Warning : Sexy mc sexy sex
Lockdown has hit hard with a mammoth spike for mental health in the UK. For many of us, it's all too easy to feel stressed out more than ever these days, between lockdowns and hectic work days, our home lives, social commitments, and seemingly never-ending to-do lists.
But one solid remedy is sex, as researchers have proven and I'm here to share it with you all. We've shared with you before the physical benefits of sex and now we are here to tell you more about the emotional and mental health benefits too.
So strap in or strap on... Here cums the science bit
Having sex isn't just a sure-fire way to feel closer with your partner and enjoy some time connecting with your own body, but sex also has some pretty powerful benefits for your mental health, as researchers have studied over time.
The benefits of sex extend to the brain. Researchers continue to study the ways that sex can affect your brain, because having sex is great for both your body and your mind.
Sexual activity creates a response in several areas of the brain, which is why it has so many impacts on our physical and emotional health, including acting as a natural stress reliever.
Aside from simply feeling good, having sex is great for your overall health and can have some seriously powerful benefits on your body and brain, from lowering stress levels to improving your memory.
And It's not just your memory that benefits from regular romps between the sheets — frequent sex is also good for verbal fluency, language, visual fluency, and visuospatial ability, or the ability to judge the space between objects.
A 2016 study by Coventry and Oxford universities found that older adults who had sex weekly performed better on cognitive tests on memory and also on attention, word recall, and visual and verbal recognition. An additional 2016 study by researchers at McGill University in Canada found that sex helps with nervous tissue growth in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that controls emotions, memory, and the nervous system.
Women who had sex more frequently found it easier to recall abstract words, proving that sex might be better than studying the dictionary when it comes to keeping your brain sharp.
It's true that sex is good for the body and brain, and can have both immediate effects as well as long-term benefits, especially as you get older.
Sex triggers a COCKtail of chemicals in the brain. There's a reason why sex feels so good, and it's all because of the brain. During sexual activity, a flood of feel-good hormones are released throughout our bodies, lighting up the reward centres in our brains. In 2017, researchers at Harvard University discussed the science behind some of those chemical reactions, sharing just how powerful they can be.
"Dopamine, produced by the hypothalamus, is a particularly well-publicized player in the brain's reward pathway – it's released when we do things that feel good to us. In this case, these things include spending time with loved ones and having sex," shares Katherine J. Wu, Ph.D., a graduate student at Harvard, adding, "High levels of dopamine and a related hormone, norepinephrine, are released during attraction. These chemicals make us giddy, energetic, and euphoric."
Another feel-good hormone, oxytocin, is also released during sex, with Wu adding, "Oxytocin is often nicknamed the 'cuddle hormone' for this reason. Like dopamine, oxytocin is produced by the hypothalamus and released in large quantities during sex, breastfeeding, and childbirth. This may seem like a very strange assortment of activities – not all of which are necessarily enjoyable – but the common factor here is that all of these events are precursors to bonding."
These same chemicals may make you feel sleepy, too. You might get tired after sex, and this is normal. Aside from the fact that sex can be a pretty rigorous activity, that chemical release can actually make your brain tired, too, leading to that tell-tale feeling of wanting to doze off into your partner's arms.
"During sex, the brain releases oxytocin which heightens arousal and excitement," Dr. Debra explains "But when it wears off, it can leave people feeling really tired."
"Oxytocin is often accompanied by melatonin, the primary hormone that regulates our body clocks," added sex therapist Dr. Carlen Costa, noting that melatonin has a "calming" effect on our brains.
Penetrative sex may also lower your stress and anxiety levels. You might feel calmer after sex. A 2006 study from the Journal of Biological Psychology found that penile-vaginal intercourse helped lower blood pressure levels in men and women, lowering stress levels better than any other sexual activity.
Sexual activity creates a response in several areas of the brain, which is why it has so many impacts on our physical and emotional health, including acting as a natural stress reliever.
The release of oxytocin during intercourse also helps regulate levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, leading to a calming effect. And the increased cerebral blood flow helps our brain better process our response to anxiety.
Exposure to semen might lower levels of depression in women. Though sex helps boost mental health in all genders, it's women who benefit most from exposure to her partner's semen. According to a 2002 study from the University at Albany, semen eases depression in women who are not using barrier methods of protection during penetrative sex.
Nearly 300 women were screened based on their mental health and sexual behavior, and UAlbany psychology professor Gordon Gallup found that "females who engaged in sexual intercourse but never used condoms exhibited significantly lower scores" in a depression screening than "those who usually or always used condoms."