Women, Alcohol and Sexuality

Women, Alcohol and Sexuality

Does alcohol play any role in influencing the sexuality of a person? Well, this is a much debated question. In the case of women, alcohol consumption may increase the subjective sexual desire, though it does lower physiological arousal and disinhibit sexual behavior. Many studies reveal that it causes sexual behavioral changes for a handful of women. So let’s take a deeper look into the subject of women, alcohol, and sexuality!
In most women, alcohol use and risky sexual behavior are connected, but there isn’t any such association when you examine alcohol consumption for individual instances.

The Alcohol Connection

In the early stage, the control centers of brain are depressed under the influence of alcohol, which may contribute to an increase in sexual desire for women. Such a state may make it easier for them to initiate sexual experiences. Not only this, alcohol tends to dilate blood vessels, enhancing your sense of sexual adequacy, warmth, and well-being.
A deeper stage of alcoholism causes other sexual changes. A woman may experience lowered sexual desire, with a drop in testosterone levels. Testosterone hormone is responsible for mediating sexual desire and functioning. In the middle stage of alcoholism, a woman is more likely to experience less lubrication and impairment of her capacity to reach orgasm.
In the late stage of intoxication from alcohol, a woman may experience major physiological changes, such as irregular/unpredictable menstrual cycle. Liver damage from long-term alcohol use can affect estrogen metabolism. Such a state can cause complete termination of ovulation and menstruation, atrophy or shrinkage of vaginal walls, resulting in little lubrication.
Further, alcohol abuse can have adverse effect on the woman in combination with certain medications, as alcohol can interact with narcotics, sedatives, and antihypertensives, causing sexual difficulties.
Gradually, physiological effects of alcoholism start to hinder the sexual response cycle, resulting in sexual dysfunctions, including orgasmic dysfunction, inhibited desire, vaginismus, and dyspareunia.

Psychological Effects of Alcoholism

While the pharmacological action of alcohol causes affects sexual functioning, other factors may also contribute to sexual dysfunction in combination with alcoholism.  A woman’s personality, history, her relationship with partner, and feelings about herself all play a role in affecting sexual function. It is a common tendency for alcoholic women to experience low self-esteem, high levels of guilt, and general loss of power, all of which become psychological stumbling blocks that inhibit them from enjoying sexuality.
However, some researchers believe that blaming alcohol too much for the way your sex life plays out or giving it the credit for a satisfactory sexual experience isn’t appropriate.  They claim that it is your thoughts that play a role in your sexual behavior more than intoxication. So as far as women, alcohol, and sexuality are concerned, it is an interconnection between your thought process and alcoholism that affects a woman’s sexuality!