Self-stimulation of the sexual parts is a common cause of anxiety in both men and women. The habit is almost universal in boys and young men before marriage, so much so that most

authorities assume it to be a normal practice, one that causes harm only when done with excessive frequency—several times a day—or when it is associated with guilt from the warnings of overzealous parents. When there is a certain feeling of guilt, as there often is, the nervous tension may be extremely severe. The unfortunate youth is so ashamed that he tends to suffer his distress rather than seek help; and his fears may become so acute that he comes to think the habit will lead him to the insane asylum, or at least ruin any chance of happy marriage. Such people are greatly relieved by the simple and truthful explanation that a certain amount of

self-stimulation seems to be a natural part of the ordinary process of growing up and leads to no harm of either body or mind.

However, in spite of the knowledge that a certain amount of self-stimulation is almost universal and quite harmless, it is my experience that some boys and young men still remain very disturbed by this practice.

This is an example of knowing a matter to be true with one’s intellect and at the same time inwardly doubting it because the intellectual knowledge is not really integrated with the emotional life of the individual.

There are two categories of youths who consistently remain disturbed by their masturbation. There are those who are very rigid and fixed in their attitudes, who lack the normal flexibility of mind to change their view according to available evidence. They are often rather perfectionistic, and are technically known in psychiatry as obsessives. The other group consists of young men who are taught by their church that masturbation is sinful, and I do not believe that it is in the province of the psychiatrist to challenge a patient’s religious beliefs except under very exceptional circumstances. Accordingly, these two groups—the very rigid and those motivated by religion—are unable to adjust themselves to occasional masturbation, and as a result they must stop it altogether.

A twenty-year-old student was in great distress of mind, worrying about his masturbation, which he seemed quite unable to control.

Religious convictions were not involved here. The young man was extremely rigid and inflexible in his personality, so much so that in ordinary conversation he would talk obsessively about some particular topic. I showed him how to do the relaxing mental exercises. His nervous tension was greatly reduced. Now that he is calmer, he is able to use his will power with real determination, and has found that he has been able to abandon the habit which had caused him so much distress.

*28\57\2*

For a description of St John’s Wort, the plant, also known as Hypericum perforatum, I can do no better than to quote Dr O Phelps Brown, who wrote in 1885: This is a beautiful shrub, and is a great adornment to our meadows. It has a hard and woody root, which abides in the ground many years, shooting anew every year. The stalks run up about two feet high, spreading many branches, having deep-green, ovate, obtuse and opposite leaves, which are full of small holes, which are plainly seen when the leaf is held up to the light. At the tops of the stalks and branches stand yellow flowers of five leaves apiece with many yellow threads in the middle, which, being bruised, yield a reddish juice, like blood, after which come small round heads, wherein is contained small blackish seed, smelling like resin.

This description comes from a book called The Complete Herbalist; or the People Their Own Physicians by the use of Nature’s Remedies; describing the Great Curative Properties Found in the Herbal Kingdom. Over 100 years ago, it seems, people were intrigued by the same possibilities that we are revisiting nowadays – of using Nature’s apothecary as a source of remedies and of healing oneself instead of always seeking out the assistance of a medical practitioner.

The pores in the leaves of St John’s Wort, which look like perforations and give the plant half of its botanical name (perforatum), are thought to contain the plant’s pharmacologically active substances, as do the black spots on the petals. It is these black spots which, when rubbed, yield a reddish liquid that was used for dyeing clothes in earlier times.

*80\75\2*