- Going without wanted physical touch can have adverse health impacts like increased anxiety and trouble sleeping, experts say.
- No physical intimacy can also lead to touch starvation, which can contribute to loneliness, isolation, and even compromise your immune system.
An estimated 23% of Americans say they went all year without sex in 2021, according to a report from General Social Survey (GSS).
Going for long periods without sex or intimate touch can be more than just frustrating.
Three sex therapists and psychologists explained to Insider exactly what kind of ramifications they see in people who don't experience sexual contact for a long period of time, from heightened anxiety to sleeplessness.
Orgasms can provide anxiety relief, boost immunity, and help you sleep better
According to Dr. Rachel Needle, psychologist and co-director of Modern Sex Therapy Institutes, having sex can be positive for people's physical and mental health.
It helps you sleep better, decreasing pain, lowering stress, lessening anxiety and depression, and more. Symptoms arise at different times based on people's needs and can show up anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.
Needle said these benefits are so important that people who can't have partnered sex should still be masturbating and having orgasms.
"Orgasm releases endorphins which can help decrease stress, at least temporarily, and lead to positive feelings making us happier," Needle said. "So even if you aren't having partnered sex, if you want to continue having these benefits, find ways to keep having orgasms."
Without physical intimacy, you could develop 'touch starvation'
Because having sex has so many health benefits, not being able to have it when you want to can have many health consequences.
People who have gone months without being able to safely have physical intimacy can develop skin hunger and touch starvation — which can weaken your immune system and lead to elevated rates of depression and anxiety.
"When those who would like to be having sex and are used to having it regularly experience a lack of sexual intimacy, the opposite can occur in the form of detrimental effects to mental, emotional, and physical health resulting in a variety of symptoms; and feelings of isolation, insecurity, and lowered self-esteem," Dr. Dulcinea Pitagora, a NYC-based psychotherapist and sex therapist, told Insider.
Sex goes beyond desire — it can be a way people find community
Aside from physical intimacy, Susannah Hyland, a NYC-based therapist who uses she/they pronouns, told Insider having sex can be incredibly important for people looking to build community like queer and polyamorous people or those in the kink community.
"I think that specifically for queer people, it's a really hard thing to be physically isolated from our communities and chosen families," Hyland said. "Especially trans communities, because there's so much camaraderie, validation, bonding, mirroring, attachment — such good stuff that we get from each other. In friendship, and sex, and in love."
While monogamous, cisgender, straight people might be more inclined to already live with their partner, Hyland said people who are polyamorous and date multiple people may be less inclined to live with any of their partners.
Rediscovering partnered sex can be difficult but worthwhile
According to Pitagora, some people who are averse to changes might find it difficult to rediscover sex after a long period of not having sex.
Introspection during a no-sex period could actually help someone have sexual growth and self-discovery before they jump back into partnered sex, said Pitagora.
Though it might be daunting to consider what a post-quarantine sex life might look like, Pitagora also said they think it could be an opportunity for people to think critically about their wants and sexual desires.
"I would also say that people could experience a sort of euphoria when constraints are lifted, and they have the opportunity to explore their sexuality in ways they may have held back before," Pitagora said.