How good sex boosts physical and mental health – and how to keep enjoying lovemaking well beyond the honeymoon period
- You would take your sex life more seriously – and try harder to maintain it – if you knew the good it could do you, expert says
- We need to view sex not only as a recreational activity or for reproduction, but as a key part of our well-being, says sex coach
On Valentine’s Day, when many may be in the mood for love, it is a good time to consider all the health benefits a great lovemaking session bestows.
Stan Tatkin reminds us of the goodness it brings. The California-based doctor, researcher and teacher with a doctorate in marital and family therapy developed the Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy, or Pact.
It uses neuroscience to help couples understand how the brain works in relationships, to have more enjoyable interactions.
In one of the many books Tatkin has written based on Pact, We Do: Saying Yes to a Relationship of Depth, True Connection, and Enduring Love, he suggests that you might find it strange if your doctor gave you “a prescription for an orgasm a day”.
I’d really like to see the day where people think about sex as a health and wellness practice, and prioritise sex the same way they prioritise going to the gym
But you would probably take your sex life more seriously – and try harder to maintain a sex life – if you understood all the good it could offer.
This includes “reduced depression and anxiety, reduced restless leg syndrome, reduced physical pain by about 50 per cent, increased levels of oxytocin and vasopressin, increased friendliness, closeness, and feelings of love and affection, increased dopamine levels [which heighten feelings of pleasure], improved sleep”.
