Pleasure refers to an experience that feels good, that involves the enjoyment of something. Sexual stimulation is anything that leads to sexual arousal or orgasm. This stimulation is usually from sensitive touch receptors in the skin or other erogenous zones, which detect when they're being touched. Arousal is triggered through these receptors in these body parts, which cause the release of pleasure-causing chemicals (endorphins) that act as mental reward to pursue such stimulation.

Masturbation therefore, is an activity in which a person sexually stimulate their own genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation involves the use of hands, everyday objects, sex toys or more rarely, the mouth. It can also be performed with a partner; known as mutual masturbation. There are different terms associated with masturbation which includes; playing with oneself, pleasuring oneself, wanking, jerking off, fapping etc.

Masturbation dates back to as old as human civilization. There are depictions of male and female masturbation in prehistoric rock paintings around the world. It has been noted in the poetry and art of civilizations such as the sumerians, ancient Egyptians and ancient Greeks.

ARE THERE BENEFITS TO MASTURBATION?
The health sector provided the following below as the benefits of masturbation

PHYSICAL BENEFITS:
1. Relaxation and stress relief: Masturbation can help reduce stress and anxiety by releasing endorphins, also known as "feel-good" hormones.

2. Improved sleep: Masturbation can help individuals fall asleep faster and improve sleep quality

3. Pain relief: Masturbation can help alleviate menstrual cramps, headaches, and other types of pain

4. Immune system boost: Masturbation can increase antibody production, which can help fight off infections

EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS:
1. Self-awareness and self-acceptance: Masturbation can help individuals understand their own desires, preferences, and boundaries

2. Body image improvement: Masturbation can help individuals develop a more positive body image and reduce body shame.

3. Relationship benefits: Masturbation can help individuals communicate their desires and needs more effectively in their relationships

4. Mood improvement: Masturbation can release neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which can help improve mood and reduce symptoms of depression

OTHER BENEFITS INCLUDE:
1. Reduced risk of prostate cancer: Some studies suggest that regular ejaculation, including through masturbation, may reduce the risk of prostate cancer

2. Improved pelvic floor health: Masturbation can help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, which can improve bladder control and reduce the risk of incontinence.

SIDE EFFECTS OF MASTURBATION:
Masturbation could be considered as part of human sexuality but that notwithstanding, it has it's side effects especially when done aggressively or excessively.

PHYSICAL SIDE EFFECTS:
1. Fatigue: Excessive masturbation can lead to physical fatigue, especially if it interferes with sleep patterns

2. Pain or discomfort: Aggressive or excessive masturbation can cause pain, irritation, or discomfort in the genital area.

3. Injury: Forceful or rough masturbation can lead to injuries, such as bruising, swelling, or even penile fracture.

4. Desensitization: Over-stimulation can lead to temporary desensitization of the genital area.

EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SIDE EFFECTS:
1. Guilt and shame: Societal stigma or personal beliefs can lead to feelings of guilt, shame, or anxiety.

2. Addiction: Excessive masturbation can be a sign of addiction, which can negatively impact daily life and relationships.

3. Relationship problems: Excessive masturbation can lead to relationship issues, such as neglecting partner's needs or feeling disconnected.

4. Mental health: Excessive masturbation can be a symptom of underlying mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, or stress.

OTHER POTENTIAL SIDE EFFECTS:
1.Impact on fertility: Excessive masturbation can potentially affect fertility in men, although the evidence is limited.
2. Sleep disturbances: Masturbation can interfere with sleep patterns, especially if done excessively or close to bedtime.
3. Social isolation: Excessive masturbation can lead to social isolation, as individuals may prioritize masturbation over social interactions. It can also affect one's academic life.

CHURCH'S STANCE ON MASTURBATION:
Though human beings have a distorted view of sex, deep down, there is a subconscious understanding that sex is for uniting people and begetting children. Instead of sex as a self-gift between spouses, masturbation is a solitary act of self-centeredness.

Yes….some might argue that masturbation is simply a “feel-good release”, like having a good sneeze or clearing one’s nose and breathing better. But if masturbation is just another way of “scratching an itch,” then why do masturbatory acts almost always occur while fantasizing about another person? This is just more evidence that sex is made to unite persons, and masturbation perverts this meaning.

Masturbation most times, is a function of our sight, thoughts and imagination. In Matt 5:29-30 Jesus said:

If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

The Church teaches that pornography perverts the sacredness of the marital act and harms those who consume it as well as those who produce it.

Those who use porn and/or masturbate are conditioned to value sex not as fulfillment of marital vows to another person, but as a selfish way to use another person as a means to base sexual pleasure.

Jesus told us we’d be accountable not just for sinful sexual behavior, but even for sinful thoughts. That’s why we must rely on his grace in order to protect our families from sexual abnormalities.

Masturbation is an abuse of the natural sexual desires. Sex is made for marriage and only marriage. With that said, it’s only honest to point out that many struggle with it. It’s a struggle most likely for two reasons. First, because the sexual appetite is very powerful. Second, because masturbation is a very easy way to try and satisfy that powerful desire. It’s important to point out that masturbation is only a way to “try” to satisfy that desire. Sure, many find a certain satisfaction in it since it causes many natural endorphins to be released and can cause a certain natural and physical satisfaction. But it never has the ability of truly satisfying and satiating the natural desires. Again, sex is made for marriage and only in marriage can it find its fulfillment.

Consequently, masturbation is a sin against the Sixth Commandment, because it violates the God-inscribed unbreakable bond between the love-giving and life-giving aspects of the marital act (see CCC 2366-70). Instead of the intimate and mutual self-giving that is the hallmark of the marital act, masturbation—and whether within marriage or outside of marriage—is an act in which one turns selfishly inward.

God designed sexual expression to unite a man and woman in an intimately loving embrace that is total, faithful, free and fruitful—and thus in marriage. Indeed, the marital act is the beautiful, God-given expression whereby a man and woman become “one flesh” in marriage for the first time (Gen. 2:24), and wherein they thereafter renew their marriage covenant.

Consequently, masturbation is a sin against the Sixth Commandment, because it violates the God-inscribed unbreakable bond between the love-giving and life-giving aspects of the marital act (see CCC 2366-70).Instead of the intimate and mutual self-giving that is the hallmark of the marital act, masturbation—and whether within marriage or outside of marriage—is an act in which one turns selfishly inward.

Indeed, masturbation is a dualistic, self-indulgent activity that uses the body as a means of personal gratification, instead of integrating one’s gift of sexuality—one’s powers of love and life—into a sincere self-gift to another. Masturbation attempts to dualistically divorce the physical behavior we choose to engage in from shaping our self-identity, as if the former had nothing to do with the latter. Masturbation fails to see that our bodies are not something we have but are essential to who we are and how we express ourselves as human persons, as body-soul composites (CCC 364-65).

In his address to a group of U.S. Bishops in September 1983, St. Pope John Paul II counsels that eschewing dualism is indispensable to premarital and marital formation:

In order to avoid any trivialization or desecration of sexuality, we must teach that sexuality transcends the purely biological sphere and concerns the innermost being of the human person as such. Sexual love is truly human only if it is an integral part of the love by which a man and a woman commit themselves totally to one another until death. This self-giving is possible only in marriage. . . . This teaching must be the basis of all education in sexuality and chastity. It must be communicated to parents who have the primary responsibility for the education of their children, and also to pastors and religious teachers who collaborate with parents in the fulfillment of their responsibility.

So masturbation is certainly not essential for our health. To the contrary, especially regarding our moral well-being. In addition, God gives us his grace, particularly in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Eucharist, to overcome our sinful sexual desires, as well as provides the support of the Church in general and also natural remedies, including nocturnal emissions for men.