Although it shouldn’t come as a surprise, a new poll has revealed that Covid-related stress and anxiety has taken its heavy toll on the sex lives of Americans (and, no doubt, Canadians as well).
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Even with infection rates going down in Canada, we’re still in the thick of a pandemic. (Just ask the US and their rising cases.) We’ve only just started to graze the surface of investigating the various stresses and non-Covid health issues that have flared up since March 2020. But what about our sex lives? In a recent study conducted by OnePoll (on behalf of Foria, a sexual wellness brand), 2,000 sexually active Americans opened up about love-making in lockdown.
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Of those surveyed, 56 per cent of participants admitted that their anxiety over the state of the world put a damper on their sex lives. As in, they felt they’d lost their drive and desire due, in large part, to job losses and struggling to make ends meet. Of that same 56 per cent, 60 per cent admitted to having less sex during pandemic in general, regardless of whether or not they lived with a partner.
And it didn’t stop there: A significant portion of respondents (60 per cent, to be exact) revealed that they struggled to get into the groove when it came to sexy time, admitting to feeling “in their head” and distracted during the act. This could also go to explain why 56 per cent also felt additional stress over whether or not their performance was meeting their partners’ expectations. This could be due to the fact that 60 per cent admitted to rushing foreplay to get to penetrative sex faster.
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“Heightened stress impacts your nervous system, and your body will enter fight, flight, or freeze mode. Your nervous system communicates to your body that survival is the priority, and sex and libido are deprioritized on a biological level,” Kiana Reeves, somatic sex educator and Foria’s Chief Brand Officer, said in a press release.
That being said, a whopping 75 per cent of those polled admitted it was “extremely” or “very” important to work through their sexual anxiety.
“Stress levels can also impact your level of arousal, as well as lubrication, desire, and more, so addressing stress levels first is key,” Reeves added.
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