Sexual Health Community

I'm an 18 year old male virgin, and I think I have been addicted to masturbation for a while now. I know that masturbation is normal and all that, but I think there's a limit to how much you should do and I think i've crossed it. I started masturbating at 13 and it used to be occasional. As time went on, it would turn into once a day, and then multiple times a day. Now I masturbate anywhere from three to as many as eight times a day. And it has negatively affected my life for some time now. Whenever I get the urge to masturbate I just can't resist. I'll admit I've wanted to do it in public before, so I've gone into the restroom and done it there before, and sometimes I would even lock the door once it was empty so no one else could get in and I could have the big area to myself and not worry about getting caught. There have also been times where I've gotten so wrapped up in masturbation that I've been late to school. Masturbating used to be a fun release for me, but now it's just something hanging over my head. There have been times when I've wanted to masturbate but I was in a situation where I wasn't able to, and it caused me to be distracted and annoyed. Now whenever I get the urge to masturbate I wish I could stop myself, but I just end up masturbating anyway, sometimes without realizing it until after I've already started. It used to feel great to have an orgasm, but now I don't get a rush from it at all. And after I'm done I feel empty, guilty and gross. I've done it to the point that my penis has hurt because of doing it too much. I also feel like I dont have enough energy if I don't masturbate often enough, and I can barely get out of bed without having to masturbate first. I realize that this is a big problem in my life. I've tried to stop or cut back several times before, but none of those times worked and I just end up getting worse. I don't want to completely stop, but I just don't want masturbation to keep dangling over my head anymore. I would honestly rather not have to talk to a therapist or something if I don't have to, but I need to do something to fix this problem. It is causing me to not be as focused on things as I should be, keeping me from trying to develop a relationship and making me feel like an outcast. All I know is I desperately need help before masturbation completely ruins my life.