Why Sex Is Good for Men’s Mental Health

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On September 7, 2025

It is well known that sex is good for men’s physical health. Among other things, research has found that men who have sex more frequently tend to have lower blood pressure, a reduced risk of heart attacks, and a longer lifespan. But sex isn’t just good for the body—it’s also good for men’s mental, emotional, and relationship health.

In this article, we’re going to explore some of the ways in which regular sexual activity can help to boost men’s psychological well-being and strengthen the emotional connection they have with their partners.

Stress Relief Through Sex

Everyday life is full of stressors. Between the constant grind of work, family and home responsibilities, economic struggles, and political strife, it’s easy to feel perpetually stressed, anxious, and burnt out. When people think about stress relief, they often gravitate toward things like massage, exercise, or mindfulness and meditation practices. And while those things can certainly help, it turns out that sex is also quite effective at relieving feelings of stress.

Research has found that on days couples have sex, they report feeling less stressed the next day. There are multiple reasons for this, which we’ll discuss in more detail below, but they include the fact that sex (especially when accompanied by orgasm) can help us to fall asleep faster and get better quality sleep. In addition, neurochemicals released during sex, such as dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins, are soothing and promote feelings of pleasure and connection. At the same time, sex also blunts release of the stress hormone cortisol, which can help prevent the body from going into “fight or flight” mode.

Sex and mental health are more closely connected than you might think. So think about sex as an all-natural stress relief remedy. Although stress often has the effect of reducing sexual desire, sex can actually be quite therapeutic during times of high stress.

Sex Improves Mood and Emotional Wellbeing

Odds are, if you’ve had sex, you’ve probably noticed that you feel pretty good afterwards. Colloquially, this is referred to as “afterglow,” and it’s a real thing. Sex gives us a boost in mood that actually lasts for a few days.

In a longitudinal study of couples, researchers found that on the days people had sex, they experienced an increase in happiness that lasted for about 48 hours. So what accounts for that? As noted above, it likely has a lot to do with the brain chemicals released upon orgasm and the stress-relieving properties of sex. Sex and happiness just go hand-in-hand.

And those positive feelings transcend the bedroom. Other research has found that when people have sex on one day, they actually report being happier and more productive in the workplace the following day. In other words, having regular sex just might make us better at our jobs and make the act of going to work more tolerable.

How Sex Improves Confidence

When we hear about ways of boosting men’s self-confidence, the first thing that typically comes to mind involves hitting the gym. Working on your physique can indeed go a long way toward feeling good about yourself, but seeing yourself in the mirror with bulging muscles isn’t necessarily enough.

It turns out that regular sex is a really big confidence builder because it can make you feel desired and attractive. Contrary to popular belief, sex isn’t just a physical act for men, it’s also an emotional one. Men (just like women) want to feel desired.

Knowing that someone else wants to have sex with you can be very validating. It can make you feel wanted, sexy, and skilled in the bedroom, which can increase feelings of self-worth. And when we feel more confident in bed, we tend to feel more confident out of bed, too.

Does Sex Help With Sleep?

As mentioned above, sex before sleep can help us to feel better rested the next day. Those post-sex feelings of calm and release can make it easier to both fall asleep and get a full night of rest.

Getting quality sleep is very important for emotional wellbeing. When we aren’t well rested, well, we aren’t very happy. We’re irritable. We lack patience. We’re just not at our best. And research bears this out: when people aren’t sleeping well, they have poorer workplace performance and quality of life.

If we want more (and better) sleep, having more sex can actually help quite a lot. And if you don’t have a partner, masturbation can usually work just as well. However, it’s worth noting that the link between sex and sleep goes both ways: sex can help us get better sleep, but better sleep can also promote more sexual desire.

Sex and Emotional Connection

One of the key neurochemicals released during sex and orgasm is oxytocin. This hormone, often referred to as the “love drug” or “love hormone” in the popular media, makes us feel connected to and bonded with our partners.

In this way, sex can be seen as the “glue” in a relationship. It’s an act that helps to strengthen intimacy and create emotional safety via oxytocin. Interestingly, research finds that oxytocin levels synch between partners after sex, which reflects the powerful way that this hormone promotes intimacy.

It’s for this very reason that when sex disappears in a relationship, the partners don’t just feel physically disconnected—they feel emotionally disconnected, too. Most people need a certain level of physical intimacy in their relationship if they also want to experience emotional intimacy.

Sex and Relationship Health

Having a satisfying sex life can go a long way toward establishing trust and effective communication in a relationship. For one thing, having sex and expressing your sexual wants and needs are acts of vulnerability. And when we are able to be vulnerable with a partner, we are able to feel safe.

In addition, while talking about sex is something that many people find to be challenging, mastering the art of sexual communication can actually help you to communicate more effectively outside of the bedroom. After all, sex can be one of the most difficult topics to discuss, so if you can learn to be comfortable talking about that, it’s going to become all that much easier to discuss other difficult topics.

In this way, sex represents an emotional investment in your relationship that can boost your overall relationship health.

Conclusions

The benefits of sex go far beyond physical health, and far beyond the bedroom, too, for that matter. From reducing anxiety to boosting mood and confidence to improving sleep and strengthening relationships, sex is a powerful tool that men can tap into in order to bolster and improve their mental health, as well as the health of their relationships.

In light of this, it’s essential to encourage open discussions around men’s sexual wellness and for healthcare professionals to address sexual health as a routine part of patient care. By normalizing conversations about sex and addressing common sexual difficulties, we can help more men to access the mental, emotional, and relational benefits of a fulfilling sex life.

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