Scientists and physicians once believed masturbation was a “heinous sin” of “self-pollution” that caused madness, disease, and early death. In 1745, Doctor Robert James, a noted and respectable physician, claimed in a medicinal dictionary that masturbation was responsible for “the most deplorable and generally incurable disorders.” A prominent and respected physician claimed in A Medicinal Dictionary that onanism was to blame for “the most deplorable and generally incurable disorders.”
A medical book published in 1830, titled ‘Le livre sans titer’, detailed in gory color illustrations the horrors were awaiting the self-polluter. He was a young boy (his mother’s pride and joy, no less.) who fell victim to self-abuse and died at seventeen.
It honestly makes me wonder how many people, especially men, actually believed this. As nearly all of them must have masturbated at some point and none of them would have experienced these results.
Misinformation like this can affect the very young (before they even understand what masturbation is) and the poorly socialized (if they are not exposed to the experiences and opinions of their peers).
I know right? Unless people took this stuff seriously, or at least seemed to, I find it difficult to believe people would have believed this. I suppose people back then suffered from something else, maybe bad nutrition or something, and thought there was a connection between those things. Is this only an issue for boys? Since mothers wouldn’t know how it affects (or doesn’t affect) males, they would probably believe those spreading the myth. The mothers would then pass this myth on to their sons, indoctrinating them from an early age.
It seems like withdrawal symptoms after going too long without whacking it.
When you consider that he kept getting worse because he refused to stop, it makes it even funnier. Coughing up blood? Can’t walk? Teeth falling out? When night falls, all that suddenly becomes less important when he remembers that someone flashed him an ankle earlier that day…
I used to be frightened by this, but now I just compare it to “hyper realistic” creepypastas. In full color, it looks even worse.
It’s quite possible that I’m immortal if this book is true based on all the times I’ve masturbated. Bow to me, mortals!
You should wash your hands.