Kinsey Confidential

Q: I am a 22-year-old male who quit masturbating almost a year ago and am not sexually active. I am experiencing something I don't understand. I will be sitting in class and all of a sudden, the orgasm sensation will come over me and I will ejaculate. It's a messy experience. All of this happens while I am not aroused, my penis is not erect and is not being stimulated. Sometimes it happens when I am in a stressful circumstance. I have also experienced it while exercising. Is this some sort of signal that I will be a premature ejaculator? Should I worry about this?\nA: Thanks for your question. It's difficult to say what could be causing your episodes of spontaneous ejaculation. Some men report spontaneous ejaculation in the midst of stressful circumstances, as has sometimes happened to you. Some researchers believe this could be the body's way of relaxing a person.\nSpontaneous ejaculation is also sometimes a side effect of anti-depressants. While it isn't as common as some other sexual side effects (like delayed orgasm), it certainly has been documented as a side effect that has been experienced by some men. If you're taking an anti-depressant, then you might talk with your health care provider about it if this bothers you as there may be another medication that you could try.\nIf you feel this is mainly occurring in stressful situations, you might consider exploring various means of stress reduction or promoting relaxation. Colleges and universities often offer stress prevention and management classes through health education departments or through the campus health center. You might be able to use some stress reduction techniques (e.g. deep breaths, visualization, etc) to relax in stressful situations. Here at IU, Health and Wellness Education (855-7338) at the Health Center is a fantastic resource for information about stress prevention and reduction. They even offer affordable massage therapy services. In addition, the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation offers a popular class called HPER H180: Stress Prevention and Management.\nYou might even consider returning to masturbation either regularly or just prior to stressful situations to see if that is helpful or not. You didn't mention why it is that you "quit" masturbating a year ago, but if you're curious about masturbation, you might be interested in a recently published book that looks at masturbation from a wide range of perspectives (medicine, psychology, religion, folklore, comics, popular media, anthropology, sociology, literature, etc) called "The Big Book of Masturbation" by Martha Cornog.\nAlso, spontaneous ejaculation is not necessarily a sign that you will experience premature ejaculation during sex with a partner. That said, many men (particularly men who are young or just beginning sexual experiences, or those who are becoming sexually active after a period of time without activity) do ejaculate more quickly than they would like to. Some estimate that as many as one-third of men might experience issues related to premature ejaculation. \nIf you'd like to further explore the issue, consider talking with your health care provider or even meeting with a urologist (the kind of doctor who often deals with issues related to erections and ejaculation) or sex therapist (you can locate one at www.aasect.org). \nI hope this is helpful, and thanks again for writing in to KISISS.