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Ancient healing traditions have taught for centuries that sexual activities can offer us life-giving, health-affirming benefits. Scientific research on orgasm heavily backs up this claim, with benefits ranging from physiological wellness, to reduced stress, to higher self-esteem and even to boosting intelligence. Whether you are having intercourse with a partner, experimenting with a friend, self-stimulating, masturbating to porn, fantasizing or playing with a sex toy or sex doll … your orgasm is yours and there should never be any shame in having one!
The ways we are experiencing orgasm is changing, creating a new story about how we like to do it, who we like to do it with and how it makes us feel. Indeed, the new frontiers of orgasm reflect the intersection of culture and technology with our progressive attitudes and our desires to orgasm. Thanks to new groundbreaking research on orgasm in the female brain, a wider acceptance of the many different types of orgasm, and a deeper understanding of why some people have not been able to orgasm, we are being presented with a glimpse of just how far conceptions of this universal human experience have shifted in our time.
An orgasm itself can be difficult to describe, because it depends so much upon the individual and the context. Orgasmic experiences range from invoking a little sensation to feeling completely life altering.
Physiologically, the release of pleasure chemicals during orgasm has a variety of positive effects on the body. The excretion of oxytocin in the brain results in better sleep through its ability to regulate cortisol. A survey of 400 UK physicians on the topic of getting better sleep recently came to the conclusion, “Want a good night’s sleep? Have more sex!” Oxytocin also reduces anxiety and increases feelings of connectedness, which offers a biochemical basis for that “warm fuzzy feeling” we get right after sex.
Orgasms are also thought to elevate levels of DHEA, which reduce the effects of aging and can even help to regulate the immune system. When we orgasm, our blood vessels dilate, pumping more oxygen through the body, leading to that after-sex rosy “flush” that many people experience. The increase of oestrogen in the female body after orgasm also helps to boost our collagen levels, which offers a variety of skin and organ-restoring benefits. Having sex raises our heart rate to a level comparable to working out, but no, sex does not give us the same benefits as running five miles in the gym. However, the heart rate nearly doubles during climax, meaning that we do receive some cardiovascular benefits when we orgasm. Indeed, studies have shown that regular orgasms reduce the risk of heart disease in men by as much as 36 per cent, although about 1 per cent of acute heart attacks are linked to sexual activity (usually in people with pre-existing heart conditions).
One study published in the 2010 American Journal of Cardiology showed that men who had sex twice per week were less likely to develop heart disease than men who had sex less than once per month. The dilation of blood vessels that occurs during orgasm also benefits heart health and can even lower blood pressure. Frequent ejaculation has also been correlated with a reduced rate of prostate cancer in men. Specifically, 21 ejaculations per month compared with 7 or fewer per month reduces a man’s risk of prostate cancer. The physical benefits don’t end here. One of the greatest effects of orgasm in both men and women is the profound potential for physical pain relief. In fact, orgasm actually increases a woman’s pain threshold, suppressing pain without affecting sensitivity to touch. Not only can orgasm help to relieve period cramps and pain in women, but a 2013 study showed that orgasm can actually help relieve some severe migraines and cluster headaches.
The biochemical release of pleasure hormones like oxytocin during orgasm also does wonders for mental health. Orgasms are significant stress reduction tools: In one survey of over 2,000 women, nearly 40 per cent reported that they masturbated to help themselves relax. Ever heard of cortisol, that pesky little stress hormone? Well the secretion of oxytocin after orgasm helps to bring down our cortisol levels, literally reducing our anxiety and making us feel less stressed out. Orgasms can also enhance our self-esteem, probably through the same process as relieving our stress. When we feel calm and relaxed, we feel better about ourselves and our lives.
In light of our exposure to all of this new research on the benefits of orgasm, can we assume that we are having more sex than any generation before us? Not exactly. We might be having more orgasms, but not necessarily more sex with actual partners. Psychologist Jean Twenge made waves with her data analysis showing that millennials are actually having less sex than the older generations (like our parents) did when they were our age! While it is true that millennials are having more sex than any other generation currently alive on the planet (about 80 times per year on average, compared with 20 times per year of people over 60), we are having less intercourse than previous generations did at our age (we’re having intercourse about nine fewer times per year than adults in 1989, to be exact). What is going on here? How can we explain the lack of sexual frequency in a generation that has had more access to sexual materials and embodies more sexually permissive attitudes than any before them? The way I see it, we might not be having quite as much intercourse, but we are having different types of sex, including oral sex, anal sex and self-stimulation. We are changing what it means to orgasm, and with whom and how frequently.
Thanks to the vast array of available pornography, sex toys and virtual sex options like sexting, webcamming and virtual partners, we don’t really need a partner on deck to make us orgasm. We’ve actually become excellent at doing it ourselves!
Sex Positive: Redefining our Attitudes to Love and Sex by Dr Kelly Neff is out now.
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