Many people believe restraining from sexual pleasure increases self-control and improves one's overall lifestyle. Photo: IC

Instead of enjoying the supreme pleasure of masturbation as he previously did every night before bed, Kevin Li (pseudonym) quickly took a bath and went to sleep. It's the seventh day since Li kicked his secret little habit.

"I used to masturbate five to seven times a week, and have sex with my girlfriend on weekends. I think I'm a little bit sexually aggressive which is not good. So I decided to make some changes," said 22-year-old Li.

Li's inspiration to seek temporary abstinence was from a growing number of online users who have shared their "nofap" or no masturbation experiences on the social media platform Sina Weibo. The "nofap" campaign was initially launched by American Rory Patrick on April 5 of this year, when he announced that he would refrain from masturbating and sex for 100 days. His move immediately went viral with the hashtag Rory100 becoming the hot topic online.

In an interview with the international magazine Vice, Patrick revealed that, "After those first four days, things were pretty great. I had more time to run and exercise, and felt more eloquent. I work in suicide prevention and was aware that I was connecting with people better and was listening with greater concentration."

Like Patrick, Li told Metropolitan that he did feel in a better psychological condition after quitting masturbating, and now has a better night sleep.

"I haven't quit all sexual activities like Rory. I still have sex with my girlfriend on the weekends. Too much abstaining can damage your health," said Li. "I use weekend sex as support for getting me through the [sexual] challenges."

As Patrick pointed out, the first four days are the most challenging period. Twenty-eight-year-old Lin Song (pseudonym), who has also recently taken up the challenge of abstinence, has found lots of ways to distract himself from masturbating, including running, walking at midnight and foot therapy.

"I am a person who mainly relies on masturbation instead of having actual sex. I used to masturbate every two days. After my announcement, some of my friends used porn pictures to seduce me, but I resisted them all," said Lin, adding that he is following Rory's example.

According to nofap.org, a website advocating people to abstain from pornography or masturbation, people have various reasons for choosing abstinence, including helping to increase self-control and providing more hard-drive space on their computer after deleting porn.

However, Liu Yun, a worker with Chongqing Sexology Association, told Metropolitan that  abstinence is unscientific and people should relieve themselves if they have the sexual desire to do so.

"For men, restraining themselves from ejaculation could lead to prostate cancer. Too much restraining may even cause the urge to commit rape and sexual assault," said Liu.

According to Liu, women in their 40s and men in their 50s normally have gone through sexual recession which can hinder an active sex life.

"Most of them can only have sex once a month, but people in good health can do it more regularly," said Liu.

Liu recommends that most couples in their 20s can have sex three times a week, with couples in the 30s no more than twice a week.

Hu Peicheng, director of medical psychology at Peking University Health Science Center, noted that lots of Chinese women lead an abstinent life after giving birth.

"Having sex helps to consume energy, prevent aging and beautify the skin. Orgasms bring happiness which help prevent depression, and hyperemia during sex can beautify the skin," explained Hu.

Liu cautioned that, "If the vagina isn't used for a long period of time, women will feel pain when having sexual intercourse."

Commenting on the Rory100 campaign, Liu noted that it is too long for anybody to practice.

"However, if people are not paying attention to their hygiene when having sex, this will cause more harm," concluded Hu.