According to recent studies, a lack of sex can negatively affect your health and possibly even contribute to an early death. To which we say, “Fuck that!”
Lately, there’s been a quiet uprising of folks who just aren’t all that into sex. It’s unclear if it’s the fear of STDs, unwanted pregnancy or just general apathy toward having a good time, but the data’s clear on this point: People are getting down and dirty way less than they did back in the good old days. Several studies over the past decade have charted a steady decline in sexual activity across most age groups— and notably, the younger generation. And if this fact doesn’t alarm you, maybe this will: Scientists claim that this sex slump could actually be driving y’all to an early grave.
A new long-term study in the Journal of Affective Disorders suggests that Americans having sex fewer than 12 times a year (less than once a month) face a significantly higher risk of early death, especially if they’re also carrying extra weight and battling depression. According to researchers, this unholy trinity of low libido, blue mood and high body fat is more dangerous together than any one of them alone. It seems that when your body, brain and bedroom boom-boom are all out of sync, your overall health begins to take a savage nosedive. You can be fat. You can be depressed. But if you’re those things and not getting laid too, well, it could be curtains. “Both obesity and depression are linked to all-cause mortality in individuals with low sexual frequency, and there may be a synergistic effect between the two on mortality risk,” the study authors wrote.
“Sexuality is a way we create connection between ourselves and with others. We’re mammals and we crave connection. The more we deny ourselves basic human needs, the more distress we often experience.”
Dr. Jordan Soper
Yet, you’d be surprised just how many people out there in the big, dumb world don’t consider sex to be part of their overall health and wellness plan. Some of the folks we talked to argue that sex isn’t a priority like hitting the gym or watching their diet. “I’m just trying to survive the week, man, and I sometimes go months without it,” Dylan, 32, tells HUSTLERMagazine.com. “Most of us are too busy or too tired from working to worry about a dry spell. I don’t think that’s going to kill anyone.”
