Have you noticed that how you feel affects your sexuality most times? And how sex altered your mood because you were expecting but got less? This could go on and on but the simple point here is that there exists a nexus between your mental health and your sexual life.
Sex is not just about penetrations and arousal – it’s much more. It is a reflection of how you feel, your mood, your desire to get intimate, and all.
However, let’s examine what constitutes sex and mental health before the nexus is examined
Sex and mental health
Everyone knows what sex is. It’s all about sexual intimacy between two partners who consent mutually. It entails the penetration of the woman’s reproductive organ (vagina) by the male reproductive organ (penis) for procreation or fun. However, this is the stereotyped definition of sex as we know it. In modern terms, the concept connotes a lot of things as it is defined by individual sexual proclivities. To some, sex entails every kind of penetration whether oral, vaginal, or anal. It’s a war of definition among the straights, bisexual or gay. By and large, it is used to expressed love and amorous feelings. Also, it is intended for procreation.
Mental health on the other hand has to do with how you perceive yourself and others around you, it’s the spectacle with which you view the world. Properly defined, it is the state of wellbeing in which an individual realizes his or her abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and can make a contribution to his or her community. Mental health also means being sane; in fact, the fact holds that there is no health without mental health. it connotes the ability to make a rational decision about life and circumstance as they come your way in life. Mental wholesomeness is different from mental disorders which are characterized by depression, anxiety, fear, confusion, delirium, and acute madness.
The nexus between sex and mental health
Sex can affect mental health and vice versa as said earlier. Let’s quickly consider the effect of mental disorders on sexual life.
Depression
It is no gainsaying that mental disorders or illnesses can affect one’s sexual life. For instance, anyone suffering from depression finds it difficult to engage in sex and other sex-related activities. They are withdrawn from life and at some point begin to lose the meaning of what sex entails. Depression can weaken sex drive in anyone and the long run can result in actual detestation of what sex stands for or represents.
Anxiety and stress
Other mental health issues such as anxiety or eating disorder can also impact negatively on sexual life. Characteristics of these mental issues are low self-esteem, lack of confidence in oneself, fatigue, withdrawal from loved ones, and a decrease in sexual interest.
Bipolar disorders
Furthermore, other mental problems like bipolar disorder also affect sexuality negatively. It could lead to hypersexuality, a case of exhibition irrational sexual behavior. Such people could masturbate excessively, become sex perverts, participate in sexual orgies, and all.
On the other hand, the following are mental benefits of sex:
- Sexual feeling helps to relieve stress: Just like orgasm with oneself can relieve stress, so also physical arousal and touching with a partner can help to relieve stress
- Improvement in sleep patterns: sex helps one to sleep better, hence, it can help people living with depression and other forms of sexual disorders to ease up and sleep sound
- Sexual excitements, arousal, physical touching, caressing, and all releases dopamine which helps to relieve stress also consume the feeling of sadness at least for the time being.
- A healthy sexual life helps communication between partners and also lowers the risk of anxiety and depression
- It boasts a feeling of self-confidence in one and feels one with a burst of excitement.
Also, sex can affect mental health negatively in the following ways:
Premature ejaculation in men can lead to anxiety and depression: men see their ability to perform as their ego as such, the inability to last long on a woman sends cold chills to the spine. No man likes to be seen as a one-minute man. This can affect a man’s mental health.
Also, cases of erectile dysfunction can impact a man’s mental health. Someone who used to enjoy sex but stops all of a sudden because of some problems could be mentally devastating.
Painful intercourse in a woman also can impair their mental health as it can lead to anxiety.
