“Would it be believed, if it should be said that the proportion will not vary essentially in the other sex? On a former occasion I observed that the absolute abandonment of the practice, even in those whose minds were unaffected by insanity, was not always easily effected. If no voluntary practice is continued, the habit may be so far established, and the susceptibility to the complaint be so great, that slight irritation will produce it, and that often for a long time after the danger is fully appreciated, and the victory over the propensity achieved so far as cautiously avoiding known and intentional indulgence. Nocturnal pollution and involuntary emissions come from slight causes and trifling irritation, but perpetuate for a long time all the train of unhappy influences that have been heretofore detailed. The unfortunate subject of this detestable vice, whose mental energy is unimpaired, and whose moral feelings are susceptible of impression, can be persuaded to abandon it, if the danger is set before him in its true light; but hundreds can bear me testimony that the effects of it are long felt, and the involuntary excitement produced by dreams, lascivious companions, warm beds, and improper intercourse with corrupt society, has for a long time after had its influence in retarding complete recovery to health. With the insane we can have no such hopes, and no such prospects of cure. They will rarely form resolutions on the subject, and still more rarely adhere to them. Reason, the balance wheel of the mind, being denied them, they are obnoxious to the influence of all the propensities in a high degree.
“After the practice of masturbation, as a voluntary habit, is entirely suspended, long and persevering efforts will be required to remove the effects from the system, and restore it to vigor and soundness. The individual himself must exercise great self-denial, and resolve to persevere with the means and overcome all obstacles that may be in his way, however formidable and difficult. The regimen to be adopted must be strictly adhered to on all occasions. As the inebriate would probably never conquer his appetite for alcoholic drink if he indulged once a month only—so in this habit, the occasional indulgence will thwart the whole plan of cure. The diet should be simple and nutritious; the exercise should be moderate and gentle; indulgence in bed should not be allowed, and the individual should always sleep alone. A mattress is better than a soft bed. He should rise immediately upon waking, and never retire till the disposition to sleep comes strongly upon him. The cold bath is a valuable remedy; a sea bath is better, and the shower bath often superior to either.
“Narcotics, if there is a high degree of irritability in the system, are valuable remedies, of which conium, belladonna, hyoscyamus, nux vomica, and opium, may be used under different circumstances, combined or singly, according to the effects. Blisters and issues on the pudenda or perineum, promise well, and the different preparations of bark and iron, and other mineral tonics, should be used till all the effects of the habit are removed, till the propensity is fully conquered, and the constitution is restored to health and vigor.”
Among the cases which occurred in the practice of this gentleman, are the following:—
“A respectable young gentleman, of one of the learned professions, was out of health for a long period; his head and eyes suffered exceedingly, and he was in a state little short of insanity. He placed himself under the care of one of the most eminent men in the metropolis, and followed his prescriptions a year, but without benefit. He then called upon another, who asked him whether he was addicted to masturbation, to which he answered in the affirmative. The advice given him was principally to abstain from the indulgence, and his health gradually improved, and is now re-established.
“B. D., aged 20, had had ill health for a year or more; he was pale, feeble, nervous—lost his resolution—had no appetite—took to his bed most of the time, and became dull, almost speechless, and wholly abstracted and melancholy. His brother was his physician; but not ascertaining the cause of his symptoms, he gained no advantage over the disease, and the unhappy young man was constantly losing strength and flesh. After a while he came under the care of the writer. He was in the most miserable condition conceivable; emaciated, feeble, pallid—had night sweats, diarrhœa, or costiveness, total loathing of all food; his heart beat, his head was painful, and he felt no desire, and would make no effort, to live. Suspecting masturbation, I found, upon strict inquiry and watching, that my suspicions were well founded. I pointed out the danger of the practice, assured him that it was the cause of all his sufferings, and that he might be restored to usefulness and health again if he would strictly adhere to the course prescribed for him. He took bark and iron alternately for a long time, pursued a course of gentle exercise and invigorating diet, and gave up at once the vicious indulgence. After a long time he wholly recovered, and is now a healthy and valuable citizen.
“P. W., aged 27, called for advice in the summer of 1834, having had ill health for some eighteen months or two years. He complained of confusion of the head and pain in the eyes, indigestion, palpitation of the heart, and difficulty of respiration. His sleep was disturbed, his temper irritable, and he felt dissatisfied with himself, and greatly inclined to gloom and melancholy. He complained of listlessness and indisposition to any bodily efforts, and of inability to fix his mind upon any subject, or give his attention to any business. His hands were cold, countenance pale and dejected, pulse frequent, and his whole system in a state of great irritation. It was ascertained that for two or three years he had been in the daily habit of masturbation. For eight or nine months last past, he has discontinued it; he is, however, occasionally subject to nocturnal emission, which has thus far interfered with his recovery; but he is better, and under the use of tonic remedies, exercise and generous diet, feels confident of recovery, having regained his spirits and appetite.
“H. F., aged 20, was for a long time in the habit of masturbation. He was for years confined to the house, and much of the time to his bed. By long indulgence the habit had become irresistible, and the consequences truly deplorable. His mind was as fickle and capricious as that of an infant, and his health was wholly prostrated. For five or six years he was the most wretched being imaginable. Nocturnal pollutions, spontaneous emission, and all the evils resulting from unrestrained indulgence, were presented in this truly unhappy young man. He had been apprized of the danger which the continued practice would bring upon him, and was sensible that all his trials had their origin in this vice; and yet the propensity had become so strong that he could not resist it, and if he did, the consequences had become such that little benefit was derived from his good resolution. In his intercourse with his friends he was covered with shame and confusion, and seemed to feel conscious that every individual that he met with knew, as well as himself, the height and the depth of his degradation. In this condition, in a fit of desperation, he attempted to emasculate himself, but succeeded in removing one testicle only. After he recovered from the dangerous wound which he inflicted, he began to get better, and after two years he recovered his health and spirits. He has since, at the age of 45, married a very clever woman, and they live in peace and harmony.
H. ——, a young man 20 years of age, had been feeble and dejected for two years. He was pale, torpid, irresolute, and shamefaced in the extreme—so much so, that I could not catch his eye during a sitting of an hour. He complained of his head, of short breathing and palpitation of the heart, and of extreme debility. His extremities were cold and damp, his muscular system remarkably flabby, and his snail-like motions evinced great loss of muscular strength. His father, who accompanied the young man, said that he had consulted many physicians without benefit. The moment that he came into my room I was strongly impressed that he was the victim of this solitary vice. I questioned him sometime without ascertaining the cause of disease. His father was wholly ignorant, and the physicians had not suspected it, or inquired concerning it. I requested a private interview—told him the danger of such habits, the importance of ascertaining the true cause of disease, and my suspicions that he was in this habit, and that if so, he would soon fall a victim to its influence. He then acknowledged that he was in the daily practice of masturbation, and had been for three years—that he often also had spontaneous emission, &c. He had never suspected that it had any influence upon his health.
“The symptoms which follow masturbation, viz. nocturnal pollution and spontaneous emission, often continue after the victim of the vice is made sensible of the danger of voluntary indulgence. These require distinct and separate consideration. In some cases they become very obstinate; and in spite of every effort, continue to make such a waste of vital energies as to prevent a recovery of the health—and the new form of disease continuing, the same fatal results follow which take place from a continuance of the habit. The local irritability of the organs of generation often become so great, that the ordinary evacuations of the bowels and the bladder produce an emission; and even lascivious ideas, riding on horseback, or other equally slight irritation, has the same effect. Such cases require the utmost care, to afford any chance of recovery.