Masturbation abstinence practices have returned to the USA in the form of semen retention communities. Followers on one of these male, anti-masturbation forums, “NoFap,” on Reddit (denoted “r/NoFap”), have engaged in homicidal behaviors that appear to be linked to these sexual beliefs and practices. This study uses a systematic search on r/NoFap and two control forums (r/pornfree, and r/stopdrinking) to define a corpus of violent content. The study's goals were to describe the nature of threats on r/NoFap and suggest whether the violence might be attributable to sexual deprivation or false beliefs that non-sexual targets caused their violent urges. Of the 421 violent posts identified from September 2011 to September 2022, r/NoFap contained the majority (94.3%). Violent threats on r/NoFap mostly targeted pornographers, women, scientists, specific persons, or any person (i.e. homicidal “rage”). Violent threats against r/NoFap’s own followers were growing most quickly. Violent posts were well-supported with upvotes by other followers in r/NoFap. These data are important because NoFap may represent a growing threat for real-world violence.

  • manuallybreathing [comrade/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    the paper references a study from earlier this year

    Finally, NoFap followers also report becoming suicidal due to the “relapse” component of NoFap treatments (Prause and Binnie Citation2023). Two persons are reported to have died by suicide from NoFap, including one NoFap moderator and a NoFap collaborator (Rhodes Citation2015a; Stebbins Citation2022).

    volcel police jokes aside, please look after your mental health comrades, talk to your friends and family, seek out professional mental health care if you can, and for the love of god please masturbate