Masturbation at different life stages (ages)
Generally speaking, people who masturbate do it because it feels good. Other issues by age group may include:
Babies - infants tend to masturbate as part of general body exploration.
Young children - sexual fantasies don’t usually accompany masturbation at this age. Young children begin to pick up on their parents’ attitudes towards masturbation. If parents react in a mortified way, the child can feel ashamed of their sexual feelings and behaviours.
Teenagers - many teenagers feel nervous or unsure about their developing bodies and sexual feelings. Mixed messages and misinformation about masturbation from parents and peers can increase the anxiety.
Adults - some people believe that masturbation is only appropriate for those without partners, but most people with regular partners continue to masturbate throughout their adult life. The idea that adults who masturbate must be sexually deprived or inadequate is simply not true.How much is too much?A common concern, especially among teenagers, is the frequency of masturbation. ‘Normal’ ranges from several times per day, week or month to never masturbating at all. The frequency of masturbation isn’t a problem unless it is linked with an obsessive compulsive disorder, where the same activity must be repeated over and over.