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sex is our physiological needMany believe that sex is as much a physiological need as food, sleep, air and water. But is this really so and in what cases, because of the dissatisfaction of our real needs, sexual desire fades into the background? We are publishing an excerpt that breaks sexual stereotypes from “Intimacy. Visit this to get more details.
Let's look at the definition of a physiological need: "A physiological need is a need that is essential for the physical survival of a person." Such needs work as biological mechanisms to maintain homeostasis in the body. In other words, if such a need is not satisfied for a long time, then the discomfort becomes very strong, and then the vital activity of the organism stops. We are not able to consciously refuse breathing and sleep for more than a certain time - these needs are satisfied reflexively. Hunger, as a sign of an unmet need for food, prompts us to seek food. Physiological needs are aimed at the survival of the organism. Sex is different. Despite the fact that for a long time scientists considered sex to be a physiological need of a person (for example, Helen Kaplan determined sexual attraction), in 1956 psychologist Frank Beach in his article "Characteristics of male sexual attraction" convincingly showed that this is not so. When it comes to a biological need, we are driven by a feeling of discomfort (for example, hunger), and satisfying the need means returning to a basic state. On the contrary, sexual attraction belongs to the reward system: we are driven not by discomfort, but by the desire to get pleasure. (By the way, when we want not just to eat, but to eat something specific, tasty, this also does not apply to biological need and is called not hunger, but appetite.) A conservative guess can be made. Most likely, the idea that sex is a physiological need (along with food and sleep) came about because sexology has long focused on the problems of men. It is they, according to many authors, who experience physical suffering from lack of sex. But what is this physiological need that exists only in half of the population? A 2013 Bangkok study argues that the perception of sex as a “vital need for men” is one of the causes of sexual aggression against women. Perhaps changing social stereotypes in this area will lead our culture to a decrease in the acceptance of sexual abuse. You can object to me by saying that many have had situations in their lives when the absence of sex was perceived extremely uncomfortable, including at the level of bodily sensations. Doesn't that make sex a physiological need? Still no. Discomfort in such situations is associated not so much with the lack of sex or its cancellation, but with frustration. We want to experience pleasure, but when we face failure over and over again, we feel frustrated, frustrated, and angry. Our bodily sensations at this moment can also cause us suffering, but they are not the same as being intensely thirsty in the absence of water. They can be survived, and even a long absence of sex or numerous failures do not trigger a cascade of physiological processes in the body that leads to death. Much stronger in this situation is our mental dissatisfaction due to the fact that we cannot get what we want. |