Masturbation can be an important way for us to discover our bodies and to become comfortable with our own sexuality.  Sexual therapists teach us that masturbation can help us achieve a higher level of sexual satisfaction.

Masturbation allows us to explore our sexual essence without worrying about sexual inadequacy, fitting into social norms, and satisfying partner expectations.  By teaching ourselves the logistics of what turns us on, and how we orgasm, we become experts of our own bodies, or as Jerry Seinfield put it, “Master’s of our Domain”.  This makes us more confident and liberated for later experiences involving sexual partners.  In theory, those who masturbate and develop these arousal skills have an easier time reaching orgasm than those that don’t. 

Masturbation provides us with an easy release of sexual tension that does not put us at risk of sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy. Masturbation has also been reported to enhance self-image, ease depression and anxiety, alleviate premenstrual cramps, and lessen migraine headaches.

The Kinsey Study reported that two out of three women and seven out of ten men reported that they masturbated “to relieve sexual tension.”  In addition, a third of men and women responded by saying they masturbated because they had no current sexual partner.  And one-third of men and one-quarter of women said they masturbated to relax and unwind.