Sex + Postpill = Anxiety

Hello Sunshine,Welcome to the 3rd episode of ‘The Mental Health February series’.

Your reading time would approximately be 4-7 minutes

Hhmmm did someone see the word sex… shhhh🤫🤫

If you are either celibate or sexually active, then you are not exempted from this post. On the long run this post could be of help either now or in future.

Sex and Mental Health That intimate act which is said to build connections between partners, can cause anxiety or depression. This anxiety is called Post Coital dysphoria or post-sex blues. Guess what! this is way more common among individuals than you think it is.

According to Andrea Blundell’s in his post, he said ; There is a popular presumption that sex releases the hormone oxytocin as well as endorphins, meaning we sleep better, feel calmer, and approach life more positively. So basically, sex is guaranteed to make us feel great every time, right?

Wrong wrong wrong wrong.

Postcoital dysphoria is defined as the feeling of sadness, anxiety, or depression right after sex, Zimmerman told INSIDER during an interview that “It happens even if the sex was good, consensual, and even when the relationship is strong, although it can certainly occur when any of those things aren’t true”.
And for some , this feeling can linger for hours or days depending on the body.

According to science, this happens because during sex the brain’s dopamine level reaches its highest point and after the act of sex, it reduces down again.

Dopamine known as the feel good neurotransmitter— which is a chemical that ferries information between neurons. For example that feeling when one is high on drugs increases the dopamin level of the brain and once the dopamine level reduces, such high fellow becomes all sober again.

Sex might be the reason why you’ve been dealing with anxiety for days without you knowing.

There are ways post-sex blues could be curbed.

It’s not advisable to indulge in sex during these periods as they mostly lead to post-sex blues.

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1. Sex with your partner after an argument as a ‘fix it or a make up sex’ is not advisable. This is so because after the act is all over the conflict wouldn’t have been resolved on the long run.

2. Pornography addiction and online sex causes postcoital dysphoria a whole lot of times.
According to Dr. Norman Doidge, in his popular book ‘The Brain That Changes Itself’; talks about how pornography is highly addictive because looking at it and watching it triggers pleasure chemicals in the brain. Modern pornography now tends to be much ‘harder’ than it used to be, it triggers an even stronger chemical reaction, which can mean that your brain develops an addictive pattern quickly even if you just began looking out of natural curiosity.

Porno has negative effects on the brain on the long run.

3. Listen to your body most importantly. Sex is way more psychological and emotional than you think it is. You shouldn’t indulge in it when feel lonely or when you are having a bad day.

Equally physical pain and emotional stress is a good reason why you should stay away from it for these period because foul feelings before sex could result in post-sex blues.

4. Casual sex might not be worth it on the long run.
A study by researchers at California State University surveyed almost 4,000 heterosexual college students about their moods and sexual habits, and claimed there is a link between casual sex and higher levels of depression and anxiety in both men and women.
At the same time, given how many of people already have low levels of self-esteem and confidence, it’s quite logical that casual sex would be more likely to cause a low mood than a high mood.

6. Build physical connection with your partner. Your brain perfectly interpretes emotional signals. At instances when there’s no connection with who ever you are with even when married, post-sex blues might be the end result. Therefore the walls of the physical connection should be strongly built right before an intimate connection is established.

6. Celibacy can always be an option for a period of time. In cases when your emotions are always all over the place, it’s adviceable for celibacy or abstinence to be practised, and this is most paramount for your mental health.

At periods like this, you could take up lessons on working on self confidence and you could have a self reflection moment all by yourself. Most importantly get proper sex education from books or YouTube while celibate.

7. In cases where none of the above is the situation . It’s important to invest in a sex therapist with your partner for the sake of your relationship. Mental health is extremely important for love making acts. Therefore seeking a therapist would help curb such problems.

8. Anti depressant drugs reduces one’s sex drive or libido, but it’s a drug which works pretty fine for those experiencing anxiety or depression.

Your mental health is far more important than a few minutes of pleasure. Therefore anything that messes with our mental health should be fixed. If you are not perfectly fine mentally then you would not be fine physically.

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Post sex pill and Mental Health

Post sex pill is a contraceptive pill taken after sex and the most popular pill we know is Postinor 2.

Post sex pill is an Emergency pill and it is not a regular contraceptive because it has various adverse effects on the body including causing depression.

There is a claim whereby the feeling of depression is a rare side effect of this pill. But millions of women have being recorded to be depressed after using a post sex or a morning pill.

According to an article in www.forhers.com; It was said that the progestin and estrogen hormones used in birth control pills can affect one’s mood, causing you to experience mood swings.

This is because hormones like estrogen have a real, noticeable effect on your mood. In a 2012 study, scientists found that women who were given high doses of estrogen were more likely to experience fear and anxiety than their peers.

The solution for this just might be hard but;

1. The use of condoms should be considered as a first option before anything.

2. If you can, then you should avoid post pills at all cost and try natural contraceptive methods by tracking the days where your ovulation window doesn’t fall under.

3. I’m whispering celibacy again.

This time around , take out time to learn more about your body, build up physical connections with your partner and do things which make you happy too.

Mental health is therefore take care of it at all cost.

Thank you for reading.