Totally cutting yourself off from any sexual activity (abstinence) may have some repercussions to your health. But you may ask, priests are already doing it, and my spinster aunt is certainly not getting any, yet they are doing fine?
Indeed it’s hard to gauge the physical effects of abstinence with each individual case study.
Totally cutting yourself off from any sexual activity (abstinence) you may have some repercussions to your health by not getting the natural benefits of sex. But you may ask, priests are already doing it, and my spinster aunt is certainly not getting any, yet they are doing fine?
Indeed it’s hard to gauge the physical effects of abstinence with each individual case study. But the good thing is that science is also curious about that question, and it’s attempting to find an answer.
There are two schools of thought here: first is that abstinence won’t have any bearing to your physiological makeup; and the other is that the absence of sexual activity can harm you both mentally and physically.
Abstinence and Your Physical State
The benefits of sex are well-documented. Among them include:
So it stands to reason that when you abstain from sex, you don’t get to enjoy the benefits already stated above.
Abstinence and Your Mental State
But there’s another school of thought which posits that abstinence doesn’t harm people physiologically as much as mentally. When you go back to the priest example, he pretty much goes throughout his whole life without sex, and yet most of those in the clergy live up to their old age without any health problems.
The problem is the mental state, especially if you abstain from sex by force of circumstance, or even by choice. What are the factors that can negatively affect your sex life?
Regardless, there are studies that proved that lack of sex among women will cause drastic changes in their privates. Abstinence, especially for a long time, will lead to hyper-sensitive vaginal walls. This makes sex a very painful experience for them. Then they find themselves in a Catch-22 situation: they need to have sex to stimulate their vagina, but then again the act itself is so painful to prevent lubrication typically associated with pleasure. For men, erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation can be a risk.
More importantly, lack of sex will also be the downfall of almost all marriages.
What to Do?
If your situation is temporary, it’s important that you masturbate yourself to orgasm. Men need no further motivation as about 8 in 10 of American men have pleasured themselves at least once in their lives; while only about 40% of women do so.
If the problem is with your partner, it’s time to get out of the toxic relationship before you end up hating each other. Unless it’s in line with your vocation, or due to lack of choice, there’s no sense to continue abstinence. There are just so many benefits of sex to deny yourself its pleasures.