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The religious group Karezza and NoFap share ideologies against self-pleasure by masturbation and pornography. NoFap calls themselves a cult and their followers the NoFap Army. The International Centre for Counter Terrorism calls NoFap an extreme misogynist group. Experts recommended that mental health care providers who work with men affected by these violent extremists follow the Quebec Service model to help men who want to leave.
The Quebec Service Model
1. Multiple access points to services that improve outreach and decrease stigma.
2. Assessment and treatment are based on existing best evidence in forensic, social, and cultural psychiatry.
3. Collaboration with other services for social integration and long-term management.
Karezza and NoFap are part of masturbation shaming, which has returned as a challenge to sexual and mental health. This regression appears to be driven by an uncommon coalition between manosphere influencers and religious groups. (The manosphere are online groups, blogs and websites that promote masculinity and misogyny, while opposing feminism.)
During the International Forensic Psychiatry Lecture Series presentation on September 26, Dr. Nicole Prause described examples of the manosphere, NoFap, and religious groups, Karezza, and the negative health effects of their false medical claims. (You can watch a recording of the lecture online.)
Beliefs of NoFap
NoFap was co-founded by Alexander Rhodes and an anonymous European pick-up artist to stop young men from masturbating. They later expanded this to recommend abstinence from masturbation, orgasm and pornography for 90 days to “reboot your brain”.
They sell group memberships and weekend retreats, as well as ask for donations. Their website claims that sexual dysfunctions among NoFap Army followers are improved by 46% or eliminated by 14%. NoFap promotes the conspiracy theory that the porn industry is conspiring with the government and scientists to keep men weak.
NoFap uses forums for boys ages 13 and older to solicit business. They encouraged followers to post their age to find an “accountability partner” to discuss their sexual concerns.
They frequently threaten to involve scientists who study, journalists who report and life coaches who use the NoFap trademark in litigation.
Beliefs of Karezza
Karezza is a spiritual practice promoted by Marnia Robinson and Gary Wilson in the United States, and Mary Sharpe and Darryl Mead in Scotland. They claim that any orgasm causes a two-week chemical withdrawal, ending romantic relationships.
Karezza preach to avoid all intense sexual stimulation, including passionate kissing, oral sex, masturbation and pornography. They claim this abstinence will cause spiritual transcendence of one’s sexual urges, culminating in the birth of a “non-physical fetus.” Karezza preachers cite an apocryphal book of the Christian Bible describing a marital chamber as supporting their practice.
Their main methods of dissemination are websites, such as YourBrainOnPorn.com, SynergyExplorers.org and Reuniting.info. They accepted funding to lobby governments in efforts that would block access to online pornography. Karezza also promotes the conspiracy theory that the porn industry has secret agents trying to stop their messaging.
An Uncommon Coalition
NoFap and Karezza partnered to promote false claims about masturbation. Where the manosphere uses these claims to profit themselves, religious groups use them to promote their personal beliefs and lobby governments.
They have joined efforts to disseminate these false claims. This includes Karezza preachers compiling posts from NoFap forums to sell as a fundraising book for Karezza. Preachers also teach NoFap to physicians and school children as a method to stop sexual urges, which they falsely claim are evidence-based.
Impacts on Young Men
Research has not found any evidence of any health benefits of NoFap nor Karezza practices. However, several dozen, predominantly qualitative, studies have highlighted problems and negative impacts of these practices. Men who practice masturbation abstinence report predominantly feeling shame. Some report feeling extremely suicidal when they believed they relapsed by masturbating.
NoFap forums are remarkably violent, especially toward other forum members and people, especially women, they believe are members of the pornography industry. Several mass murders and suicides have been documented by NoFap Army followers.
Written by Dr. Nicole Prause
