When you simply have too much to do and struggling with the demands of work, family, financial and personal life, stress hits us the hardest then. Stress probably chips away more than you realise as you'll be too consumed with feeling tired, grumpy and anxious. It takes a toll not only on your physical and emotional health but relationship too. In short, your sex life suffers as a result of stress in these ways:
Stress decreases your libido
One of the most obvious symptoms is that stress reduces your sex drive. Your body goes through a series of changes during stress mode to prepare you for the 'fight or flight' response. During this time, your body will release hormones such as cortisol and epinephrine or adrenaline.
When cortisol is being produced for a prolonged period of time, it can interfere with the hormones involve in your sexual response. Lower sex hormones means lower libido, so you're likely to have more of the “not tonight darling!” moments.
Stress causes headaches
Remember how you use headaches as an excuse for getting out of sex? Well, stress does cause tension headaches and migraines. This type of condition is also known as stress headaches, which may appear periodically, or daily.
When you feel the constant pain, tightness or pressure around the forehead or back of the head and neck, chances are sex will be the last thing on your mind.
Stress creates conflicts
It is inevitable really. When we are stressed, we are not really that pleasant to be around and the same applies to your partner too. Feelings of frustration are common when you are stressed but you don't want to become someone who flies off the handle and snaps at your love one.
You also don't wish to be the one who brings out the emotional monster in someone you love either. Relationships suffer when we are stressed, especially when your only means of communication is rolling your eyes and throwing hurtful words around.
Stress affects fertility and menstrual cycle
When you are stressed, your hormones levels take a dive. Stress can affect our pituitary gland, which functions to control the thyroid, adrenal glands and ovaries.
So if your ovaries aren't functioning as they are supposed to, your menstrual cycle will be disrupted too. This could adversely affect your period and if you're trying to get pregnant, it may even be more stressful not being able to do so.
Stress leads to negativity
The constant feelings of pressure or tension can contribute to negativity in a person. We might feel compelled to overeat because of stress; so in addition to the imbalance brain chemicals and unstable emotions, we may also suffer from blood sugar spikes with all the snacking.
This can then contribute to feelings of sluggishness and weight gain which will also make us feel badly about our physiques. It'll then be difficult to build your self-esteem to feel desirable enough and jump into bed with your partner. It is unfortunately a vicious cycle that may be hard to break.
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