STRESS CAN CAUSE SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION

Stress Can Cause Sexual Dysfunction Nathaniel Chaney April 18, 2013

2 Stress Can Cause Sexual Dysfunction Do you ever think about sex when youre pissed off, or when your day is full of stress are you going home to light candles to get in the mood? With todays faced paced society full of stress, busy schedules, and meeting deadlines, we have to be careful because it can affect our sex. Stress needs to be clearly understood, because its not meant to be a bad thing. A man can have his sexual performance altered because of stress. It is a fact though that too much stress can seriously disrupt the libido of a woman. Stress can cause sexual dysfunctions among men, and women. We have to take the proper steps to keep stress levels low. With the rise in technology, that technology has produced amazing aids for improving sex in these situations. There are also sexual thereapists who are at the ready to help in thses situations. In the end communication, and honesty is the key. We have to be strong enough to talk about our stress, and sex. What is stress? The stress response in the bodys way of protecting you by alerting you something is wrong. Good stress keeps you alert, focused and full of energy. Stress is that extra push your body gives you when you need to stay up late to finish a paper. Stress is what gives an athlete that extra energy to go that last mile. The body's natural warning system against danger is the job of stress. Its called your Fight or Flight response. How does that work? When the body detects a threat of any kind, the nervous system releases a huge among of stress hormones that include adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones launch the body into action. Our intelligent body then causes the muscles to tighten, blood pressure shoots up, breath quickens, heart pounds faster, and the senses are sharpened (Seaward, 2009). These physical changes increase your strength and stamina, speed, and your reaction time, and your focus in enhanced- getting you ready to fight or flee the situation. There is a point though were stress gets out of hand, and

3 causes damage to your health, your moods, your productivity, your relationships, quality of life, and your sexual functions. Stress can affect a mans sexual performance, and cause serious sexual dsfuntiions.in minds how stress affects a mans sexual functions. With men it starts in the brain. Stress affects the brains ability to release LHRH (luteinizing hormone releasing hormone); this hormone once released tells the pituitary gland to release LH (luteinizing hormone) and FSH (folliclestimulating hormone). FSH stimulates sperm production, and LH tells the testes to releases testosterone. With the onset of stress LHRH concentrations go way down, followed decreased production of LH, and FSH (Sapolsky, 2004). With this math, stress has just reduced testosterone, and the production of sperm. This happens at the onset of a stressor. It doesnt stop there for men. The stress responses leads to drops in levels of the androgen (male hormone) levels, this contributes to erectile dysfunction. Stressful times not only cause erectile dysfunction, but can cause premature ejaculation. This is a problem, a serious one for many men. Having the ejaculation too fast decreases your chances of pleasing the woman, also the time enjoying sex is over. In most cases when a man ejaculates he wants to take a nap, or maybe have a sandwhich and cut on the TV. The woman is left insatisfied, angry, and yes stressed out. Now a mans sexual dsfuntion has caused stress, and the possibility of hers. There was even a recent study done in Italy where 2,592 heterosexual men aged 55 + or 12.5 years to see how erectile dysfunction effects extramarital affairs (Seaward, 2009). This study shows a direct correlation with stressors form work leading to erectile dysfunction, and in many cases infidelity. A high percentage of these woman in the study admitted to the fact that their partners penis did not work to them finding sex elsewhere (Seaward, 2009).It is believed that men never stop thinking about sex, but too much bad sex can change how a man funtions sexualy. Men need to not only

4 relax during sex, but days before it happens. Most of the cases of erectile dysfuntion among younger men 235 is based on their physchological factors (Carroll, 2010). As a man gets over 6o in can become biological in many cases. Managing stress can create a strong hard penis full of stamina that lasts for hours, and ejaculates when it needs to. Most of the The libido of a woman can be disrupted horribly by a woman. Just like stress causes a problem with male erections, and the production of male hormones; it can create sexual dysfunctions in women. Stress can cause suppression by the brain to release good amounts of estrogen (A.D.AM, 2013). This reduces a womans desire for sex and causes the brain to reduce the release of estrogen in women the libido plummets. Estrogen is the magic hormone that creates sexual desire, and biologically creates a condition for sex. This reduction of estrogen can cause low lubrication of the vaginal walls, or pain with sex. This reduction in the lubrication in the vaginal walls causes pain during the penetration of the penis. This causes discomfort from the woman, and in many cases causes woman to not want to have sex at all. There have been cases where the man thinks he is doing something wrong and not both partners unhappy without sex due to stress. When the hormone androgen is reduced in women by the onset of stressors, it changes a womans desire for sex (A.D.AM., 2013). Androgen is a key hormone in a womans sexuality, moods, and behaviors. Reduction of androgen has also been connected to women having problems with having orgasms. So just like in males, stress can stop the brain activity to release certain hormones that create sexuality. So stress can create an environment of sexual dysfunction. Sexual dysfunction exists when an individual cannot function properly in the area of sexual, desires, relationships, or orgasms (Alexander et al., 2008). These can be long or short term conditions. If these conditions remain it leads to further problems like insecurity, anger, anxiety, and bad relationships. Stress has

5 contributed to painful conditions like miss carriages, pains during sex, and even situations of infidelity. In the past sexual dysfunction was only a womans problem, and it was termed as being fidgety, but now the tide has turned and science and the medical industry has realized this is a problem today. A recent national survey found about 40% of us women has reported sexual problems (Carroll, 2013). Our daily stressors are halting the brain from releasing hormones, in turn creating no sexual desire, sexual arousal, and pain during sex, no orgasms during sex, or no sex at all! Thats a horrible dysfunction. Today we are more open to talk about help with sex. The area of sexual dysfunction now is something finally that is being seen as a treated disability today (Carroll, 2010). You can go to a hospital, or see a professional sex therapist, or a sexologist. These professionals know the field of sex, and sexuality. As we become a more open society we have more things to talk about, and just like one can see the help of a therapist, councilor, or psychiatrist; the sexual professional can see clients in this same vain. Sex toys have come a long way from their first innovations. Problems with orgasms or good sex are no longer a problem for a woman to be ashamed of. Many women have problems achieving orgasms, so thank god for the present. We have come to a place in society where it is normal to use sex toys to help with stimulation to help men, and women achieve orgasms. This can remove some of the stress if partners communicate, and realize that all of us are different. Here is a stifling fact; more that 70% of woman have problems achieving orgasm through intercourse (Joy, 2010). So we have to look to aids to help us bring

6 our partners to orgasms. We have amazing clitoris vibrators today like the **Silver Bullet

this small pocket sized vibrator can be carries any wear, even in the shower (waterproof). Another amazing vibrator is the ***Wild G-Spot vibrator.

7 Not only does this vibrator stimulate the clitoris, but it also has triple-pronged that stimulators are designed to tickle the clitoris, and the sensitive areas surrounding the nerves. To further enhance the orgasm experience the spinning metal beads massage the G-Spot inside a womans vagina, and her other erogenous zones. The Wild G-Spot Vibrator has a spot tip to wiggle on the clitoris as the shaft of the vibrator enters the body. Help is on the way ladies. Joy Buchanan (2010) in a recent article talked about these toys and other types like it in her article "This Year I will... Have Hotter Sex" for Essence magazine. Woman and man can take charge of the help they need with ads like this. Although Viagra is the rage of the day for men who want to have hours of erection, there is a serious price to pay. Here are some of the side effects from Viagra listed on its own website (Viagra. 2013):

Headache, flushing of the face, and upset stomach. Loss of vision in one or both eyes Erection that lasts many hours Sudden loss or decrease in hearing, sometimes with ringing in the ears and dizziness Heart attack, stroke, irregular heart beats, Death have been reported rarely in men taking

These are risks we need to seriously consider before we make Viagra our choice to help with our sexual performance. There are steps we can take in our sex lives to keep stress out of the way. A good place to start is to address the issues that exist through communication. Tell each other everything youre dealing with. If desire has decreased, good medicine is to do it more often. Low sex drive can be the bodys reaction to no sex at all (McQuillan, 2008). If a condition does exist dont be afraid to see help from a professional. There are thousands of good sex therapists available

8 today; there is no reason to be ashamed to get help. Try to find time in your schedule to free your mind. Look into mind and body mediations, or yoga exercises to create a balanced environment in your body. Last, create a healthy body through good nutrition, exercise, and positive words to one another. Stress can be stopped when we make our wellness the priority. Although the world loves to have sex, we live in a fast paced society full of stress. It has been proven that this stress can cause sexual dysfunction. This condition causes reduced sexual desire, erectile dysfunction, pain during sex, and the malfunction of our sexuality. We have to manage our lives, so that our life in the bedroom is not interrupted. Honesty, communication, and the strength it takes to get the help we need. Stress was made to put us in the right gear to avoid danger, it was never meant to drive us away from sex. Yes in a society full of business we have to get things done, but we have been aware that too much stress can disturb one of the things we love most. If we can create a healthy environment, with as little stress as possible, we can have a life of amazing sex. Dr. Laura Berman states, Don't Let Stress Affect Your Sex Life. Stress can get the best of us, and it can also knock our love lives out of whack. Find out how lowering stress can raise your libido.(2013). Lower the stress, and keep the temperature up in bed!

9 Reference Page

*A.D.A.M. (2013, March 13). Stress and anxiety. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/stress-and-anxiety/possiblecomplications.

Alexander, L. L., Alexander, W. J., Bader, H., Garfield, S., & LaRosa, J. H. (2009). New dimensions in women's health fifth edition. Sudbury, Massachusets: Jones And Barlett Publishing.

Berman, L. (2013, January 14). How to keep your vulva healthy. Retrieved from Everyday Health website: http://www.everydayhealth.com/sexual-health/dr-laura-berman-how-tokeep-your-vulva-healthy.aspx

Buchanan, J. (2010, January). This year i will... have hotter sex. Essence, 40(9), 110. Retrieved from http://catalog2.nmsu.edu:8671/ehost/detail?vid=19&sid=72e68a48-2bbf-45cf-94c49b07f5447855%40sessionmgr11&hid=105&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29 wZT1zaXRl#db=aph&AN=46785204

Carroll, J. L. (2010). Sexuality now embracing diversity. Belmont, California: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Page(s): Ii, Sexuality Now: Embracing Diversity, 4th Ed. By Janell L. Carroll, Cengage Learning.

McQuillan, S. (2008, July & Aug.). Rev up your sex drive. Natural Health, 38(7), 55-61. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/ehost/detail?vid=8&sid=5ca59930-f589-4b12-

10 8b4e7974be72383b%40sessionmgr111&hid=17&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d% 3d#db=aph&AN=32830999

Sapolsky, R. M. (2004). Why zebras don't get ulcers. New York, N.Y.: W.H.Freeman.

Seaward, B. L. (2009). Managing stress principles and principles and strategies for health and well-being fifth edition. Sudbury, Massachusets: Jones And Barlett Publishing.

Viagra (2013, April 12). Potential viagra side effects. Retrieved from viagra.com website: http://www.viagra.com/taking-viagra/viagra-sideeffects.aspx?source=yahoo&HBX_PK=s_side+effects+from+viagra&o=23121513%7C1 66374801%7C0&skwid=43700003031040749

* A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)

** Resource for the silver bullet http://www.babeland.com/RO-80mm-Bullet-Vibe/d/2477

*** Resource for the Wild-G-Spot vibrator http://www.adameve.com/adult-sextoys/vibrators/clit-vibrators/sp-wild-g-spot-vibrator-11417.aspx