Sexuality and Being Bipolar: A Guest Blog by Jon Press
I posed the following question to several of my Bp buds: What impact has your bipolar diagnosis and treatment had on your sex life?
“Bipolar has influenced sexually addictive behaviors particularly around pornography and other online activities. When I’m manic, I’m impulsive. My inhibitions disappear and I make decisions that I later regret. When I am depressed, I seek out sex to medicate the pain.”
“In periods of mania or hypomania, I find myself feeling extremely sexual. I have more energy and desire to pursue these means. This leads to more confidence, and well, more sex. However, the exact same applies when I experience a period of depression. I find that my sex drive diminishes significantly. I lack of confidence and a decreased sense of self-worth.”
“When I’m manic, I have a high sex drive. When I am depressed, I don’t even know what sex or being in the mood feels like.”
“The mania can obviously spark your sex drive and make it almost impossible to completely satisfy, which some women love. On the other hand though, the depression can totally kill it. For me, I’ve had problems in my past during bouts of depression where my ex’s have literally said, “You’re a guy, how could you possibly not want sex all the time?”
Medication: Sexual side effects
“Certain medications have impacted the functionality of all the fun….cough, cough. However, I have not noticed this side effect for all medications. In addition, fitness and exercise has been a huge part of my treatment, which has helped improve every aspect of my sex life.”
Many of us have had similar experiences ranging from delayed orgasm to erectile dysfunction. After much trial and error, the majority of us have found the right medication without intolerable sexual side effects. However, if forced to choose between sexual satisfaction or mental/emotional stability (which is sometimes a life or death decision), we would opt for the latter.
Has your diagnosis and treatment had an impact on your sex life?
Jon Press is a husband, father, and coffee addict living in the Chicago suburbs. He blogs regularly for Bp Magazine for Bipolar, www.bphope.com.
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