation?

Redlemon

The best treatment of this question was done in the book Cryptonomicon by Neil Stephenson. Hard to describe his answer; it needs context. But, excellent.

Personally, if I go a week without some sort of release, I get testy.

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tecoyah

Celebacy leads to people dying....either someone goes nuts and kills, or they go nuts and kill themselves, either way it makes you nuts.

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RenaissanceII

celebacy w/no masturbation? As tec pointed out, that leads to violence....

with self loving? Tolerable....

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Ustwo

Celibacy of any kind only leads me to put more effort into getting laid.

I don't really care what religions have to say on the matter any more than I care what Santa Claus has to say on the matter.

As for celibacy until marriage, its more the repercussions of sex which can make this a good practice, not the act itself. For some people of lessor intellect or wisdom, such practices would keep them from getting into 'trouble', but for others who understand their reproductive systems and are in control of their emotions, I see no harm.

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Infinite_Loser

There are only three basic needs in life: Food, water and sleep (I guess you could throw shelter in there, but you could just sleep under a tree if need be). Therefore, I've never understood people who act as if they just 'have' to have sex to function.

*Shrugs*

I've never seen someone go crazy because they willingly abstrain from having sex

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Ustwo

I've done some stupid things for sex when I wasn't getting any.

Insane? No. Poor judgment? Yes.

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tecoyah

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squeeeb

you get "testy" hahaha (i assume you meant that?)

i once, on purpose, for no reason other than art for art's sake, to see if i could be "master of my own body" went 6 months with no sex (easy when you look like me) and no masturbation (difficult when you are me). i didn't go crazy, i had lots of extra energy (lots of fighters stay celibate up to a week before a fight, thinking they will have more energy) and i didn't see any adverse health effects.

i think, in men, if we go too long, we have the nocturnal emmision (wet dream) as a safety pressure release valve, so i don't' think there are any adverse health effects from abstaining.

as for mental effects, if you believe you "need" it, and you don't get it, yeah, it can upset you, but if you convince yourself with a good enough reason to be celibate, e.g. religious reasons, control over your own body, etc, you have that driving you and every time you don't give in, you see it as a victory, which propels you further. it's kinda like fasting...your body will adapt, and in the right frame of mind, your mind will adapt as well.

my opinions anyway.

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Plan9

Your body also adapts to cigarettes, alcohol, TeeVee, and crack cocaine.

This is out of survival, not just because it is a good idea.

...

Celibacy is just a bad idea.

All the benefits of sex - GO!

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Jenna

I don't know, I'm just glad I have sex regularly.

nonplussed

Celibacy with masturbation is not celibacy. The eastern traditions that teach celibacy base their philosophy on the idea that spilling your seed is a form of dissolution. I personally think that is a bunch of crap. The human body is designed to have sex. The healthiest way to live is to use it in the manner for which it has evolved.

abaya

I agree with that completely. I was a strong evangelical Christian for all of my teenage and college years, and due to the mental hold my beliefs had on me, I pretty much had no sex drive (and never masturbated) until I was going on 23 years old. I really saw no need for even thinking about sex, since I knew that it would only lead to more temptation, unless I was married... and yes, I lived that way for 8 years, and was proud of it (that "victory" feeling). Maybe it was easier for me because I'm female, I dunno... but really, it just didn't cross my mind. My day was completely packed full of other activities and I focused on that stuff, and had a lot more energy then than I do now, I'm convinced.

I would never go back to that life... but I do see that it had its merits.

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Hyacinthe

I can go without sex I am not going to drop dead or anything but I do find it very hard to do so (including masturbation in that).

I find that I get short tempered, snappish and develop a kindof itching feeling (sound like I have some form of horrible std but only word I can think of) that will dwell for hours and leaves me squriming in my seat, this is after onyl a week or so without some form of sexual release.

Thus I try to avoid this scenario.

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MrFriendly

Well, having not had sex for well over six years now, I can honestly say that if I wasn't masturbating I would have completely lost my shit a long time ago.

My sex drive comes and goes, I'm really not too bothered about not getting laid, I'm more bothered by just not having physical contact with people.

But I'm pretty used to just not having someone, and I'm used to not having sex, so it's not something that drives me to despair.

While I can accept religions telling us we shouldn't have sex before marriage (although I strongly believe sexual compatibility is something you want to figure out before marriage), not being allowed to masturbate is just cruel.

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hrandani

I strongly agree with Tecoyah.

I get pretty distracted after a few days...two weeks is my breaking point. The direction of a random sampling of my thoughts after a full month of celibacy would make a psychologist lock me up forever and throw away the key. It's almost scary and certainly harmful.

Not to mention the difference in release with masturbation vs sex is night and day. Or..maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

daneo

As far as I know the body self regulates to these things. Research went into this field because of the scientifically proven effects on the sexuality of humans in periods of great distress, for example during hunger epidemics etc. Here it is proven that the sexual drive actually "shuts down", if for no other reason than lack of energy. However when the scientists started looking at people who observe celibacy for no "necessary" reasons, it turned out that after 5-6 weeks the amount of the hormones that regulate the sex drive started to decrease, to a point where apparently you don't feel the sex drive to the same degree...

Mith

I've been celibate for a little over a year now. It is a part of the faith I ascribe to. It's rather difficult sometimes but I manage. I've never been one who's overly horny but I certainly appreciate the female form. To tell the truth I prefer this, when I was dating before my declaration of faith it was always something that I thought about. Now that my stance has changed, I don't worry about when I'm gonna get laid. Allows me to connect at a deeper level.

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Baraka_Guru

The practice of celibacy often includes a balance between conscious awareness and subconscious drives.

There is also the practice of sexual moderation. The realm of sex plays a large part of what makes us happy and what can ruin us.

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Shauk

I dunno, I went 21 years without sex. and I was fine. then I had sex once and it was kinda like the act that changed my attitude towards females. I was no longer asexual, I just got sexually aggressive at that point. Now I just am aggro, but in a good way.