Engaging in sex can be daunting for many reasons: you can be mixing the emotional with the physical and get yourself into more than you had planned on or perhaps you have reservations about how to even go about sex in the first place. 'Is my partner enjoying it?', 'Am I doing it right?', 'Am I talking too much or not enough?' Whatever the apprehension, the dynamics of navigating sexual encounters can be very tricky, so what happens when you decide to mix drugs into the equation?
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We're sure you've heard one of your mates talk about a crazy night out on Molly and the subsequent crazy sex he had while on the mind-altering substance and perhaps it got you wondering if it's truly as mind-blowing as they say it is.
How does MDMA affect sex?
Well, according to medical experts, there is concrete scientific evidence that explains why and how MDMA can be conducive to euphoric sexual experiences but by no means are these experiences necessarily encouraged.
Psychologist Anne Wagner, founder of Remedy,a centre for mental health innovation and research on MDMA explains that MDMA impacts a whole host of neurotransmitters as well as hormones that ultimately affect the way we have sex while under the effects of the drug.
First, MDMA impacts the brain chemical known as norepinephrine which is responsible for how the brain pays attention to and responds to events which—by extension—can increase your heart rate and blood pressure. Second, dopamine, which plays a key role in how we perceive pleasure, is so heavily impacted that it can deplete all your reserves leading you to the inevitable 'crash' that is felt once the drug has run its course. Finally, serotonin levels (that which regulates mood, social behaviour and sexual desire, among other things) are altered in the process.
Superficially heightened in quality
All of this translates to less inhibited perceptions of yourself in relation to sex meaning that what you are experiencing is superficially heightened in quality. Dr Wagner says:
It may also be that your own negative feelings towards yourself take a longer time to activate, so you might feel less fear in a group of people, and therefore, experience more sexual arousal and may also feel empathically connected to multiple people at once.
In other words, if the idea of having an orgy normally terrifies you, MDMA will act as a sort of social lubricant that will lower your guard and inspire incredible amounts of sexual arousal.
Although this might not sound so bad, sex experts believe that one should not rely on the drug to fulfill their sexual needs or desires. Basically, if it happens then let it happen without feeling the need to perpetually repeat the experience because it will only leave you seeking that dangerously unattainable 'first high', similar to other drugs.
