How to Stop Feeling Depressed and Horny? (+9 Causal Factors)

In this guide, we will illustrate the correlation between being depressed and horny.

Depression is a very common disease, considering the social stigma. Around one in 20 Americans over the age of 12 has some form of depression, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Trusted Source (CDC). While a greater prevalence in women is stated by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the fact is that depression can develop in any person and at any age. Depression forms include:

• Persistent depressive disorder (symptoms last for two years)
• Psychotic depression
• Major Depression
• Bipolar Instability
• Depression after Postpartum (occurs in women after having a baby)
• Seasonal Affective Condition (occurs during the winter months)
• Anxiety disorders associated with depression

Getting depression means more than just feeling blue for those affected, it can cause a variety of symptoms, including problems with sexual wellbeing.

With research pointing to a strong connection between depression and anxiety and libido loss, intimacy concerns for people with mental health problems may be an added concern.

To make matters worse, poor mental health is also exacerbated by sexual issues, with depression and anxiety sufferers worried about the effect on the relationship of their missing sex drive.

Sex therapist Isiah McKimmie says to Coach, “You need to understand that the mental state you are in is going to be impacting on your sex life,”

“It means you don’t have to think there is something wrong with you because you suddenly have no libido – it’s all part of the same package.”

Correlation between being Depressed and Horny

Seventy-five percent of depression patients show a lack of sex drive.

“Depression changes the chemical make-up in our brain so we’re less likely to have a libido,” says McKimmie.

When we are depressed, we also often feel more exhausted, which means we don’t have the energy for it. Depression is often a very lonely experience, so it becomes harder for us to reach out and communicate intimately.”We also often feel more tired when we are depressed, which means we don’t have the energy for it. Depression is often a very lonely experience, so it becomes more difficult for us to reach out and connect intimately.”

“Depression changes the chemical make-up in our brain so we’re less likely to have a libido,” says McKimmie.

“We also often feel more tired when we are depressed, which means we don’t have the energy for it. Depression is often a very lonely experience, so it becomes more difficult for us to reach out and connect intimately.”

At the same time, you will lower your libido with antidepressants too.

McKimmie says, “The medication that we’re given for depression, particularly SSRIs [selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors] are detrimental to sexual desire, enjoyment, and sensitivity,”

“They can lower a woman’s ability to reach climactic experience, which will then have a spiral effect on her sex life.”

Symptoms and Gender difference: Depressed and Horny

Because of depression, both men and women may encounter difficulties with initiating and enjoying sex. Nevertheless, there are several variations in the ways that depression affects women and men.

Women

A higher prevalence of depression in females is attributed to hormonal shifts, according to the NIMH. This is why the risk of depression in a woman may increase:

• During and before menstruation
• After giving birth
• When balancing work, family life, and home,
• Perimenopause and menopause 

Women are the most likely to encounter “bluesy” recurrent emotions that can make them feel less secure and less dignified. These emotions will change your overall sex life dramatically.

Physical factors may make sex less pleasant as females mature (and sometimes even painful). Vaginal wall changes can render sexual activity unpleasant. Lower estrogen levels can also interrupt normal lubrication. For women, such variables may be depressing if they do not seek support to find relief.

Men

Popular causes of erectile dysfunction include anxiety, low self-esteem, and shame. These are all signs of depression, but with stress and age, such problems can also happen naturally. The NIMH clarifies that during depression, men are often more likely to lose interest in sports. This might also suggest that men might not find sex as attractive.

In males, antidepressants are linked directly to impotence. There may be delayed climactic experiences or premature release, too.

Having issues with sexual health can intensify feelings of worthlessness and other symptoms of depression in both men and women. This can in turn cause both worsening depression and sexual dysfunction in a vicious loop.

Causes and Risk factors: Depressed and Horny

As a consequence of biology and hormone disorders, chemical imbalances in the brain cause depression. This may arise on their own. Depression can coexist with other diseases as well. It may result in multiple physical and emotional symptoms, no matter the exact cause of depression. Some of the depression’s most common signs include:

• Persistent sorrow and sadness
• Lack of interest in activities that you once enjoyed
• Guilt and depression
• Fatigue and insomnia
• Anxiety and irritability
• Weakness, pains, and aches
• Sexual dysfunction
• Difficulties in concentration
• Losing or gaining weight (usually from changes in eating habits)
• Disposition to Suicide

For each person, the symptoms of depression differ in frequency and intensity. In general, the more serious depression you have, the more sexual health concerns you’re likely to have.

In the brain, sexual desire is cultivated, and sex organs depend on brain chemicals to stimulate the libido as well as the blood flow changes necessary for the sexual act. It may make sexual activity more complicated as depression disrupts these brain chemicals. In older adults who still have intermittent sexual dysfunction issues, this could be worse.

It is also not just the anxiety itself that can affect sexual wellbeing. Antidepressants may also have unintended sexual side effects, which are the most common types of medical treatment for depression. The most widespread culprits are:

• Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)
• Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)
• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
• Tetracyclic and Tricyclic Medicines

Depression reduces sexual desire

In so many ways, coping with depression can be difficult. The tragic effect it can have on sex makes the disease even worse. According to a recent report in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, researchers have definitively related this mental health diagnosis to a variety of intimacy challenges: problems with sexual self-esteem, feeling sexually isolated from a partner, difficulty talking about sex, being uncertain how to initiate sex, and a flatlining interest in sex in general.

“The hallmark of depression issues with self-esteem,” Christine Manley, Ph.D., a Nashville-based clinical psychologist, describes Wellness. Chronic and pervasive feelings of worthlessness are the central diagnostic characteristics of depression. So if that’s the foundation you’re coming from with a depressive episode, your self-esteem is going to be in the toilet—and that’s going to affect every major area of your life, including your sex life,” she says.

Depression may have consequences in the bedroom itself, and it also brings on a variety of side effects that impair libido as well, says Wellness, adds Michael Salas, a Dallas-based sex therapist. Depression can cause people in their lives to lose interest in pleasurable things; it can increase irritability and pessimism. Low energy and fatigue are also strongly correlated,” he explains. “This can all result in a loss of interest or even avoidance.”

Role of antidepressants

More than 16.1 million American adults, or around 6.7 percent of the U.S. population aged 18 and older in a given year, are affected by major depressive disorder. The most obvious response to depression is antidepressants to treat all these individuals; according to national survey data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in nine Americans of all ages reported taking at least one antidepressant drug in a given month (CDC).

But “the gold standard antidepressants are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, like Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil, and Celexa, and a ton of research shows that your sex drive is completely demolished,” says Manley. That’s because they boost the amount of serotonin in your brain’s neurotransmitter, but too much of a spike will suppress libido and make it more difficult to have a climactic experience.

Karen says, “I do wish things were different.” To control my moods, I wish I didn’t have to rely on drugs, but I’ve tried unsuccessfully to get away from them and it makes me feel nuts. I long to feel so badly like my old self, I think it almost worsens the depression.

There are other forms of antidepressants, such as Wellbutrin, but often, Manley notes, these may raise anxiety or irritability. Talking to your doctor about the side effects of these drugs is crucial: how will your sex drive be affected? Are you going to feel lubrication or have arousal or lust difficulties? Before you find the one that’s worth it, you can have to try a lot,” she says.

Treatment options

Any part of everyday life, including sex, is influenced by chronic depression. It curbs the desire for sex, but sex can increase your mood and is important for relationships. And some drugs for depression can curb your libido.

It can be tough to break this loop. There’s no approach to one-size-fits-all. But without ruining your sex life, there are some tried-and-true ways to handle depression effectively.

Treat the Depression First

Whatever happens to your sex life, treating depression first is crucial. Later, discuss any sexual side-effects. For people aged 15-44, depression is the top cause of impairment in the U.S. During depression, men and women similarly deal with sexual issues. People with chronic depression can lose their appetite, take longer to experience climax, and just find sex less fun.

Work with your doctor

Side effects of antidepressant medications may be related to the dosage prescribed. So, Goodwin says, often merely reducing the dosage will treat depression without blocking sexual desire. Don’t tweak the dose yourself, though. If you have sexual side effects from antidepressants, talk with your doctor (or any other drug).

Goodwin claims that until after being on an antidepressant for a few months, patients sometimes don’t start loving sex more. And some antidepressants do not affect the drive to have sex.

The Pattern Breaking

The big problem for doctors treating patients with chronic depression is that for so long that it becomes a habit, the client has been thinking about himself or herself that way,” Goodwin says.” “The problem will not be solved just by correcting the brain chemistry,” Goodwin says. “With psychotherapy, some things need to be unlearned.” Unlearning, he says, will encourage people in different and exciting ways to bond with loved ones.

Talk to your partner

Speaking with your partner about depression, understanding the recovery options, and finding new ways to enjoy sex, such as prolonged foreplay if it is a challenge to achieve climactic experience, will help improve strained relationships, experts claim.

In this guide, we illustrated the correlation between being depressed and horny.

References

https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/sexual-health

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9296-sexual-problems-and-depression-

https://coach.nine.com.au/lifecoach/depression-anxiety-sex-drive/05ae61dd-7f16-4fbd-bf09-664d669430e7