self-abuse

n. a euphemism for masturbation. The term apparently evolved from an attempt by certain 18th-century religious and medical writers to identify masturbation as “the sin of Onan” (see onanism) and to substantiate unscientific claims that a number of disorders (e.g., blindness, intellectual disability) were produced by masturbation.

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Psychology term of the day

May 9th 2024

Hering–Breuer reflex

a nervous mechanism involved in normal breathing, with stimuli from sensory endings in lung tissue limiting inspiration and expiration. [Ewald Hering; Josef Breuer]