A Woman's Passion Is Neurochemically Enhanced By Stress

[BDSM_Tourguide]

... because at the time, I could not make an informed opinion. Now I can and my official response is:

Bull-(you fill in the last four letters)

Having seen first hand the effects of stress on a woman's libido, I know now that, in at least one case I know of personally, stress does NOT enhance a woman's passion. In fact, it does the complete opposite and tends to kill any sexual/romantic desire that was present before the element of stress was introduced.

So, from my own perspective, this piece was... well, a piece.

[yellowrose]

Stress on a woman's body is more apt to stop her menstrual cycles then to enhance her fertility. It is a survival mechanism.

During times of high physical stress even without the presence of malnutrition a woman will cease her cycles. This is seen often in women athletes. The body reacts in much the same way to intense emotional stress.

As for the "medical" data gathered during the Nazi's regimen in WW2, it must be remembered that the men performing these experiments were intent on proving race superiority. That the data may be skewed by these views have to be considered.

[Curtis]

I am not going to dispute that stress can affect menstrual cycles, but in the specific case of athletes the reason they start 'skipping' is that their bodyfat drops below a certain percentage.

[yellowrose]

Your correct Curtis but it has also been seen in women of nomadic tribes during moves without the lower body fat and in women undergoing high levels of stress.

Since the human body doesn't differentiate wether a stress is physical or emotional the results are much the same. It is also why the sustained "fight or flight" response during emtional stress is so harmful over time. It is there for short term increased reactions to save us, but when it continues over time due to emotional stress it becomes very harmful to the body.

Based on what I know of women's reproduction and the bodies reactions to stressors I strongly doubt that a woman has an increased chance of becoming pregnant during a rape.

[BDSM_Tourguide]

I am not going to dispute that stress can affect menstrual cycles, but in the specific case of athletes the reason they start 'skipping' is that their bodyfat drops below a certain percentage.

Yes, and let's also not foget the hormone replacement therapies that most female athletes undergo for training. Testosterone is not a banned substance by the IOC or any other governing athletic body. And it will turn off a woman's period in a blink.

[jaeangel]

I think I got the spelling of that right. It's called 'amenorrhea'; missing a period or several in times of stress. And weight loss seems to be a side effect, not a cause. I haven't had a period since Thanksgiving,right before we moved; in the fuss and hassle of moving, the Christmas holidays, and my husband's wandering thoughts along with various other social and intimate pressures, i haven't had one in a few months. No, I'm not pregnant; I had myself 'spayed' after the birth of my second child. So the only other possibility is stress-induced amenorrhea, accompanied by weight loss (I've dropped one pant size since Thanksgiving). So I have to say, in my experience...no. Stress doesn't cause my libido to go up. I will say, though, that I've indulged in more self-inflicted bondage-and-pain sessions since Thanksgiving; the pain helps relieve my stress. Doesn't do anything to raise my sex drive, though I do find myself orgasming during the worst of the pain. But it doesn't bring any kind of sexual relief; the orgasm feels mostly perfunctory.

[Alex Bragi]

I haven’t read the article TopRock is referring to, most of that scientific stuff goes right over my head anyway, but I wish I had. It’s an intriguing topic for sure.

I’ve often heard it said that a woman may climax during rape. It’s also well documented that in ancient Roman times soldiers (who fought naked) would more often than not go in battle with a raging erections. Obviously the body reacts in strange ways under stress.

But I think what might be getting confused here is types of stress.

The type TopRock and Curtis are referring to is very short-term stress known as ‘eustress’ which strengthens a person for immediate and short-term activity. A good example would be a parent who is able to single handedly pull a child from a urgent and threatening situation, that ordinarily they just wouldn't have the physical strenghth for. I hadn’t given it much thought until I now, but I guess rape could certainly induce almost instant bodily changes.

The type Jeanangel is referring, is known as 'distress'. It's caused by prolonged adjustment, or struggle, to adapt to something unpleasant. Hers is a good example of this.

Now, I could be wrong here, but I think the type of stress that may cause female athletes to begin skipping their periods, and dropping body fat might be 'hyperstress' or overload, which occurs when we try to overload ourselves and stretch our limits to excess.

And no, Curtis, you did not make a ‘jackass’ of yourself...

[Curtis]

I did, however, change the topic (or, more properly, introduce a new one). Top-Rock was trying to open a discussion on whether eustress could make a woman horny. I think anyone who's ever gone to a good scary movie with a woman knows the answer to that one. Near-death experiences, even vicarious ones, have been acknowledged as aphrodisiacs for both men and women for decades (think rollercoasters, skydiving, being shot at and missed, etc.).

The point I raised was different. I was speaking of a strictly physiological reaction (ovulation) to a very specific trigger (rape). Becoming pregnant has very little to do with how horny you are. (Or does it? That might be an interesting point to explore as well.)

And I think Alex sells short her ability to comprehend 'that scientific stuff'. Anyone who can come up with, and usefully define 'eustress', 'distress' and 'hyperstress' won't often find herself in over her head.

[Donatien]

types of stress....
The type TopRock and Curtis are referring to is very short-term stress known as ‘eustress’ which strengthens a person for immediate and short-term activity.
The type Jeanangel is referring, is known as 'distress'. It's caused by prolonged adjustment, or struggle, to adapt to something unpleasant. Hers is a good example of this.
Now, I could be wrong here, but I think the type of stress that may cause female athletes to begin skipping their periods, and dropping body fat might be 'hyperstress' or overload, which occurs when we try to overload ourselves and stretch our limits to excess.

ENABLING STRESS
I seem to have arrived late in on this thread, as is often the case with me. I agree with alex's division of types of stress into three, but have used the term enabling stress , instead of eustress; and have explained it on one occasion, by giving a demonstration of what happened when I removed all stress from my muscles; I dropped straight to the floor, much to the surprise of the audience! another example is in psychiatric patients given overenthusiastic lobotomies, all distress, also all stress is removed, and with it all drive so that a person who retains all their intellectual abilities has so little drive that they are doubly incontinent and have to be handfed. I.E nil stress= nil performance.
DISABLING STRESS (distress)
Have you noticed that when you are so worried and stressed that you cannot think straight, on reflection, you realise that a major contributor, even the main cause was not big global issues like relationships , illness, and death etc, but a noise in the high fi , a mislaid shoe ,or paper back, something so minor , that you don't have time to allocate to it, and yet if you are honest it got to you quite disproportionally; it trod on your emotional corns. Frequently distress can be resolved by emptying the recycle bin of ones mind of these minor problems that get to YOU. (Just small amounts of these make big differences to ones stress levels yet are easily resolved once acknowledged.)
HYPERSTRESS
Too much for too long, wears you down.
When managing all this in oneself it is more beneficial to think of verbs not nouns, I.E. instead of 'why have i so much stress', ask yourself ' what am i doing (or not doing) to get myself distressed.
(If a suitable thread appears I could describe some simple home measures for addressing this subject further.)
I think that the evidence suggests that a weight loss of 30% below average for ht, in women is sufficient for them to cease menstruating and that this is independent from stress levels.