Wodicka/ullstein bild/Getty Images
Just what every dude has always wanted—scientific proof that blue balls are bad for your health. Several studies have provided evidence that going without sex or masturbation for an extended period can be detrimental to your physical and mental health.
Dr. Tara Suwinyattichaiporn, a sex expert and professor at the University of California, Fullerton, recently told The Daily Mail that going even just one month without can cause stress, anxiety, depression, and anger. Those negative emotions also affect your ability to enjoy it once you do finally get down to business.
“Stressed-out people don’t have the capacity to enjoy sex,” Suwinyattichaiporn added. Even more concerningly, a 2021 study in the “Journal of Criminal Justice” drew a correlation between sexual frustration and acts of violence.
some benefits of regular sex
For couples, regular sex can also help to manage emotions and maintain the relationship, added sex therapist Sari Cooper.
“[People who aren’t having sex] don’t approach their partner with softness, vulnerability, and requests for compromise,” she explained. “They also don’t have the technique to repair conflicts and instead blame one another, pursue the other with continuous criticism, or elicit a guilty response in order to get their needs met.”
While dry spells are normal, Cooper notes that going too long without sex can have harmful long-term effects on a couple.
“Sometimes one partner may ask to open up the relationship so they can get their needs met in an ethical manner, and other partners may just have an outside sexual infidelity to meet the needs,” she noted.
As for the physical benefits, a Harvard Medical study found that men who ejaculate 21 times or more per month lowered their risk of prostate cancer by a third. In more extreme cases, Suwinyattichaiporn added, dry spells of five years or more can even lead to penile or vaginal atrophy, causing the genitals to shrink slightly.
