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How Does Stress Affect Your Sex Life?

How Does Stress Affect Your Sex Life

Sex is a great way to relieve stress; but on the contrary, stress can prevent us from “getting in the mood” for sex.

Being stressed is already horrible, and not being able to have great sex makes it even worse.

Lower Libido

Stress makes the body release more cortisol, the hormone often associated with the stress response. If there’s too much cortisol for a long period of time, it can suppress the sex hormones. Too little sex hormones lead to lower libido.

Men can have a difficult time getting and maintaining an erection when they’re stressed, while women can have difficulty focusing on the moment, getting aroused, and reaching orgasm.

Contribute To Lower Self-Esteem

Stress hormones can also affect metabolism. When this happens, the body may experience weight fluctuations. You might not feel good in your body when you start noticing negative changes.

Your face can also tell when you’re stressed. You become more prone to wrinkles, fine lines, acne, and eye bags because of stress. These things can make you less confident in yourself.

When stress and its effects start showing through your body, your self-esteem can get lower and make you want to avoid sex for a while.

Makes You Snap Easier

You’re more likely to be irritable and have short patience when you’re stressed. It’s faster for you to snap even over the smallest things, and it can totally prevent you from getting in the right mood for sex.

Makes You Have Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms (That Can Also Be Bad For Sex)

A lot of people turn to coping mechanisms when they’re stressed, and alcohol and cigarettes are just some of them.

Alcohol can get you in the mood for sex, but a stressed person may get overboard and drink excessively. Aside from having sex is a really bad idea when you’re drunk, too much alcohol can also dull sex and make it less pleasurable. It also dehydrates the body, which makes lubrication scarce and sex uncomfortable. To add to that, beer belly is a real thing and alcohol seriously makes it big!

Cigarettes have always been known to damage your health in many ways. One of its possible damages is erectile dysfunction. Smoking can hinder good blood circulation all over the body including the penis, and make it difficult to erect and maintain an erection.

Mess With Hormones And Menstrual Cycle

Stress also has an impact on the pituitary gland, which controls the ovaries. When the ovaries aren’t functioning properly, the menstrual cycle starts getting affected too. It can lead to irregular menstruation or completely stop menstruation. This can be frustrating, especially for those who are trying to get pregnant.

If you’ve found yourself getting too swamped with stress lately, it’s a good idea to look for relaxing activities such as exercise, a warm bath, or masturbation (yes, masturbation). Talk to your partner about it too, and get intimate with each other to bring back the sparks!

Sources:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sex-and-stress_b_2463558

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-the-mind-heals-the-body/201412/the-stress-sex-connection

https://www.self.com/story/how-stress-affects-sex-life?verso=true

https://time.com/4408977/erectile-dysfunction-quit-smoking/

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