4 Side Effects Of Not Having Sex & How It Affects Your Body

There can be many reasons why your sex life has come to a pause including breakups, frequent travels, medication that affect your desire, long-distance relationships. You might not realize how important sex actually is for you to maintain your overall health.

If your break from sex goes on for a long time then it can start affecting your physical as well as your mental health. Although there is no set time and different things work for different people, it is you who needs to understand your body and figure out what works for you.

Here are 4 ways your abstinence might affect your body.

Anxiety & Stress

Sex helps you blow a lot of steam and it has been found that people who abstained from sex struggled to cope up in stressful situations compared to those people who had intercourse at least once in a two week period.

Your brain releases a number of feel good chemicals during sex like endorphins and oxytocin, which make you feel relaxed and at ease. It’s not just partnered sex that leads to the release of these happy chemicals, masturbation has the same effect as well although a little lesser than partnered sex.

Common colds become more common

While on one hand you may reduce the exposure to germs if you have less sex, having regular intercourse gives your immune system a boost. According to studies people who had sex two to three times a week saw a 30% boost in their IgA and overall energy compared to those who almost never had sex. IgA is an infection fighting agent present in the body and is usually the first defense against viruses associated with the common cold. Which is why if you have taken a break from sex then you are going to need a lot of tissues around.

Relationship & Insecurities

Having sex regularly increases the chances of you being in a happy mood and relationship security as well. A sexless marriage delivers a hit to your self esteem, increases guilt and decreases the level of bonding hormones and oxytocin in the body. Although a sexless marriage need not really be a sad relationship. It is an expression of intimacy and not even for all couples. Some couples take part in other forms of intimacy to stay emotionally connected.

Arousal takes longer

One of the easiest ways to boost your libido is to actually just have more sex. Increased physical intimacy will help you feel more connected to your partner so when you stop having sex your desire takes a back seat as well. If it isn’t happening naturally, schedule some time for yourself or with your partner perhaps a date night.