Why do marriages become sexless? Marriages become sexless for a variety of reasons. Common reasons are a lack of desire, postpartum depression, frequent marital conflict, or a recent marital crisis or personal crisis that has impacted the client.
The short answer is that yes, a sexless marriage can survive – but it can come at a cost. If one partner desires sex but the other is uninterested, lack of sex can lead to decreased intimacy and connection, feelings of resentment and even infidelity.
Some reasons for a sexless marriage include the health of partner's emotional intimacy, sexual dysfunction, medical conditions, mental health struggles, differing sex drives, overall marital satisfaction, poor communication, and much more.
There are a few common reasons why couples develop a lack of intimacy. Stress is the most common reason. Stress can come from various sources such as pressure from work, child care, and financial troubles in the family. There are several studies that show the link between stress and a decrease in sex drive.
Anxiety, stress, and depression are also common sexless marriage effects on the husband. When a husband is denied sex at home for a long time, his mental health is likely to deteriorate from stress, overthinking, and inability to release the feel-good hormone from sex.
Self-Esteem Issues
Where physical intimacy is lacking, this can cause self-esteem problems. If your partner shows no interest in you physically, you might feel like they're not attracted to you anymore, and this can cause you to question yourself.
According to one study, approximately 15 percent of married couples are sexless: Spouses haven't had sex with each other in the past six months to one year.
Neglect is a major reason couples struggle to maintain intimacy. Time and energy are taken away from the relationship because of work, hobbies, children, or even other relationships. Any violation of trust will produce negative consequences in a couple's intimacy. A common example is infidelity.
Is a sexless relationship healthy? Yes, sexless relationships can absolutely be healthy. "Some people are perfectly happy without sex, so there is no problem. And even when sex is a problem, the rest of the relationship can be healthy," says Zimmerman.
The survey of 1,000 people in relationships, by Bad Girls Bible, found most people are willing to wait 18 months in a sexless relationship before calling it quits. The study also found that 1 in 20 people have cheated because their partner refused sex.
Depression, anxiety, stress, and other mental health issues are all linked to lower libido, as are some antidepressants. If your wife is struggling with any mental health issues, she may be less interested in sex at the moment.
A warning sign to look for is that you've just lost all interest. It may not be that your relationship is growing but that you've gotten to know the person better and just don't feel like it's a fit. With the initial spark gone, you may realize that it's the wrong person for you. Can love fade away and come back?
The truth is, there are plenty of adverse sexless marriage effects on women. Such effects include: Feeling a loss of emotional intimacy/connection/friendship to her partner. Low self-esteem.
Some might avoid maintaining relationships, pull back from conflicts, or hold back from being emotionally close to the other person. Others may react intensely to situations, such as being controlling or overly critical, using guilt on their partner to express hurt, or being clingy.
Sometimes your partner may be giving you less affection than you'd like. In these cases, your partner may just require and prefer to give different levels of affection than you. In some cases, your partner could be trying to deal with effects that come with anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
People are generally affectionate with the people they love, and the sudden or gradual disappearance of that affection may be the first sign that a person is falling out of love. "A big sign is when he stops doing the little things that he did 'just because,'" marriage therapist Racine Henry, Ph. D., LMFT, tells mbg.
But the best way to break your sexless cycle is to be open and honest with each other. Let your partner know you are willing to leave behind expectations in order to have an intimate experience with them. In every relationship, there is a higher and lower desire partner.
Sexless marriage and divorce rates
According to some data, the divorce rate is around 50%.
Those in deep attachment take the final step to stage 5. Commitment. At this stage, couples have a strong understanding of each other's values and goals for the future. They've decided they're in it for the long haul and in a relationship with each other's family and friends, too.