How can I stop masturbation forever? Could it be an addiction as well?

It is extremely difficult to go from doing something to not doing it at all. It really comes down to baby steps. And even these baby steps can take a long time and be hard to achieve. Set up smaller goals and work your way up from there. For example, if you are currently doing it daily, you can try to move it to every other day. Then twice a week. Then once a week. Then every other week, and so on until you have eventually achieved your overall goal. During this process, it is important to be kind and compassionate with yourself. There will be times that you may not achieve that week's goal and that is okay! I have also heard that some people use mindfulness as a tool to control the urges.

Masturbation is a pleasurable activity, so it very much can become an addiction and have a serious impact on people's lives and their social relationships. Masturbation, when done in moderation, is perfectly healthy and normal to do. But anything can be taken to the extreme. It's likely that you are using masturbation as a coping mechanism for something else in your life. Maybe you find it to be a good distraction when things are getting tough for you in your personal life, kind of like how people go for a cigarette or overeat when they're stressed. The key is to find what triggers the need to masturbate for stress relief. Ideally, it would be best to get some support from a therapist if possible but I'm sure there are resources online that can help you with this issue. All the best!

You can be addicted to masturbation, yes. Technically a person could be addicted to anything or any activity in the world. Addiction just means you have compulsive behavior (i.e. something you can't control doing) that causes you a negative consequence (which can include negative emotions). That being said, masturbation is completely natural and nothing to be ashamed of. If you are concerned about feeling of shame or embarrassment, perhaps you could consider talking to a Listener or a trained sexual health therapist to help you work through those feelings. Just remember that something is only an addiction if you are experiencing negative consequences from doing something but can't stop. If these negative consequences are only emotional, it may help to attempt to evaluate your mindset about what part of it is negative. Does masturbation cause you to miss work or get injured? Are there any external negative impacts on your life? What do you enjoy about masturbating? Are there any past experiences that may be negatively impacting your experience (e.g. maybe your mom walked in and it made you feel ashamed), which you might need to talk out with someone to move on from? Going through all of these could help you decide whether you want/need to stop masturbating. I do think that you could benefit from sex therapy if you do decide that you want to stop, and they can help you create a plan to do so in a shame-free environment.