Does sex provide you any relief from Anxiety/Depression

Does sex provide you any relief from Anxiety/Depression

  • Yes

    Votes: 16 39.0%
  • No

    Votes: 18 43.9%
  • Can't say !

    Votes: 7 17.1%

  • Total voters
    41

razzle dazzle rose

Well-known member
Well, it's very good for the soul, and your partner.

I say - more sex, better health benefits - temporary relief my ass - sex has long term, long standing benefits.

Yeah, I don't see what can be wrong with it. Unless it is like sex addiction or something. In the context of a loving relationship, it is the best thing. Something positive and pleasurable. I can always use more of those things.
 

coyote

Well-known member
i don't experience a "letdown"

on the contrary, a satisfying sexual encounter can leave me energized and motivated all week
 

bcsr

Well-known member
i don't experience a "letdown"

on the contrary, a satisfying sexual encounter can leave me energized and motivated all week

I wouldn't say all week, but I always feel much more energetic and alert after sex. I'm never tired afterwards. It's very similar to the "high" I get after a workout.

But again, it's different for everyone. Some people have intimacy issues, in which case, a sexual experience might simply cause more anxiety.
 

KiaKaha

Banned
i don't experience a "letdown"

on the contrary, a satisfying sexual encounter can leave me energized and motivated all week

I can't say that I experience a let down either.
I think sex is probably one of the most personal and intimate things about a person and the variables are far too high for any kind of generalization -as illustrated by the high variance in answers. Depending on any number of factors either sex can make you feel even more anxious/depressed or it can make you feel energized and vibrant - or anything in between. Luckily for me nearly all of my sexual encounters have been positive and fulfilling. It's everything else I seem to not have a lot of luck with.
 

awkwardamanda

Well-known member
Well, two-person sex just doesn't happen. As for solo sex...well, it can ease tension and calm me down, but I have to be in the right frame of mind to begin with. If I'm depressed, I don't have much of a sex drive. But at times, I've felt both depressed and aroused at the same time and it is one of the most F-ed up things I've ever experienced. Sometimes I get depressed afterwards, even if it's enjoyable during the act. I just feel miserable and sort of guilty. Not that I think it's immoral or anything. Just guilty for giving into biological urges. I find sexual and romantic needs, and attraction in general to be sort of a nuisance. I wish could just block all that sometimes.:sad:


I find the act itself very enjoyable and yes, it does feel relieving....
... but the worrying about being pregnant (despite using protection) just brings on more anxiety for the next couple of weeks :p

That freaks me out too. One advantage of being single. I don't ever want to get pregnant. I don't think I could ever trust only one form of contraceptive. I worry that if I ever get married (which is unlikely anyway), most guys wouldn't be thrilled about using condoms indefinitely.
 

mixedupgirl

Well-known member
I don't know that I agree that people wouldn't want to have sex, after all, you're treated to a massive surge in dopamine. You experience similar processes with something as simple as sugar, that causes a massive crash but people still eat sugar. Anything that involves activating the body's dopamine reward cycle has the potential to cause depression.

This isn't the article I originally read, but it's similar: Your Brain On Sex | Reuniting

Exerpt: "...you have many dopamine-raising possibilities—from Internet porn, gambling and alcohol, to the dopamine agonists drug companies are producing to light a fire under slumbering libidos (not recommended, due to risky side effects). These "fixes" make you feel better briefly, but as far as your well-being goes, they are like eating junk food—a net loss. As biologist Robert Sapolsky observed, there is a price for blasting our reward circuitry too enthusiastically in our efforts to counter the blues.

Unnaturally strong explosions of synthetic experience and sensation and pleasure evoke unnaturally strong degrees of habituation.... Our tragedy is that we just become hungrier." In short, there are advantages to steering for equilibrium initially, rather than always reaching for more stimulation to cope.

Your limbic system is not equipped to understand that there can be too much of a good thing. It just keeps rewarding you to do the same unrewarding things because they register as things that once served your ancestors. A "fix" just positions you for a continuous addictive cycle of highs, more lows, and a search for more highs. Many of us spend much of our sex lives caught in this cycle—with no obvious way out."





Agreed!


Personally I've never experienced any come down from sex i always feel quite the opposite after....really happy. :) Maybe it does depend who your havin sex with or maybe just certain people are more prone to feeling like that. When I've had discussions of sex with people in the past I've never heard anyone mention feeling down or depressed afterwards either....so that's why I think it could be more the minority but maybe we should do a poll on here it'd be interesting to see how many people actually do feel like that after.

Oh however I do sometimes feel quite tired after eatin sugary foods or junk food but that normally depends on how much I consume and even just a big hearty meal can make me feel tired. But again I don't feel down or depressed after eating sugary foods etc.

That article was an interesting read, thanks for the link. :thumbup:
 
Plenty of freakish sex with Lindsay Lohan or Mary Elizabeth Winstead would greatly help and/or cure my depression completely! :thumbup:
 
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