I’m not particularly interested in what masturbation does or doesn’t do to testosterone.
@ImTheDoubleGreatest! , if you intend to abstain from masturbation for the sake of self-control and productivity, I would recommend trying to set ambitious goals that would make masturbation incongruent with achieving them. For example, I am seeking to achieve straight A+’s at university this summer semester despite a tedious courseload and working full time. I am not extraordinarily intelligent so I have to rely on my work ethic to achieve great grades. The cumulative time spent on masturbation and/or porn would drastically affect my productivity and ultimately my grades. Because my academic goals are more important than instant sexual gratification, it is easier to resist the impulse to masturbate. I notice I experience less brain fog and an increased ability to concentrate with sustained attention after 2 days of no masturbation. In my situation, I cannot afford to allocate time here and there to masturbation, over a 4-month span it adds up to a lot of time flushed down the drain that could have been spent on productivity.
I’ll also add that, in my experience, I masturbate the most when I am avoiding responsibility (procrastinating on beginning or finishing a task) or trying to subconsciously deal with undesirable mental states, such as mild stress or frustration, or simply just boredom.
Important thing to remember is the urge to masturbate is generally impulsive, but always temporary, and so it will subside within a few minutes if you don’t give in.
Last thing I’ll say is: don’t underestimate dopamine. It’s a powerful chemical, and completely abstaining long-term from porn or masturbation cold turkey is very difficult. As someone who was once addicted to cocaine and OxyContin, I find masturbation and/or porn harder to abstain from; imagine being a heroin addict having a loaded syringe in your pocket ready to use 24/7.
I’m not against masturbation in moderation, but in my personal experience, I prefer how I feel after going without it for a sustained length of time than I do doing it regularly.
I hope you can benefit from your experiment
@ImTheDoubleGreatest!