How Can Mental Illness Impact My Intimate Relationships?
Mental illness and intimate relationships do go hand-in-hand. Because sexual desire stems from the brain, it’s no surprise that one’s mental health can swing their arousal and libido in overdrive or eliminate it altogether; in some cases, this can lead to partners having mismatched libidos. When it comes to mental illness and love, though, this doesn’t mean that you’re not ready for a relationship.
Yes, mental and sexual health are often deeply connected, resulting in heightened arousal or sexual dysfunction. However, as you learn more about the effects of mental health on sex drive, have better conversations with your sex partner(s), and get to know your body better, it will start to make more sense.
Here are some of the most common mental illnesses and how they can affect a person’s arousal levels and desire for intimate connection. They’ve been listed in alphabetical order.
Alzheimer’s disease
Folks with Alzheimer’s often maintain their sex drive before their diagnosis. However, as the disease progresses, they may show an increased desire for sexual contact, including physical contact with strangers (e.g., touching, kissing, and hugging).
Anorexia nervosa
Because the brain is starved due to malnutrition, anorexia can cause a drop in hormonal levels linked with sexual functioning. In turn, this can negatively affect a person’s libido, including causing difficulty in reaching orgasm.
Bipolar disorder
When in a manic episode, someone with bipolar may experience a sudden burst in sexual impulses and desires. This can be quite different from their baseline behaviour, but should never result in slut-shaming.
Note: this can also be a response linking hypersexuality and trauma.
Depression
When you think of mental illness and intimate relationships, depression often comes to mind. Because chronic depression can affect all areas of a person’s life, their sex drive is no exception. Depressive episodes often result in a drop in both overall mood and libido. Talking to your partner about your needs can help mitigate this. As well, a potential treatment is a dopamine agonist, which are drugs that cause hypersexuality.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
GAD can cause a lowered libido and sense of desire, due to higher levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) that decrease sex hormones. However, an interesting sex fact is that actually doing it can relieve stress!
Huntington’s disease
Often, folks living with Huntington’s Disease experience a drastic drop in their libido, alongside behavioural changes like depression and apathy. However, it can also result in a spike in sex drive and even uncharacteristically inappropriate sexual behaviours in some cases.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Due to distractions caused by external stimuli, it can be challenging for a person with OCD to become sexually aroused. Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy is one way to work through these intrusive thoughts to have a more fulfilling sex life, and open communication with a partner is always a good idea.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
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While trauma does not always affect a person’s sex drive, it can often be a symptom of PTSD. This often results in setting up essential relationship boundaries, whether surrounding masturbation, sexual intercourse, or anything in between.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia can affect people differently. For some, hypersexuality is a symptom, while for others, a sexual dysfunction is evident. It is also possible for sexual disinhibition to arise as a symptom; this is sexual activity that is socially or contextually improper.
Social anxiety disorder
With a social phobia, anxiety can negatively impact pleasure, sexual desire, and satisfaction. Aspects like arousal and reaching climax suffer, but making your anxious partner a priority and considering untraditional relationships may be a solution.
While there isn’t always a clear (or possible) way to boost your libido and improve your sex life when it comes to mental illness and relationships, having a deeper understanding of mental and sexual health is a necessary starting point. Whether you are in a short-term relationship with someone or a long-term, healthy relationship, being aware of yourself and your partner’s desires (or lack thereof) are critical. In fact, they’re necessary in order to have mutual, enthusiastic consent from everyone involved in any sexual acts.
As you begin to explore the topics of mental health and love — or, more simply, mental health and sex — you can learn more about the connection and correlation between the two. Remember: there are ways to build intimacy without sex, and while maintaining passion in a relationship through sexual activity is important, it’s not necessarily required at every step of the way.
How do you find mental illness and intimate relationships affect one another? In what ways do mental and sexual health overlap? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
