SHOULD wank breaks become the new smoke breaks?

Yes, according to some psychologists. Mark Sergeant, a senior lecturer in psychology at Nottingham Trent University, told Metro.co.uk that a masturbation break would be “very effective at work” and a “great way to relieve tension and stress”.

Psychologist and life coach Dr Cliff Arnall agreed. “I would expect a masturbation policy to result in more focus, less aggression, higher productivity, and more smiling,” he told Metro. “Certainly taking a masturbation break for boredom or an escape would increase work focus.”

It comes after a recent survey by Time Out New York found 39 per cent of male readers reported masturbating in the office, after an earlier poll by Glamour in 2012 put that figure at 31 per cent of workers.

According to Dr Arnall, however, masturbation breaks shouldn’t be driven by lust or fantasising about a colleague as this would “likely result in cognitive impairment”. Such breaks should only be taken if they’re motivated by a genuine desire for stress relief.

And Dr Sergeant warned that “introducing any form of sexual behaviour to a workplace could be seen as a slippery slope that makes people think that other forms of sexual behaviour, such as those linked to harassment, are more acceptable”.

Discussion around work masturbation has been raised in recent weeks following an article by Ravishly, which argued far from masturbation being the “new” smoke break, “it has been for a long time”.

“[For] every 52 minutes spent on the job, workers should be allowed to have 17 minutes off the clock, in order to maximise their productivity,” Ravishly wrote.

“Because you can always grab a coffee or a cigarette instead, masturbation has remained an outre form of getting that added boost you need to power through your work day. However, there are signs that the stigma against fapping at the office might be slipping.

“This year, the company Hot Octopuss debuted ‘masturbation booths’ across New York City to give men a public place to ‘relieve stress’. Instead of reacting with disgust, women wanted to know where their masturbatoriums were. Why should men have all the fun?”

In response to the Time Out masturbation survey, Vice interviewed a number of workers, both men and women, who admitted to the practice.

“Back when I worked a true nine-to-five at a law firm I would look for any reason to escape to the bathroom for 15 minutes to get a break from filing papers,” one worker told Vice. “Jerking off is a really good way to spend 15 minutes, and sometimes it ended up being the highlight of my day.”

Another woman said that she felt justified masturbating at the office after watching The Wolf of Wall Street, in which Matthew McConaughey’s stockbroker character claims he masturbates daily after lunch.

But another woman who said she masturbated as an “act of rebellion” issued a word of caution. “Not because of morals or propriety or whatever, but because masturbation isn’t something you want to do hastily at the same place you hate going to every day,” she said.