Hey Dr Sue — Is Masturbating 5 To 10 Times A Day An Uncontrollable Problem?

This is an interesting question, and there are two things here that I want to address.

One is the frequency that you’re masturbating. 5 to 10 masturbatory experiences a day is not necessarily excessive. It is way above what we commonly see in research. But remember those numbers are based on self-report and may not be that honest.

And how often we masturbate may change throughout our lifespan. So those numbers may go up or down for you over time.

People may find themselves masturbating a lot when they have recently broken up and don’t have a sexual partner. They may feel like masturbation is the best way to meet their needs. People may also masturbate a lot when they first discover what it is and how good it can feel. Sometimes we’ll see a change in masturbation frequency when a person is taking a new medication that impacts their sex drive.

So while 5 to 10 times a day exceeds what we usually hear about, that’s not the part that concerns me. What concerns me is that you use the phrase “uncontrollable.” And that’s the second thing I want to address.

When you use that term controllable in your question it makes me wonder if you really feel like it’s uncontrollable. Or is it that you’re just concerned that the…