[NSFW] Does masturbation keep your sexual impulses in check?

I asked a question about feelings about masturbation, and one person mentioned it helped keep their sexual impulses in check. This was a surprising idea to me because it never seems to keep my sexual impulses in check.

Do you experience some kind of substitution effect and if so, what, precisely, are you substituting for? Can masturbation stand in for the real thing, whatever that is? Do you use it to try to keep from pestering ever attractive person you see for sex? Do you use it to keep from going crazy when your spouse is away? Or is it something you do in addition to any other sexual activity, and the two have nothing to do with each other?

Sex with a person… I don’t see how masturbation could substitute for that. It seems like a completely different thing. It would be really nice if it did substitute. I think my life would be a hell of a lot easier.