Two-thirds of men experience “post-sex blues” after a self-love session, a study suggests.
While half of women also experience similar feelings after masturbation, casual sex is the most common trigger for a curious psychological phenomenon known as postcoital dysphoria.
This refers to a range of negative emotions after a satisfying sexual act, including sadness, anxiety, agitation or aggression.
While the condition has been explored in the context of sex in committed relationships, a study by Nottingham Trent University set out to explore whether Brits experience the same feelings when pleasuring themselves or when having sex with a partner.” casual”.
A survey of 156 people, recruited online, found that more than three-quarters of men who masturbate report experiencing postcoital dysphoria.
Two-thirds of men experience ‘post-sex blues’ after a self-love session, study suggests
The condition scientifically called postcoital dysphoria refers to a series of negative emotions after a satisfactory sexual act, including sadness, anxiety, agitation or aggression.
For women, who made up two-thirds of the total study group, rates of post-masturbation dysphoria were lower, with only half (51 percent) reporting such feelings.
However, women reported much higher rates (77 percent) of sensation after casual sex.
In contrast, only half of men (49 percent) reported postcoital dysphoria during or after an affair.
Publish your findings on the Sexual and Marriage Therapy MagazineThe researchers said the results of masturbation were likely related to feelings of guilt and shame.
The study’s sole author, Darcie Raftery, from Nottingham Trent School of Social Sciences, suggested that if Britons thought about personal pleasure more positively, the phenomenon might not be as common.
“If attitudes toward masturbation can become more positive and acts of masturbation become even more normalized within society, the likelihood of experiencing PCD (postcoital dysphoria) could be reduced,” he wrote.
However, she added that more research was needed on the relationship between women who have casual sex and postcoital dysphoria.
The survey also found sExes in a committed relationship reported the lowest rates of postcoital dysphoria for both men and women.
Only one in five and one in 10 women report suffering in these circumstances respectively.
The study had a number of limitations, one of them being the small sample size and the fact that it was conducted through an online survey, assuming that the participants’ testimonies were truthful.
Raftery further said that larger-scale studies should be conducted to further explore postcoital dysphoria in uncommitted relationships.
It comes as a leading GP warned that excessive masturbation could lead to men becoming failures in the bedroom.
In moderation, self-pleasure helps reduce stress, improve sleep quality and mood, but it can become “an unhealthy habit” and trigger a form of erectile dysfunction.
However, excessive masturbation, especially pornography use, can cause men to suffer desensitization, both mentally and physically, making it difficult for them to achieve and maintain an erection.
Masturbating too much can also be a symptom of other mental health conditions, such as depression, and people use it as an escape.
