Mental sex

I know this from spending time in the SANE forums where anonymity gives rise to a rare honesty. Recently, a member wrote about her difficulties with sex. She's in a loving relationship but past trauma affects her feelings and responses during sex. She was trying to navigate a strong sexual drive that often ended in deep distress as her past caught up with her present.

Error: This is required. Error: Not a valid value. Sexuality is deeply personal and can be complex. It is about your sexual feelings and attractions, not just who you have sex with. Your sexuality can change over time.

A reminder that this article from our magazine Visions was published more than 1 year ago. It is here for reference only. Some information in it may no longer be current. It also represents the point of the view of the author only.

Risk taking among adolescents is of great concern to health professionals. Most of the morbidity among young people is related to behaviours that result in unintentional or intentional injuries, drug and alcohol misuse, tobacco use, sexual behaviour, diet, and physical inactivity. Against this background, the observation in the paper by Ramrakha and colleagues p of the strong correlation between psychiatric disorders, substance misuse, and risky sexual behaviour in a birth cohort of 21 year olds is important. Ramrakha et al's work is part of the Dunedin study, a multidisciplinary, population based study of a birth cohort that uses a diverse range of measures, including those for diagnosing mental health disorders. The study has reported comorbid psychiatric conditions in children and adolescents and has explored aspects of adolescent risk taking and delinquency.