The Stress-Sex Connection

A study in the International Journal of Clinical Practice showed how high stress levels can negatively impact sexual hankering, arousal and satisfaction.

When stressed in life, the body releases a hormone called cortisol (stress hormone). Over a period of sustained stress, increased production of cortisol cause lead to weight gain, suppressed immunity, hypertension and a host of health issues. Here we explore how this cause impact your sexual functioning at various type of levels.

Health risks

Excessive production of cortisol cause lead to weight gain around the abdomen, and finally leading to obesity. Stress affected your metabolism, which place you at a high risk of metabolic disorders like diabetes. In addition to poor glycemic control, long-term stress is being increases the risk of complications like hypertension, which can lead to poor libido. Furthermore, medicines used to treat these chronic conditions can also affect sexual performance. In the time of long run, these medications can also increase the risk of erectile dysfunction or ED.

Smoking and drinking

In the world many people try to cope with stress by smoking and drinking. As per a study of medical published in the Journal Andrologia, 20% of all American men and up to 52% of them aged 40–70 years tolerate from varying degrees of Erectile Dysfunction due to smoking.

A study can shows that men with alcohol dependency had sexual dysfunction.

Fertility

Long time of stress can affect the functioning of the pituitary gland, which releases hormones that mastery the functioning of the thyroid gland, adrenal glands and ovaries.

In men, stress can lead to decrease the amount of sperm count, motility and morphology, which are associated with infertility.

In women, stress can lead to no ovulation, amenorrhea (absence of periods) and affect the production of hormones. Due to reason of irregular menstrual cycle and hormonal imbalance, ovaries tend to under-perform, which interferes with the exemption of the egg, leading to infertility.

Body image

In the studies show that women are particularly jade to body image concerns and problems with sexual functioning including arousal, desire and orgasm. The changes in sexual functioning right of to body image issues are associated with psychological distress, lower self-esteem, stress, anxiety and depression.

Tips to prevent stress from ruining your sex life

Given the current scenario, it is difficult to avoid stress but couples can cope with stress-induced relationship issues explicit with these tips.

Frequency: According to a study of medical, people who had sex at least two times a week showed an increased level of immunoglobulin’s or antibodies, which is called boost immunity. So having sex again and again can not only help a person fight stress but also improve immunity.

Communication: Talk to your partner to improve the experience about sex. Make it a point to pries each other as it can be help your partner to overcome self-doubt and have a healthy body image.

Lifestyle changes: In addition to having a healthy diet and exercising and gym regularly, it is important to limit intake or quit of alcohol and quit smoking.

Counselling: If stress is worsening body image issues or severely affecting the sexual intercouse, then you could seek medical help.