How Depression Can Affect Your Sex Life

Depression is a very common disease and affects every aspect of your life including your physical relation to your partner.  Depression and some antidepressants curb sexual drive. This has a negative effect on the depression as sex releases 'happy hormones'. Thus, depression and your sex life share a cyclic relationship. The effect of depression on your sex life is a result of both brain functioning and physical changes in the body. Women are more likely to suffer from a reduced libido as an effect of depression. 

When it comes to depression and your sex life, there is no universal form of treatment. However, it is important not to stop treatment for depression in fear of a lowered libido. The sexual side effects can be addressed later.

Here are a few things you can do to improve your sex life:
Ask your doctor to adjust medication
In cases where the antidepressant curbs libido, lowering or adjusting the drug dosage can be a solution to treat the depression without curbing sexual desire. Do not attempt to adjust your medication on your own. Your doctor may also change the drug to another that does not affect your sex drive. You could also try adjusting the schedule of drug intake such that you medicate yourself after sex. Alternatively, you could ask your doctor to prescribe medication such as Viagra to boost your libido. 

If your curbed libido is an effect of the depression itself, antidepressants may help you enjoy sex more. You should know that anti depressants can take a few months to have an effect.

Break the pattern
Depression often makes a person withdraw from others and cease to enjoy any experience. This becomes a thought pattern that cannot be cured with medication. Talking to a counselor can help unlearn these thought patterns and help people form new social bonds. As part of the treatment, the patient will need to find and explore new ways of enjoying sex that can strengthen strained relationships. 

Talk to your partner
Having an open conversation with your partner is key to improving relationships and one's sex life. Talk about your sexual needs and help your partner understand your mental barriers to sex. Find forms of foreplay that appeal to both of you. It is also important for you and your partner to understand that there is no 'standard' to how often you should have sex or how you should feel after it.