In line with its mission, the Editorial Board of MedTvoiLokony makes every effort to provide reliable medical content supported by the latest scientific knowledge. The additional flag “Checked Content” indicates that the article has been reviewed by or written directly by a physician. This two-step verification: a medical journalist and a doctor allows us to provide the highest quality content in line with current medical knowledge.
Our commitment in this area has been appreciated, among others, by by the Association of Journalists for Health, which awarded the Editorial Board of MedTvoiLokony with the honorary title of the Great Educator.
Do abstainers have more energy and are more creative? We are talking not about those who gave up alcohol, but about those whose erotic life has died down. Does an athlete who gives up sex before a competition have a better chance of winning a gold medal, and a composer who lives like a monk – to compose a brilliant symphony? We ask prof. Zbigniew Lew-Starowicz, a sexologist.
Dorota Ziemkowska, Medonet: Do you remember the cult slogan from Machulski’s “Sexmission”: “Take a pill”?
Prof. Zbigniew Lew – Starowicz: I do not reckon…
This was a message that was supposed to remind women to take the pill “to turn their sex drive into a career drive”. But let’s leave the fiction, is such a change actually possible?
Sex cannot be treated merely as an outlet for the energy accumulating in a person, which can be replaced by something else, for example intellectual development, as simply as if it were to turn on the tap.
Yet there was talk of such a possibility at one time. Margaret Sanger, founder of the American Birthday Control League, argued that “a girl can lose her creative powers by squandering them in romance until she is completely exhausted.”
Of course, but this is the thinking typical of the 20s, when knowledge about sex was treated superficially. It was believed then that sexual energy could be directed elsewhere without much problem and thus solving the problem of too much drive. At that time, adolescents were forced to live in complete abstinence (including masturbation), and were strongly encouraged to practice sports and swim in cold water. This was to suppress the desire in young people. Some were successful, others became obsessed. Meanwhile, sex is a much more complex issue, it is related to the need for closeness, intimacy and health.
So, arguing that sexual abstinence can make us want to develop intellectually is also wrong?
Unfortunately, the reduction in libido will not lead to that at all. On the contrary. People who have high, not low, libido levels are usually more intellectually active.
So what about the authors of handbooks for young women, for example Dawn Eden, who argue that thanks to a few or several months of celibacy, they have discovered a lot of unused energy that they suddenly want to use, for example, for traveling or self-development?
Are they really so convincing?
Tak.
Hmm, well, I know a lot of women who are very creative, mentally and physically active, and at the same time have a very successful and rich sex life. Another thing is that there are no completely clear-cut situations on this topic. Take athletes, for example. This is a good example, if only because this population has been carefully studied. Well, they are divided into three groups.
The first one ensures that increased sexual activity just before the competition helps them a lot. The second chooses to be celibate because she thinks it gives them a better form. The third will not bet on either one or the other. He believes that whether he decides to have sex will depend on his mood, where he is staying, climate … Also, as you can see, it is a very subjective matter. So if I hear someone thinks that, say, they are better at writing a symphony when they are sexually abstinent, why not? Another will say the opposite, and I will also ask: why not?
Talk to your doctor without leaving your home partner link
However, there are people who live celibate not of their own free will, but have been forced to do so by various circumstances. However, they cannot cope with the drive. Can they somehow discharge this tension?
Yes. There are specially developed physical exercises, meditation and relaxation techniques, visualizations …
Which for example?
It’s hard to talk about it without a specific example. Because it may not work for everyone. After all, there are no universal advice, because every organism is different. Sport will help some people, meditation will help others, and masturbation others.
In some environments it is said that the latter can only harm: make us addicted and make us no longer need the closeness of another human being.
It is not quite like that. Masturbation actions are most often substitute, that is, they help when, for example, one of the partners is ill. This kind of substitute behavior then ensures normal sexual activity and has no negative effects. Of course, assuming that we are not dealing with the addiction mentioned above.
How to recognize them?
When we cannot free ourselves from masturbation and we feel constantly compelled to do it. It’s just like other addictions, such as alcohol. There is not much difference.
There used to be a lot of talk about studies which showed that just six months of sexual abstinence in men over XNUMX can lead to such serious changes in the body that specialist help will be required.
You are talking about studies that were carried out as early as the 60s. Indeed, they revealed that sexual inactivity leads to atrophic changes. What does it mean? Just imagine what could happen if someone had their arm in plaster all year round …
His muscles are weakening …
Exactly. It’s the same with sex. There will be hormonal disorders, weakening of peripheral circulation, in men, for example, prostatic enlargement. In addition, nervousness, irritability … This cannot be avoided, after all sex is related to the structure of our personality. So if we choke our drive, there will be consequences.
What is killing libido? New facts
In order to diversify masturbation, some people use erotic gadgets that should be used with the lubricant for Toy Lube Pjur erotic accessories. If you feel pain during intercourse, you can choose the Ohnut cushioning ring that absorbs the thrusts. It feels like human skin, so it is imperceptible when approaching.