Whether it's No Nut November or you're just giving your private parts some peace, you may notice that refraining from masturbation has quite an interesting effect on you.
The same goes for when you put a stop to having sex for a while, but although the outcomes may be similar, it seems that suppressing the urge to pleasure yourself has its own unique impact on your body and brain.
Well, that's according to a sexpert who abstained from masturbation upon the suggestion of her therapist.
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She explained that after being in a relationship for almost seven years, it had 'started to feel like we were having sex next to each other instead of together', so they decided to ditch their w***ing routines for a while.
We've heard doctors share their take on it, but getting it straight from the horse's mouth has given people a better idea of how it actually feels to give up masturbation for a bit.
The anonymous sex writer penned a detailed breakdown of how her mind and body coped during the hiatus, as well as if she thought it had any benefit to her wellbeing in a candid article for InStyle.
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She instead relied on her partner to fulfil her sexual needs and explained how that turned out.
Uncontrollable urge
According to the woman - and probably quite predictably - deciding not to masturbate, really makes you want to do it.
She explained she was previously doing it 'two or three times a week', which she thought was a 'very reasonable' amount.
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However, as soon as she had committed to taking a break, the impulse to do it became stronger and stronger.
The sex boffin joked that it 'quickly became the white elephant that I wasn't supposed to think about'.
I guess we always want what we can't have, eh?
Mood swings
Although it's easy to presume that people who organise their own dry spell simply need to get their mind off of sex, it's not as simple as that.
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As I'm sure you will be aware, masturbation is a mood-booster, relieves stress and helps you sleep better - so without it, your susceptible to mood swings and a bad night's kip.
The writer explained that she felt as though she was going through a 'period of mild withdrawal' as she experienced a 'low-grade headache' as well as feeling increasingly cranky and irritable.
She continued: "Masturbation withdrawal may sound far-fetched, but masturbation releases a delicious cocktail of feel-good chemicals and hormones and whatnots, so it seemed reasonable to me that my body was all like, 'Hey where'd that awesome stuff go?'"
Extended arousal
Horniness is something which is quite unpredictable, but once it comes, it is here to stay.
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And when you are refraining from masturbation, there's no way to get rid of it - and according to the sexpert, she was desperately trying to find an off switch after being turned on.
The woman explained: "The build-up to satisfaction went from minutes to days, sometimes a week.
"Orgasm became an event to be longed for and fantasised about instead of another item to check off my to-do list like dry-cleaning.
"Now when I found myself unexpectedly in the mood, my thoughts turned to 'Won't it be nice when my boyfriend gets home…' instead of 'Where the hell did I put that Hitachi Magic wand?'"
Pestering your partner
Although she was grateful that she could rely on her fella to fulfil her sexual desires still, the writer explained this also had its downsides.
She explained that you end up 'getting a little desperate' after a while and joked that despite him being mostly happy to comply, he isn't 'always in the mood to act as a member of my personal stud farm'.
When he was tired or had a headache, she said it was 'freaking frustrating' that she couldn't just take herself off anymore and hinted that she is probably a bit embarrassed of the lengths she went to to try and convince him to have sex.
"Dignity flies out the window when you're desperate to get down," she said.
Better sex
Despite the fact she might have had to put her pride aside to get in between the sheets with her partner, it turns out that not masturbating made their sex life a lot better.
The sexpert explained: "Because I was hornier, I was genuinely excited from the get-go during partner sex, instead of taking my usual 20 minutes to warm up and decide this was more fun than watching Project Runway after all.
"Pre-masturbation ban, I frequently took over the controls to climax, but strict adherence to the letter of the law meant I was now had to relax and leave that shizz to my man.
"And while I used to have some occasional trouble getting off, now I finished quickly and easily."
Overall, she reckons that even though masturbation is great, putting a pin in self pleasure for a while 'was the kickstart her relationship needed' as it opened up other avenues to a 'shared experience'.
Maybe we could all do with taking a break for a while then, eh?
Topics: Sex and Relationships, News, Health, Mental Health
Olivia Burke