how to get in the mood when youre too stressed for sex

Many people turn to food, drink, or exercise for comfort, but sex can actually be one of the best ways to relax and unwind. The problem is that stress can often zap your desire for sexual connection.

Between work, family, and life’s many other demands, sex can quickly fall to the bottom of a person’s to-do list. Even when stressed-out couples do have time to connect physically, they are often so tired, worried and disconnected that sex is the last thing on their minds.

It seems that stress might also affect men and women differently. For a long time, we believed that men and women both went into “fight-or-flight” mode when faced with stressful situations, as this is what early humans would have done when confronted with dangers, such as wild animals.

However, anthropologists now believe that women actually go into “tend-or-befriend” mode when stressed. The division of labor in the early days of humankind meant that men often went out to hunt while women stayed “home” with the children. When dangerous situations arose, women weren’t out battling a saber-toothed tiger but rather caring for the young and bonding with other women in their tribe.