Pollution

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Pollution is an ejaculation that can occur in men and male adolescents from puberty onwards without any active involvement and wakefulness during sleep . It is triggered by an unconscious orgasm . Since this mainly occurs during a night's sleep, it is also referred to as a nocturnal ejaculation or, colloquially, a wet dream . Such an involuntary ejaculation is often only recognized by stains on the bedclothes or bedclothes.

The naturalized into German foreign word Pollution is from the Latin word polluere , defile, pollute, pollute derived and the medical term used in the German language.

Linguistic aspect

The term pollution is mainly used in German-speaking countries for involuntary ejaculation during sleep. There especially in English, but also in many other languages called the foreign word Pollution , however, a general pollution . The German meaning is expressed there, among other things, with nocturnal emission or "nocturnal pollution" and "nocturnal ejaculation ". However, it is overlooked that pollution can also occur during daytime sleep. This means that the conceptual space in these languages ​​with their term "nocturnal pollution" has been restricted in an inadmissible manner. To avoid all these linguistic inadequacies and possible morally derogatory connotations , the term “orgasm in sleep” is increasingly being used in place of “pollution” in sex science .

Orgasm in sleep:
The replacement of the term “pollution” by “orgasm in sleep” contains a fundamental problem. So far, pollution has always meant an involuntary orgasm with ejaculation of semen while sleeping. In addition, since the sexual reaction possibilities of children have hardly been comprehensively researched scientifically up to the present day, it is basically not established with certainty whether male children can have an involuntary orgasm in sleep long before puberty under certain conditions, which of course still occurs no ejaculation can take place.

In the event that such a possibility should be confirmed, the replacement of the term “pollution” by “orgasm in sleep” is wrong and the general use of the term “ ejaculation in sleep ” instead of “pollution” is the only one the exact facts. The possibility of an “orgasm in sleep” in prepubertal male children without ejaculation does not cover the term “ejaculation during sleep” or “pollution”.

Physiological basics

Prepubescent

Testosterone regulation

With the increase in the gonadotropin concentration in the blood, the testosterone production in the Leydig cells of the testes and the subsequent secretion of the sex hormone into the blood increase in boys well before puberty itself . As a rule, a two to three fold increase in the previous testosterone level is achieved shortly before puberty. For this reason, in some boys, even before puberty, the accessory sex glands in particular, the prostate , may be able to form a secretion with appropriate stimulation . In these adolescents, it is quite possible that one or more years before sexual maturity with an orgasm, however triggered, an - albeit very small - excretion of predominantly prostate secretion takes place. Although such excretion is called ejaculation, the excreted ejaculate consists solely of secretions ( seminal plasma ) without the presence of sperm (semen), as these are usually not yet formed in the testes at this point in time. It is not yet known whether an involuntary orgasm can occasionally occur during sleep during constant or temporary sexual abstinence, perhaps even without it.

Intrapubertal

Under the influence of the testosterone level increase triggered by the increased gonadotropin concentration, the growth of the penis , testicles, epididymis , spermatic ducts and accessory sex glands continues during puberty . The testes usually begin to produce their first sperm cells in the middle of puberty ( Spermarche ). In close proximity to this, a first ejaculation in the sense of "ejaculation" ( ejakularche ) then occurs, either with an orgasm that is consciously triggered by sexual activity or with a first pollution (polluarche). This means that sexual maturation has reached its target point, “sexual maturity”.

Pollution is basically a completely harmless and natural process that is triggered by an unconscious orgasm during sleep.

Side effects

Pollution is very often, but not always, accompanied by an erection of the penis .

Dreams before and especially during the pollution can have erotic content, the dreamer can also wake up through the event and then remember these dreams. Since at least the conscious control mechanisms are missing during sleep or in the dream phase, according to EJ Haeberle , 1983, such erotic dreams can express unusual or socially intolerable and possibly also criminally prohibited behavior. Normal inhibitions, compulsions or norms are said to be less effective in dreams during sleep, which is why many unconscious, suppressed or repressed sexual desires can also and especially be expressed in these dreams.

Such dreams are neither the cause nor the trigger of the pollution, but are only to be regarded as frequent accompanying circumstances , since not every pollution has to be accompanied by an erotic dream. Very often the sleep is not interrupted by the pollution and the person concerned only recognizes later that he has had pollution from more or less dried sperm stains.

causes

Since, under healthy conditions, every male orgasm - whether after conscious sexual stimulation up to the climax while awake or involuntarily during sleep - always includes the muscle contractions in the area that are necessary for possible ejaculation (in the general sense of "effusion with or without semen") of the pelvic floor and the accessory sex organs , the question of the cause and / or purpose of pollutions is ultimately the question of the cause and / or purpose of involuntary orgasms during sleep.

With regard to the cause or the triggering of pollutions, several theoretical approaches have been formulated so far .

Seed accumulation theory

According to this theory, the body gets rid of the accumulated sperm through an involuntary orgasm and ejaculation , which cannot be eliminated by the body's own degradation function alone.

Teratozoospermia Avoidance Theory

RJ Levin (1975) also formulated the hypothesis that the purpose of pollutions could be to avoid teratozoospermia (poor sperm analysis ; only 15% of sperm cells have normal morphology ).

time

Normal nocturnal sleep pattern with REM phases

Pollutions usually occur at irregular intervals at night during the REM sleep phase (dream phase), when, according to previous views, the sperm produced by the testes and matured in the epididymis together with secretions from the testes, epididymis and the so-called accessory sex glands, i.e. the vas deferens ampulla ( Ampulla ductus deferentis ), seminal vesicular gland ( glandula vesicularis ), prostate ( prostate ) and bulbourethral gland ( glandula bulbourethralis ) have not been expelled through sexual intercourse or masturbation with orgasm over a longer period of time (a few days to weeks) .

As already briefly mentioned under “Linguistic Aspect”, pollution can also occur during the day during restful sleep.

First occurrence:
According to the usual definition and the assumption that the male body primarily gets rid of accumulated sperm when it is polluted, pollution can only occur in the course of puberty, when the testicles have started to form sperm (sperm arche). Before puberty, at most secretions are formed, but no sperm, which logically means that before puberty during sexual activity at most occasionally a wet orgasm with expulsion of secretions from the testes, epididymis and the accessory sex glands without sperm, but no ejaculation ( in the sense of "ejaculation") or pollution.

frequency

The occurrence of pollution is indirectly controlled by the activity of the endocrine glands , as the endocrine system has a strong influence on the function of the sexual organs . A study has shown a connection between an increase in testosterone levels and an increase in the frequency of pollution. The activity of the hormonal system is also dependent on the effects on the sensory stimuli. The strength and duration of the environmental stimuli on the senses also have an indirect influence on pollution or the frequency of occurrence of this event. This pollution frequency is therefore dependent both on the individually different parameters of the level of development or the expression of the primary and secondary sexual characteristics and, according to the "seminal theory", of the body's own old sperm breakdown function, as well as on a different stimulation by sexual environmental stimuli, which also affects them more or less every day can have a strong effect on those who are sexually less active or even celibate, but are still susceptible to such stimuli due to their sexual orientation.

Definition of terms

Orgasms with ejaculation that are triggered by sexual fantasies or daydreams (doze off) or by other directly absorbed sexual sensory stimuli without further active activity are not referred to as pollution in the narrower sense, since the waking consciousness is not uninvolved and thus its own waking activity is also given Basically there is no involuntary behavior.

Polluarche

The first pollution of a boy is also called Polluarche ( Latin - Old Greek for about "first defilement" ; from Old Greek arche for " beginning " or " origin "), or Pollarche. As the terms accordingly formed for first-time events menarche , Erektarche , Sexarche , Masturbarche , Orga Marche , Adrenarche , Prostatarche , pubarche , thelarche , Gonadarche , Ovularche , spermarche , Ejakularche and Coitarche , some of which are only occasionally in use, the term predominantly today only still used in sexology or medicine.

In all healthy male adolescents, ejakularche and spermarche occur during puberty , ie the first ejaculation (in the sense of "ejaculation"); either with an orgasm triggered by sexual activity or - if this does not happen for a long enough time - with polluarche. Some studies have shown that only around 13 percent of all examined pubescent people experienced a first ejaculation as a nocturnal pollution.

However, there are very different figures in different countries and cultures about the percentage of male children who are sexually active before or during puberty.

The polluarche is an ejaculation that takes place during sleep and is not triggered by conscious stimulation. This event is therefore a sign of the onset of sexual maturity or fertility. In this indicative function, the polluarche is the “male equivalent” of menarche and the mostly much later ovularche (first-time ovulation ), which indicate that a girl has reached sexual maturity. Physiologically, however , first-time menstruation , first-time ovulation, and first-time involuntary or induced ejaculation of sperm are different phenomena. For the polluarche, according to the previous view, a sufficiently long abstinence is a condition, for the ejakularche (in the sense of first effusion with or without semen), menarche and ovularche there is no such condition.

Moral aspect

Since pollution occurs involuntarily in bedclothes or in clothing worn during sleep, the process was referred to in Latin as soiling or as first soiling . At that time, however, the Romans did not consider such an event to be morally reprehensible.

According to EJ Haeberle , 1983, there are indications of the possible root of a moral condemnation of pollution within Christian-Western culture , rather from the Jewish-Hebrew culture. According to Book of 5 Moses (Deuteronomy), 23, 10–12 ( Old Testament ); according to different numbering: Deuteronomy, 23, 11–13; a man had to stay away from the community after a pollution (" encounter of the night ") until he had undergone a ritual bath for cleansing the following evening . Thus, unwanted ejaculation during sleep was viewed as an impurity that excluded the person from the community of men until it was cleansed. Other biblical passages such as Leviticus 15, 16-18 and 22, 4-6 can also be interpreted in this sense. In the Latin hymn Te lucis ante terminum , in the Komplet of Breviers is sung, the 2nd verse ( "ne polluantur Corpora") refers to the ritual impurity through the pollutio nocturnal .

Especially in countries belonging to the Middle Eastern culture such as India and Sri Lanka , the fearful notion that people lose their vital energy when they expel seeds can still be found today. Every ejaculation and thus also a pollution is viewed as a loss of vitality or health and a preservation of the same is taught within the framework of tantric techniques - see also Dhat Syndrome . Scientists today interpret this phenomenon as a culturally conditioned sexual neurosis of the Indian subcontinent.

Possible problems

Ejaculation during sleep is a harmless event without any disease value , which for this reason - provided that appropriate information is provided - is rarely even discussed in medical practice by urologists or general practitioners.

According to the special conditions of puberty, however, pollution can pose a problem for a young person if it is even perceived as such and not misinterpreted as bed-wetting and thus gives rise to corresponding feelings of shame and inferiority . In this way, disabled adolescents need sex education when they believe they have “gone to bed” even though they actually had an involuntary ejaculation. However, here too there is no reliable information available on any problems or misunderstandings that may arise.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ HU-Berlin; Archive for Sexual Science / Erwin J. Haeberle: Glossary: ​​Improper "technical terms" ; Letter "N": Nocturnal pollution.
  2. ↑ a b Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexology: Orgasm in Sleep. On www.sexarchive.info (Erwin J. Haeberle: Die Sexualität des Menschen. Handbook and Atlas:) ; last accessed on May 22, 2014.
  3. ↑ Humboldt University Berlin, Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexual Science: Growing Up Sexually, The Sexual Curriculum (Oct., 2002), Section 18: The Pollution Enigma. ( Memento from May 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ WD Keidel: Brief textbook of physiology. 2nd edition, Thieme, Stuttgart 1970, p. 205.
  5. ↑ a b c d Humboldt University Berlin, Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexual Science: Growing Up Sexually, The Sexual Curriculum (Oct., 2002), Section 16: Prespermarchic Ejaculation? On "Prostatarche" ( Memento from May 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ William E. Hartman, Marilyn A. Fithian: Ejaculation . On: www.sexarchive.info (Erwin J. Haeberle (Ed.): Human Sexuality: An Encyclopedia. / Archive for Sexual Science); last accessed on May 22, 2014.
  7. ↑ a b R. J. Levin: Masturbation and nocturnal emissions-possible mechanisms for minimizing teratozoospermie and hyperpermie in man. In: Med Hypoth. 1975, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 130-131.
  8. ↑ JW Finkelstein et al .: Effects of Estrogen or Testosterone on Self-Reported Sexual Responses and Behaviors in Hypogonadal Adolescents. In: The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism . Vol. 83, No. 7, pp. 2281-2285.
  9. ^ A. Boeger: Body image in adolescence: a comparative study of healthy and chronically ill adolescents. In: Practice of child psychology and child psychiatry. April 1994, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 119-125, PMID 8016021 .
  10. ↑ Humboldt University Berlin, Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexual Science: Growing Up Sexually, The Sexual Curriculum (Oct., 2002), Section: Notes. No. 15. ( Memento of May 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ B. Burany et al .: Time factors and trends in the onset of the menarche, sex maturation and experience of orgasm in a questionnaire administered to 971 women in Vojvodina. In: Jugoslavenska ginekologija i perinatologija. (Yugosl Ginekol Perinatol) Jan.-Apr. 1990, Vol. 30, No. 1-2, pp. 51-54, PMID 2214855 .
  12. ↑ Humboldt University Berlin, Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexual Science, DF Janssen: Growing Up Sexually, The Sexual Curriculum (Oct., 2002), The Sexual Curriculum: The Manufacture and Performance of Pre-Adult Sexualities. ( Memento from May 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  13. ^ National Library of Medicine - Medical Subject Headings: Adrenarche.
  14. ^ Roger JR Levesque: Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, New York 2012, ISBN 978-1-4419-1694-5 , p. 1196: Gonadarche . ( on google books ).
  15. ↑ Frank M. Biro, Bin Huang, Anne W. Lucky: Gonadarche and Pubarche in Girls: What Represents the Onset of Puberty ?. In: Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Vol. 19, No. 2, 2006, pp. 137-138, doi : 10.1016 / j.jpag.2006.01.023 .
  16. ^ Phillip V. Tobias: Images of Humanity: The Selected Writings of Phillip V. Tobias. Ashanti Publications, Rivonia 1991, ISBN 978-1-874800-23-1 , p. 306.
  17. ↑ EA Baanders-van-Halewjin, F. de Waard: Mentrual cycles shortly after menarche in European and Bantu girls. In: Human Biology. 1968, B. 40, pp. 314-322.
  18. ^ Humboldt University Berlin, Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexual Science, DF Janssen: Growing Up Sexually, The Sexual Curriculum (Oct., 2002), Section 6: Coitality, Koitomimesis and Coitarche. Constructing "The" Sexual Act. ( Memento from April 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  19. ↑ Markus Reder; Andreas Lehofer, Werner Stangl: Development in Adolescence - Physical Development in Pre-puberty ( Memento of the original from 23 August 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / paedpsych.jk.uni-linz.ac.at archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . On: paedpsych.jk.uni-linz.ac.at from the University of Linz 1997, last accessed on May 22, 2014.
  20. ↑ Humboldt University Berlin, Magnus-Hirschfeld-Archiv für Sexualwissenschaft, DF Janssen: Growing Up Sexually, The Sexual Curriculum (Oct., 2002), Section 8: Frequency: Numeric Studies. ( Memento from May 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  21. ↑ 5 Mos 23.10 to 12  new
  22. ↑ 3 Mos 15 : 16-18  EU
  23. ↑ 3 Mos 22.4-6  EU
  24. ↑ Andreas Weckwerth: Ne polluantur corpora: The fear of ritual defilement in Komplethymnus Te lucis ante terminum . In: Roman quarterly . tape 111 , no. 1/2 , 2016, p. 50 .
  25. ↑ Joachim Walter: Sexuality and mental handicap. On: bidok.uibk.ac.at (bidok - handicap inclusion documentation) from 1994; last accessed on August 20, 2015.