This year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, family members got to spend a lot of happy and quality time together at home. But the period of lockdown also resulted in mental pressure, fear of uncertainty and anxiety for most people. All this greatly affected people’s personal relationships and also led to marital discord. According to psychiatrists and marriage counselors, stress and anxiety in life became the reason for lack of pleasurable sexual relationships between the couples. But despite this, the statistics of women getting pregnant during this period increased significantly. While the year 2020 is ending, let us look back at the crimes, problems and most talked-about topics or trends related to sexual life.
Increased Cases Of Sexual Violence And Marital Rape
According to the National Commission for Women, incidents of sexual violence and marital rape among women increased during the COVID-19 lockdown and the psychiatrists too complained that amongst the incidents of female violence, sexual violence accounted to the highest percentage during this time. They also state that during lockdown incidents of marital rape increased and it probably also led to unwanted pregnancies in women.
Interruptions In The Treatment Of Infertility
People who were experiencing infertility problems or were taking any kind of fertility treatment, their treatment was either delayed or hindered due to complete lockdown and unavailability of medicines on time.
Increased viewership on porn sites and soft porn serving OTT platforms
Due to the closure of offices, schools and cinemas during lock down, this year, many people became addicted to watching porn as a means of entertainment. Apart from this, there was also an increase in the trend of watching movies or TV series available on the OTT platforms, whos content was full of crime and sex.
Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI)
Although the incidents of having unprotected sex with more than one person decreased during the entire lockdown, but the lockdown during pandemic majorly affected the sexual life of people suffering from STIs and their partners. Since protective methods like condoms were not available during lockdown, sexual activities between them were hindered. Apart from this, there was a shortage in the availability of medicines for STIs, which affected people’s sexual life.
Increased Trend of Sexting
Since people were not allowed to step out of their homes and meet others, youngsters as well as adults indulged into activities like sexting, i.e. sending sexually explicit pictures, videos or text messages virtually or having phone sex, to satisfy their sexual desires.
Sexual Problems Faced By Men
This year a large number of women and men consulted experts regarding problems related to their sexual health. Some of the problems faced by men included:
- Erectile Dysfunction
A problem faced by men, in which they are unable to have an erection during sexual intercourse, which affects their physical relationship with their partner. It can also lead to problems like infertility. Generally, men do face this problem at some point in their life. The reason for it can be both physical or psychological. - Premature Ejaculation
Premature ejaculation means early discharge in men during sex. This can happen due to many reasons such as nervousness or stress of not performing well during sexual intercourse, life-related stress, unresolved issues in a relationship or depression. - Loss Of Libido
Both women and men may face this problem. Decreased sex drive or libido is common and can occur due to many reasons such as relationship issues, stress, anxiety or side effects of a medication, etc.
Sexual problems faced by women
Here are some of the problems faced by women:
Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)
UTI is one of the common problems faced by women, which is a bacterial infection in the vagina or urinary tract in women. Women may face problems like burning sensation during urination, high fever as well as discomfort during sexual intercourse.
Decreased desire for physical contact
Sometimes, due to various reasons, the sex drive in women may start decreasing or completely end. The reasons can be both physical as well as psychological. Some of them are:
- Relationship problems between the two
- Depression
- Pre-existing mental or physical trauma
- Fatigue
- Hormones imbalance
- Excessive consumption of alcohol or other drugs
- Certain medications
- Decline in natural testosterone levels
Problems in achieving orgasm
This problem can be seen in two ways: first when a woman has never attained extreme orgasm and second, when a woman has had orgasm in the past but is no longer able to have it. Apart from lack of awareness or being afraid of sexual activities, there can be many reasons for this problem including:
- Hesitance in openly communicating with the partner
- Loss of excitement
- Relationship problems
- Stress and depression
- A prior painful sexual experience
- Problems related to clitoris
- Pain during sexual intercourse
Pain during sexual intercourse
There may be several reasons for pain during sexual activity, but usually the main cause of this problem can be Vaginismus. In this, the muscles in and around the vagina start to twitch and it becomes painful or almost impossible to have sex. Apart from this, any kind of injury in the vagina during delivery or due to any accident can also cause pain during contact.
Sexual intercourse after menopause
Pain in sexual activity after menopause is another common problem because at this stage, the level of estrogen hormone in the body decreases due to which the skin of the vagina becomes dry.
Therefore, all these problems are quite common at some point in a man or woman’s life and one must not hesitate in openly talking about it to their partner or visiting a doctor if required. If certain symptoms are persistent, contact an expert immediately to avoid further complications. A healthy and happy sexual life can keep you stress-free and glowing.
