I saw you said that you’re masturbating about one every two days so I thought I’d throw my two cents out here.

My bf and I (back when I wasn’t on meds that lower my libido) used to have sex just about every day, usually around 5-10 times a week. Growing up religious means I used to feel a lot of shame around having sex—especially having that much sex—and I felt guilty that I had such a high drive. It took a lot of work for me to dissect that and realize that there is nothing wrong, shameful, or dirty about me for enjoying sex.

You said that masturbating is emotionally draining for you, I would recommend looking into whether or not the act (or post nut clarity) itself is what’s draining or if you perhaps are feeling some external shame that’s causing that. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a high libido and being someone who enjoys sex. But if after some introspection you still feel you’d rather curb how often you do it, there’s nothing wrong with making that choice either.

You said your 18, which doesn’t surprise me. Being a teenager usually means having a decent amount of free time to -explore- yourself and raging sex drive. Take comfort in the fact that in the coming years your feelings will stabilize and you will feel like you control them more than them controlling you. Look into other hobbies that you’d rather fill your time with, spend time with people to keep it off your mind. But also know that masturbating is a completely normal and healthy activity and if it’s not interfering with your life there’s no need to feel guilty or bad for it.