By Dr. Sharath Kumar C , Sexology
Stress stemming from negative events (distress) tends to take a toll on your sex life. When you are dealing with distress, it is difficult to cope with whatever is happening on the sexual front, which is why you tend to lose focus and end up making things worse.
Listed below are a few ways in which stress might just mar all the fun and passion:
- Stress can affect your libido: Cortisol is a hormone that is secreted in the body during conditions of immense stress. Cortisol, when released in huge quantities due to chronic stress, can suppress sex hormones. This results in low libido and thus, lesser willingness to have sex. Thus, stress can reduce your sexual energy and in prolonged cases, kill it.
- Stress can make you question your relationship/partner: Stress can turn the most jovial of people into monsters because there’s more on their mind than they can manage. However, the release of too much cortisol can also cause hormonal imbalances which lead to a negative mental perception of oneself and people around. In the worst case scenarios, it can also make you question your choices pertaining to your partner and relationship.
- Can cause premature ejaculation in males: Stress can cause premature ejaculation in men. This can result in dissatisfaction of both the partners as they both would have wanted to go on for longer.
- Can cause problems in getting an erection: An erection is achieved through mental and physical stimulation; however, if your mind is preoccupied with other events which are stressful, it is very difficult to achieve mental stimulation. This might cause problems with getting an erection in men and without an erection, intercourse isn’t possible.
- In women, it can cause complications in getting an orgasm: For women, sex is an immensely emotional process which can be greatly affected by sex. If the woman’s mind is distracted by other troublesome affairs, it might tamper with her orgasms. Without an orgasm, you might not be completely satisfied which definitely affects your sex life in a huge way.
