Can Stress Hinder Your Sex Life?

There’s a two-way connection between stress and sex. While it has been proven that sex can be a good stress buster, the reverse is true too. Someone who is stressed may not be able to enjoy happy sex life. Delving deeper into the subject you can find that sex has a lot of ramifications and many physiological aspects that are often overlooked. It is a well-known fact that people who are stressed have a poor sex life and some of the reasons for the same are listed hereunder:

1. Overall lifestyle: A person who is stressed obviously has a poor lifestyle. There could be harmful effects of binge eating, smoking, excessive drinking all of which can affect a person’s wellbeing. So, when a person is stressed and has such a poor lifestyle, there cannot be a healthy sex life. Also, these lifestyle changes leave a person with a poor image – both physically and emotionally. While physically the person could be obese and have low physical appeal, the emotional aspects can also take a toll on their sex life. The person may have a low self-image, poor esteem, and be anxious or depressed. There could be frequent outbursts, temper tantrums, and fits of rage all of which do not create a happy and peaceful environment which is so essential for happy sex life. All this leads to a poor personality, which on the other hand affects sex life.
2. Hormonal changes: These chemicals, which are present in small amounts, determine almost all actions of the body, including sex life. A happy person secretes more of serotonin which contributes to a happy feeling. When a person is stressed, the secretion of this hormone gets reduced. Also, the secretion of pituitary hormone is reduced to smaller amounts. The pituitary hormone, known as a master hormone, is essential for the proper functioning of all the other hormones. Thus, Sex hormones, testosterone, and estrogen are not produced adequately, leading to sexual problems like erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation, leading to poor sex life. Other key hormones like thyroid and adrenals are also affected, which have a great effect on ovulation, fertility, and sperm production.
3. Circulation: Sex requires a good blood supply. Stress causes vasoconstriction, which sort of reduces blood supply to any part. Therefore, those who are stressed have a poor sex life.
4. Social effects: When we look around, it is common to see people who are stressed to have poor social relationships in terms of friends and family relationships. There could be issues relating to trust and love and there could be unhealthy relationships like infidelity and lack of freedom. These again, due to stress, can lead to poor sex life.

So, if you intend to have a better sex life, work on stress management. A good relationship can further help reduce stress levels.