Masturbation responds to an impulse, to a necessity of corporal recognition or satisfaction of desire through caresses o­n the genitals. I don’t refer o­nly to puberty: touching is also seen among toddlers, who include the act of touch amongst their current games. There are those who think that such activity should be repressed for children, but the punishment of touching or genital self -stimulation does not have any utility nor positive result: it is helpless after all. In a sense I could mention an infinity of aberrant resources that were employed with that aim: To tie them with ropes and chains. To burn their hands with hot bricks. To hold the penis with trusses or to tie bells to it. Belts of abstention. Cages with nails, surrounding the penis, that would hurt getting hard o­n. Mutilation operations and castrations. Clitoridectomy - extirpation of clitoris- o­n women. Cauterization of spinal cord to desensitize the genitals.

Some affirm that, precocious ejaculation is caused by Masturbation, but there isn’t such a linear relation between o­ne and another. Foremost, I could say that many are precocious ejaculators, not by masturbating themselves, but by doing so, incorrectly. Which means that many men, when t self-stimulating, do it without reasoning of continuity until ejaculation, neither interruptions nor delays. Others, however, in an attempt to prolong their womb like sensations, interrupted their caresses or massages near climax, pre-orgasmic, and soon returning to it, several times, until coming. The first lot falls in the masturbation model of the precocious ejaculator; those who practiced stop and start didn’t have such a problem. What relation would it have with the women’s orgasm? Although we cannot speak of the so-called relation cause-effect, we can see that many non-orgasmic women affirm had never masturbate. That is to say, they never learned to recognize their own erogenous zones. However, feminine masturbation has been repressed and censured more than masculine masturbation. It has been sublimated in social and cultural tasks, artistic or scientific, if not religious. Many women confessed beginning self stimulation after marriage. The most usual way of doing it being by clitoris and smaller lips fretting. Following in popularity comes the introduction of fingers in the vaginal duct, the rubbing against bed or pillow, the rubbing o­n the inner thighs, or the inclusion of sex toys (dildos, vibrators) which may lead or not to penetration. Other women refer to it with the spurt of water of the bidet.

Is it right that Sex treatments employ self-stimulation techniques? Isn’t it inciting o­nanism?

In the Manual book of masculine sexuality, 2nd ed., of which we wrote with doctor Mario V. Kaplan, we spoke to colleagues like Helen Kaplan or Masters and Johnson about the possible use of self stimulation in therapeutic purposes. So long as the patient accepts in order to reverse cases of premature ejaculation, or impotence or anorgasmy. Of course, I talk about self-stimulation fitted within certain pare-meters as the shutdown-starting techniques for outside consultation, to re-educate an individual’s biological clock, or to perceive orgasm’s previous sensations. For the sake of preparing him/her to next sexual encounters. In case of women who don’t reach orgasm, it can be preparatory, perhaps the o­nly non-demanding course, by which women can obtain orgasm before proving it from their partners. In the late 19th century a change of mentality begins to take place, which considered that masturbation wasn’t the main cause, compulsive cases would be a consequence of mental disturbances. From 1911 to 1912, in the psychoanalytic Society of Vienna, there was a Symposium o­n o­nanism. There, Freud speaks of a therapeutic return of the o­nanism; in the same encounter, Wilhelm Reich would get to say that "if a patient obtains his/hers first orgasm, at least masturbation wise, it is a plus in making way towards improvement". He also sustained that parents try to suppress infantile sexuality in order to facilitate submission of children to the power of paternal authority.

Are there pathological causes for masturbation?

May be masturbation responds to non-erotic causes as obsessive-compulsive states or as form to calm moments of anguish. There’s the o­ne case which takes place without pleasure, like a ritual, very impulsively, or the o­ne which resorts to a stressfull situation, regardless of location, moment or surroundings. Any state of anguish that causes disgust, takes to masturbation as a way to live up, however ephemeral, a placenteral sensation, but usually not as effective as to solve the conflict. When a boy stimulates his genitals, it’s a part of his psycosexual development. If he does it in public, in school or in un-stoppable way, that’s not the case of having a problem caused by masturbation. He masturbates as a consequence of some difficulty which he does not find solution. Another case , would be of those who masturbate exclusivly and don’t establish relationships. It could conceal esquizoides personalities, introverts or fobics that fear contact with others and prefer taking refuge in a world of fantasies from fear of reality. In certain cases we could detect pathological behaviors, as when it occurs outside context. If an individual masturbates watching o­neself publicly instead of doing privatly becomes evident that he is falling in paraphilia - (which takes unusual or outstanding acts to obtain excitament) -, such is the case of voyeurists, or exhibitionists. Another characteristic that could denote certain abnormality is when masturbation becomes an exclusive way to obtain pleasure. In such case would be necessary to review what prevents them from sexually relating with other people. Evidently, something is not adaptively working in its psychological structure.

Is it possible to play in pairs?

It is quite common that couples practice games of manual-genital stimulation, but this I would notcall masturbation o­nly (which strictly means sexual stimulation by o­neself) since it is a erotic game of shared stimulation. A variant would be masturbating while watching your companion. Another would be those in need of direct stimulation to be able to perform sexually. Are there different ways of masturbation? Not all men masturbate in the same manner. If it is with hands, there are different forms for penis rubbing. There are those who use all their hands and tighten strong around the member and those who o­nly use the thumb and index as a ring. Many do not resort to their hands and rub against the mattress or a pillow. But in some cases which it denotes rejection to touch o­neself, we notice a later signs of slowed down or absent ejaculation. Certain men get excited by adding anal stimulus or caressing parts of their body, others enjoy rubbing creams, seeing pornographic films or watching photos of nudity. Women enjoy acts of friction against the bed, or with hands between the inner thighs, directly rubbing o­n clittoris and smaller lips, or in lesser extent introducing their fingers or an object in the vagina.

Is it possible to oldies to do it?

Masturbation can accompany a person until last days. I insist o­n the idea of an intimate practice, private, that could be either associated or not with other relations.

Isn’t Masturbation being emphasized by sexology when addressing its practice?

Modern sexology doesn’t encourage masturbation either, neither that who doesn’t masturbate is repressed. Religious beliefs stand strong, and similarly, many people needn’t to do it because they are sexually satisfied. "But o­ne must accept that, who wishes it, by dissatisfaction, necessity or alternative, he/she can masturbate without fault nor fears" (Sapetti-Kaplan, op. cit.). In fact, masturbation has been prompeted by gay groups as an alternative to halt the spread of AIDS which brought great controversies with conservative and puritan groups. The bottom line is to repress pleasure but unlikely anything described by Umberto Echo In the name of the rose" that in middle-ages some monks tried to prohibit laughter because it was a foolish search of pleasure and "offended God". To which, others wisely responded, that if God had invented laughter (or pleasure) was to enjoy it.