I think it can be true for a subset of people.
Personally, I fap 3-9x per week, and I'm on my second first author publication and I'm a 2nd year PhD student. My love of organic chemistry vastly exceeds everything else and drives me to achieve things. When I or my gf visit each other, I get all my sexual needs out of the way for the next 1-2 weeks or so, at which point I resume fapping.
Certainly, if you don't have a strong stimulating/fulfilling driving force, tapping can have the cited negative effects.
