Most people aren’t thinking about sex as a biological process full of scientific potential, but we are here to tell you that maybe you should be. Sex has much more benefit to the body aside from just the physical pleasure it may give us.  Sex, and orgasms, are big events in the body.  These events act both mentally and physically on our bodies to induces feelings of positivity and make us happier. Sex combats mental fatigue, anxiety, and depression, and thus leads to a happier us.  Let’s explore how sex is more than just something that makes us “feel good”.

There are hormonal changes:

You can think of sex and orgasms as the ultimate body high.  Besides the increase in blood flow and heart rate, having sex floods the blood stream with hormones.  Sex releases hormones such as oxytocin and dehydroepiandrosterone, both of which are stress-reducing brain chemicals.  Both these hormones have been shown to reduce depression.

Oxytocin also serves another purpose, which is aiding us in sleep. This hormone has been referred to as a strong sleep-aid because of its power to release endorphins, or the brain’s “feel good” chemicals.  On its own, adequate sleep has been shown to make us happier.  Adding sex to the equation enhanced the already beneficial effect of sleep on our bodies and mind.

Sex can be thought of as a sort of meditation:

If nothing else, sex gets you out of own mind and forces you to focus on the physical matters at hand.  This action of being both mentally and physically present helps to reduce stress in a similar way physical exercise does. According to some research, happiness occurs when you are fully engaged both mentally and physically in the experiences.  On the contrary, we are less happy when we are distracted by thoughts, or doubts regardless of the activity we are engaged in.

Sex naturally calm us down and puts us in a better mood:

While sex is not a cure for anxiety, orgasms can help us relieve tension and make us calmer overall. Sex can reduce levels of cortisol, the "fight or flight” hormone, and lower blood pressure – both reducing the amount of anxiety we feel.  This all ties back to the flood of relaxing hormones that occurs during sex.  The effect is both mentally and physically relaxing.  Furthermore, sex can boost your self-esteem, especially when you are having sex regularly.  When you feel good about yourself, this increased overall happiness.