I'm worried!

[randykshlerin]

So I finally started to somewhat touch myself, which I never usually felt like I needed to do, even when I felt somewhat aroused. One night, when I was on my period (so I was obviously more hormonal than usual) and looking at some lesbian content, I suddenly felt the urge to finally try somet. ing. I would never put my fingers inside myself, so I just put my hand between my thighs and rubbed my hand around. The first time I did it, I felt really shaky afterward, and for these past few nights (and one morning), I've been doing this very thing, and I guess getting pleasure from it. All I'm worried about is going further and getting addicted to masturbation. What should I do to control my feelings?

[Sam W]

Hi randykshlerin,

The first thing to know is that masturbation isn't something you can get addicted to; addiction requires a chemical substance for you to become dependent on, and that's not something that's possible with masturbation. The only times masturbation is cause for concern is if someone is doing it compulsively (in other words, doing it at times they don't actually want to but feel like they can't stop) or if it's interfering with their ability to go about their daily lives. You can read more about all that here: https://www.scarleteen.com/article/advi ... _addiction. Does all that make sense?

If it's the frequency that has you worried, it might help to know that masturbating frequently or for several days in a row is an incredibly common behavior.